saving a bougainvillea

[mcgee]

Over at my mates today and he has a bougainvillea with purple flowers that he is getting rid of. It isnt massive and has a trunk of about 30mm diametre with lots of fresh growth and good branches. I want to save it and pot it up and potentially turn it into a bonsai. Im very new to bonsai and dont yet have a tree so dont know much. I dont think its the right time to repot these or play with their roots as ive read that they are very touchy. Id love some advice on how to do this with the highesr chance of success. Its either attempt to save it or it goes to the tip.
Cheers
Mcgee

Hes gone away so i cant get pictures untill the day of surgery on the weekend

[kcpoole]

Bougy are really forgiving and can be dug now,

Cut them back hard and then dig and repot into free draining mix.
Water well and often and Seasol every 3 days until they show signs of new growth.
These are 2 of mine that I have
viewtopic.php?f=132&t=17926
viewtopic.php?f=132&t=17925

Ken

[banksia]

Mcgee! Congratulations on taking up the hobby/addiction....it's a very rewarding pursuit.
Contrary to what you've read or heard, Bougies are extremely hardy and quite forgiving. Cuttings (under ideal conditions) can be made as thick as your wrist!! Roots can be cut back fairly hard, and large specimens can be trunk chopped and they back bud profusely. Is this tree in the ground?....or in a pot? Either way, it doesn't really matter.
I see your in Brisbane (which is very promising indeed) so, Yes, it can be root-pruned and repotted now and put into a good quality bonsai mix. However there are a few things to be pointed out.
This being if you're to root prune, you have to compensate by cutting back branches and foliage to balance out the energy required to keep the plant healthy and thriving. Also initially it has to recover and be placed in a wind protected area and preferably semi shade. Seasol regulary and be patient.
All this said, a picture would be handy if you can get one, so we all know what your dealing with. Then more solid advice can be given to you by fellow members, on the way you should develop your tree.

Cheers!
Anthony

P.S Here's a couple of mine in all their glory

[banksia]

Geez Ken!...beat me to it! A case of my one finger typing skills having let me down again.

[mcgee]

Hey thanks for all the advice. I must be getting my trees mixed up ha oh well i now know.. thats great news! Its not the greatest plant but good and free to practice on . Id love it to have a thicker trunk but hey its free.
Ill hopefully be getting some pictures tomorrow. I shall keep you posted. It may not have any potential but its all a learning process for me

[mcgee]

Hey got some photos today... found another tucked away as well. Tell me what you think and where to prune and hack off stump
The first one has a large knuckle like stump its growing from:









And the second stump is a bit more straight forward but is most likely joined to the stump beside it by the root system... is it possible to just cut this one off and attempt to save it??

[matlea]

The last one may have some deep roots that could be used to make part of a trunk... Just have to dig a bit!

[kcpoole]

Like Matlea said, The larger root can possibly be exposed more and featured.
Pity it was cut back so hard earlier .

Dig em up and let them recover and next year start to work them

Ken

[mcgee]

As far as a prune goes how far should i be going with all of the new growth? Selecting branches or cutting right back and do you recommend sealing once cut
Sorry 21 questions.. just want to get them out and potted preferably alive

[kcpoole]

Cut the shoots back to a foot long or so.
I do not worry about sealing the cuts unless they are and inch or bigger.
Deadwood i use earls wood hardener on.

Ken

[mcgee]

This is what i managed to get out. The other one was just too large and had a tree as thick as the trunk under ground and dissappeared under the fence.
Do you think its worth saving?
I still dont have the eye for something thats going to be good in the long run.

[mcgee]

Here it is potted up.. ive been told i need to keep it out of the sun for a few days to get over the shock

[banksia]

I hate to say it McGee,but what is shown in the 1st pic and then in the 2nd pic...appear to be very different. the long extending branch/root?? has been pruned off and then repotted as it is in the last pic. Is this right? I believe (and I'm sure others will agree) that it should have been kept and that would've been by far, the best start to having a basic trunkline. In affect, the bulbuous part would've been partly below soil level (to hide inverse taper) and the extension would be the trunk, pretty much everything else (except the fine roots) would/should have been pruned back to the base.
Don't be disheartened...a rookie error which is understandable. For even the most knowledgable grower this tends to be one of the most challenging steps in the hobby. That is, finding the correct/best option to take raw material to the next level in training.
Grow it all the same and concentrate on other facets of the hobby like watering correctly, fertilising, pruning, correct lighting/growing conditions etc.

Cheers!
Anthony

[kcpoole]

In Dappled light ( under a gum tree is where my recovery bench is), or morning sun. Just no strong hot afternoon sun.

Re the branch long bit, it looks like been cut back to 6 inches or so. Hopefully be long enough to develop a new upper tree from.

Re the other stump, Collect it if you can as the size is hard to come by. It will be a short stumpy tree but that base should be awesome.

Ken

[mcgee]

Yeh the long bit off to the left was dead and rotten so cut down to fit in the pot. I hardly cut anything from the actual tree except 15 mm off the fresh cut you can see. Ideally the branch to the left would be used as a trunk but was rotten and soft enough to pull off by hand. No green under the bark at all (the flowers you can see are a cutting i threw in for an experiment lol). Just really light rotten wood. Theres still plently of rotten wood left i just wasnt sure what to do with it. The tree had been butchered a while ago so im working with what ive got. Thanks for the feed back too
In regards to that other log i might just throw it in the garden and water it and see what happens haha