Jacaranda - defoliation

Forum for discussion of Deciduous bonsai – Maples, Crabapple, Hornbeam, Elm species etc.
User avatar
Matt S
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 755
Joined: February 21st, 2015, 8:57 am
Favorite Species: Olive
Bonsai Age: 30
Bonsai Club: S.A. Bonsai Society, Victorian Native Bonsai Club
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 538 times
Been thanked: 435 times

Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Matt S »

After looking at Ken's great Jacaranda - viewtopic.php?f=129&t=5621 - I took the plunge on my own tree and cut off most of the existing growth in the hopes of getting some back budding. I forgot to take a before picture but all those branches extended further out and all the growth was at the tips.
jacaranda Jan18 hard prune.jpg
I bought this tree off a friend 5 years ago and regrew all the branches, letting them get quite long to thicken them up. I'm hoping to start the ramification process now and this will be the first step.

Fingers crossed I get some shoots in the right places! :fc: :fc: :fc:

Cheers,
Matt.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
melbrackstone
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 3441
Joined: December 15th, 2015, 8:05 pm
Favorite Species: the ones that live
Bonsai Age: 28
Bonsai Club: Redlands, BIMER, VNBC
Location: Brisbane
Has thanked: 1190 times
Been thanked: 707 times
Contact:

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by melbrackstone »

That's barked up nicely Matt. Looking forward to watching it develop.
her0d
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 40
Joined: December 19th, 2012, 7:21 am
Favorite Species: Acer palmatum
Bonsai Age: 2
Location: sydney

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by her0d »

That is beautiful bark!
Did the tree develop this depth in the bark in the last 5 years or was it like this before you purchased it?
User avatar
Matt S
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 755
Joined: February 21st, 2015, 8:57 am
Favorite Species: Olive
Bonsai Age: 30
Bonsai Club: S.A. Bonsai Society, Victorian Native Bonsai Club
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 538 times
Been thanked: 435 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Matt S »

I needn't have been concerned about reshooting. Exactly one month later and all the branches are covered in new shoots, and the longer branches have backbudded nicely.
jacaranda feb18 1.jpg
jacaranda feb18 2.jpg
For those asking about the bark, it was originally dug up with the mature bark already present, although it has really improved over the last couple of years.

Matt.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
wrcmad
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 545
Joined: April 25th, 2014, 10:57 pm
Favorite Species: Maple, Pine, Fig
Bonsai Age: 34
Location: Northern NSW
Has thanked: 132 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by wrcmad »

Wow,
Rare to see such a fine specimen of this species... well done! :cool:
Does it flower? That would be the ducks nuts. :)
User avatar
Matt S
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 755
Joined: February 21st, 2015, 8:57 am
Favorite Species: Olive
Bonsai Age: 30
Bonsai Club: S.A. Bonsai Society, Victorian Native Bonsai Club
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 538 times
Been thanked: 435 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Matt S »

Thanks wrcmad.

I haven't let if flower yet as I'm just trying to get some finer ramification happening, so its a couple of years away yet. Since it's a big tree I reckon I could get away with letting it flower occasionally.

Anyone have any flowering tips?

Matt.
User avatar
Ryceman3
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 2595
Joined: October 19th, 2014, 10:39 am
Favorite Species: Pines & Mels
Bonsai Age: 7
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 1041 times
Been thanked: 1535 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Ryceman3 »

Sorry, no idea about flowering but wanted to say that the texture on that bark and the taper on the trunk are very impressive.
Looks like you have got the back budding and branching under control ... cracking effort! I think this is going to look great as it ramifies, flowers or not.
Please keep updating - would love to see how it comes up.
:tu:
User avatar
melbrackstone
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 3441
Joined: December 15th, 2015, 8:05 pm
Favorite Species: the ones that live
Bonsai Age: 28
Bonsai Club: Redlands, BIMER, VNBC
Location: Brisbane
Has thanked: 1190 times
Been thanked: 707 times
Contact:

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by melbrackstone »

