Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Forum for discussion of Tropical bonsai – Ficus, Bougainvillea, Fukien Tea, Dwarf Umbrella etc.
Post Reply
Beano
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1373
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Bonsai Age: 3
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 114 times

Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Beano »

Good old Bougie, impossible to kill. I got this tree in 2013. It has made little progress and has spent sometime not thriving as I’ve continued to learn and make mistakes on it. I like it but I find the triple fork where the deadwood and two main branches originate from distracting and ugly. I have provided a progression of what I’ve done to it since 2013 but I’m after suggestions as to how to get a better tree from what I’ve got to work with here.

When purchased, looked ok but the majority of the foliage came from the first branch which was a back branch that grew straight upward:
ImageImageImageImage

Trying to grow a crown from new top branches:
Image

Today, after clip and grow and some wiring. It has been hard trying to get a more horizontal branch on the left side of the front image:
Image
Image
Image
Image

Is there a better tree here? Virts welcome. Here are some I’ve done myself:
Image
Image
Last edited by Beano on January 6th, 2018, 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
kcpoole
Perpetual Learner
Perpetual Learner
Posts: 12272
Joined: November 12th, 2008, 4:02 pm
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Bonsai Club: the School Of Bonsai
Location: Western Sydney, NSW, Australia
Has thanked: 17 times
Been thanked: 84 times
Contact:

Re: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by kcpoole »

I would be tilting it to one side. And remove the centre spike.
Use one of the shoots as the trunk line with movement. The other then becomes a horizontal branch

If the base looks funny with roots in the wrong places then layer some new ones there

Ken
Check out our Wiki for awesome bonsai information www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki
What is Bonsai? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Bonsai
What should I do now? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Newbie
How do I grow a Bonsai? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... _a_Bonsai?
Visit a Bonsai nursery to see some real nice trees http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... _Nurseries
Beano
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1373
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Bonsai Age: 3
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 114 times

Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Beano »

I know the centre spike either needs to go or be used better, but if I cut it out and tilt the tree to use one branch as horizontal, it still will look weird as each branch comes from the opposite side of the deadwood crack.

ImageImage
Last edited by Beano on January 7th, 2018, 10:39 am, edited 2 times in total.
Beano
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1373
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Bonsai Age: 3
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 114 times

Re: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Beano »

Or this - it nearly always pops a bud near the deadwood fork, you can see the current one in the pics. I could cut the left branch off and have a nicer trunkline and recreate a new left branch from the bud:
Image
User avatar
Keep Calm and Ramify
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 944
Joined: April 1st, 2017, 11:50 am
Bonsai Age: 0
Location: Newcastle NSW
Has thanked: 397 times
Been thanked: 445 times

Re: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Keep Calm and Ramify »

:wave: Beano,
Personally at this stage, I would be concentrating my efforts on the trunk rather than the top of the tree. If the tree responds well to carving (which I think bougy's do) then I would just grow the be-jesus out of it, & then work the foliage mass & branch placements much much later, with whatever the tree proceeds to give you (I'm talking years here...not months.)

This tree will never be considered an "ideal" bonsai for some....but it does have chance of displaying some nice "dynamics"....if your brave.

In summery, stop trying to polish a turd & start carving.
beano pic.jpg
split_10.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Beano
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1373
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Bonsai Age: 3
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 114 times

Re: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Beano »

That is cool. I’m probably not that brave. I always though of carving as the last thing done to “finish” off a tree? I suppose you wouldn’t want to “finish it” by carving after years of work then have it die. Do you not think my last virt could put it in the “ideal for bonsai” category?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Beano
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 1373
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Bonsai Age: 3
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 114 times

Re: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Beano »

Right! Thank you for your suggestions. The possum has forced my hand by knocking it out of its pot and I’ve now chopped it and changed the planting angle. It already looks like a way better tree.
Image
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: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by Ryceman3 »

Maybe possums are good for something? :shock:
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: Purple bougainvillea suggestions

Post by melbrackstone »

The possum has forced my hand by knocking it out of its pot and I’ve now chopped it and changed the planting angle. It already looks like a way better tree.
Sometimes that's all it takes. Yes, it's definitely looking like it's on the way now.

Good luck!
Post Reply

Return to “Tropical”