http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CherryJosh wrote:alpineart wrote:Not sure this quantifies or justifies the first comment any betterFirstly you make a comment to just throw them out, then name the tree wrong, then again name the tree wrong (Prunus avium, commonly called wild cherry,sweet cherry, bird cherry,or gean)
Why do you assume they are P avium..
I think its fair to assume they are sweet cherries as they were dug up in a sweet cherry orchard. If they are (and that is my presumtion) then my contention stands. I also think it is rather trivial for you to pick up and carry on with a small oversight as to the correct botanical name. (Prunus dulcis (meaning sweet - hence my trip up) is not much better by the way)
So if you want justification as to why this is useless bonsai material. Here your are.
They don't ramify
They suffer all kinds of ailments including root rot, nematodes, borers, aphids, stem rot, branch die back.
They have week roots and are extremely susceptible to drought and water logging.
Their leaves are too big
They don't heal from pruning well
They don't respond to pruning well
I have tried most species of Prunus over the years and quickly came to the conclusion that these were a waste of time (even grafted ones, let alone seedlings. The only cherries (which are readily available here) worth considering are P campanulata and P incisa and their hybrids, and they are by NO MEANS easy!
Of course you don't have to take my word for it, (sometimes we just have to find out for ourselves) but there's a reason you don't see sweet cherry as bonsai.
And if they turn out to be something else.....if they are indeed cherries save some time and chuck'em. If they are plums, that's another story.
I think it's a mistake to encourage people with this stuff without having experience with it. You could steer them on a road to nowhere and life is too short!
BTW I'm not sure who I'm responing to here, the thread is rather convoluted and I'm too tired to work it out