The only hints I can offer regarding flowering is to let it go now til you see trees flowering in your area, if it doesn't produce any buds this season, then you could try pruning and shaping and wiring for the summer season, and let it run again. They flower at the ends of the growth, so you need to find out when it's going to happen in your part of the world to work out your timing. The tree certainly looks like it would be mature enough to flower, given the time to grow those flowering stalks.
User avatar
Boics
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 2189
Joined: September 27th, 2012, 6:16 pm
Favorite Species: Banksia, Syzygium, Cotoneaster. Leptospermum
Bonsai Age: 7
Location: Victoria Inner City Fringe
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Boics »

Looks awesome.
I reckon you might be able to treat this similarly too Ash?
Defoliate and remove the terminal bud to force ramification and occasional back budding.
Would love to see flowers!
Great tree!
One of the fabulous things about growing bonsai is as you get old and decrepit your trees get old and beautiful
User avatar
delisea
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 372
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 8:56 am
Bonsai Age: 1
Bonsai Club: Coffs Harbour
Location: Coffs Harbour
Has thanked: 245 times
Been thanked: 157 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by delisea »

This great Matt. What approach are you taking to get ramification?
User avatar
dennismc
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 90
Joined: November 18th, 2008, 6:52 pm
Favorite Species: Natives, JBP, Cfrepe Myrtle
Bonsai Age: 40
Bonsai Club: Teacher, School of Bonsai
Location: Sydney
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by dennismc »

I think that the tree is progressing nicely. However from many years experience I find (as many others have) that it is very unlikely to flower in a bonsai pot. I tried many techniques to get one to flower, despite the advice I was regularly given, without success.
Allowing shoots to mature and remain uncut works with many trees but not with Jacarandas. The specimen that I worked with for about 20 years had previously flowered when being on grown in the ground so was capable of flowering.

Dennis Mc
User avatar
Matt S
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 755
Joined: February 21st, 2015, 8:57 am
Favorite Species: Olive
Bonsai Age: 30
Bonsai Club: S.A. Bonsai Society, Victorian Native Bonsai Club
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 538 times
Been thanked: 435 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Matt S »

As far as ramification goes, Boics is on the money as I treat it similar to a Desert Ash. Now that the primary branches are in place the plan from now on will be:

- Over the growing period, let each shoot grow to about 4 pairs of leaves, then cut back to the first or second pair. I've found that unlike the Ash, the first pair is really close to the base and it gets crowded pretty fast. I then cut some of the remaining leaves in half or less to let some sunlight in. As both the Ash and Jacaranda have compound leaves it's a similar process to both.
- Completely defoliate if I'm not happy with the growth of the inner buds. Not sure how often I'll need to do this, maybe once every year or two.
- If I want to show it with leaves then completely defoliate about 3 weeks prior.
- Over winter cut out the terminal bud of each branch.

Dennis - thanks for your input, I understand I will probably never get it to flower. I'll give it a bash anyway but it's good to manage expectations! Do you have a previous post or photo of your tree?

Matt.
User avatar
delisea
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 372
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 8:56 am
Bonsai Age: 1
Bonsai Club: Coffs Harbour
Location: Coffs Harbour
Has thanked: 245 times
Been thanked: 157 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by delisea »

Thanks for the explanation Matt. I am pinching out every tip at the two leaf stage and as you are doing cutting leaves to let light in. It will be interesting to see how the different methods work.
Cheers,
Symon
User avatar
melbrackstone
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 3441
Joined: December 15th, 2015, 8:05 pm
Favorite Species: the ones that live
Bonsai Age: 28
Bonsai Club: Redlands, BIMER, VNBC
Location: Brisbane
Has thanked: 1190 times
Been thanked: 707 times
Contact:

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by melbrackstone »

davidmac.jpg
MichaelZ.jpg
DavidLisarow.jpg
It's not impossible in warmer climates...
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by melbrackstone on February 16th, 2018, 1:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Matt S
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 755
Joined: February 21st, 2015, 8:57 am
Favorite Species: Olive
Bonsai Age: 30
Bonsai Club: S.A. Bonsai Society, Victorian Native Bonsai Club
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 538 times
Been thanked: 435 times

Re: Jacaranda - defoliation

Post by Matt S »

Thanks Mel. :clap:

Those pictures make me extremely happy.

Matt.
Post Reply

Return to “Deciduous”