AusBonsai

Hi All,
I happened to be in the right place, right time when a friend was pulling out these two buxus hedges.

I have them soaking in Seasol before I drop them into pots and leave them to recover.
I didn’t trim them as hard as some Murraya I acquired recently.

Anyone care to critique these two?

I was thinking of doing some carving if I can’t utilise all trunks.

Much appreciated.

There's loads off potential in these plants but it is waaaay too soon to start planning.
These trees need at least a year to settle into pots and regain strength before you assault them again.

When/if they recover the reverse taper and thicker upper areas will need to be addressed but there are several options to deal with reverse taper in trees.

Gday ATangentTooFar, that's some nice trees you found there. I'm pretty sure they don't bud back very easily, so you've collected them with enough leaves etc. Keen to see how they progress

I dug up a buxus hedge in 2017, gave them a year to recover, started removing too-thick branching, and have started to pot them up last year. They are tough, and they will back bud, given the right conditions, but I wouldn't push them. See how they're going in Spring after potting up...some decisions can possibly be made then.

Thank you all.
They’re going into tubs and will be put away for a while.

Fingers crossed they settle in nicely.
Cheers

I know everyone loves an update post so here goes.

Ive since moved the first Buxus into a training pot to get better access to it.
Trimmed it back to to see what i had available to work with and as its the season i repotted it into a Bonsai Pot i had laying around.

I read somewhere that Buxes can be slow growing so i possibly should have left more foliage but I'm not in rush so happy to work on this one over time.
The second one has been in a grow pot since i pulled it out of the ground.
A lot more foliage and a generally bigger tree.
As its the season i have dropped this one into a spare pot (think it needs a better pot long term) but happy to get access to it.
I am going to try a little harder to keep more existing foliage on this one.
A question or two for the brains trust out there.
1) Should i lean this to the right and make a more V shape with the twin trunk?
2) Should I remove the branching in the middle of the V? Reading up says I should but that will remove considerable foliage.

Thanks again and any advice is always welcome!

A bit hard to tell from a two dimensional point of view, but it looks like there are several branches growing parallel and close together and a cross-over or two. Buxus, once they are that size won't bend, so if it were mine I would thin it out a bit and give it a general tidy-up. You have a lot of options there, so take your time, perhaps take it to your local bonsai club for critique and advice if you belong to one.

Your first looks like it will make a nice twin trunk bonsai. Not all twin trunks complement each other but these flow really well.
You are welcome to make any sort of bonsai you like the look of but in case you are interested there are some guidelines that may help guide your trees to look better.
Twins usually look better where one is a little more dominant. The trunk on the left appears to be slightly thinner down low and is certainly thinner toward the top but it is far taller than the more solid trunk on the right. Consider either suppressing growth on the right trunk and allowing the taller left side to thicken OR shorten the left side to make it shorter than the right side.

The second one will take a little more consideration. As Raging Bull points out there are more options there to decide about.
Twin trunk is possible by tilting to the right but consider how many trees you want that look really similar.
Consider a twin trunk with a strong lean left so styled at the current angle.That would entail removing a few large branches to refine the spaces and open the structure a bit. Downside is that, like the other tree, both trunks are of similar size and strength.

Consider a strongly left leaning tree using just the left side trunk. The main upright trunk would be removed or reduced to dead wood stump. That will get rid of a lot of the tree but would leave a strong, dynamic bonsai, almost semi-cascade style. Much different from the calm upright twin trunk above.

Consider reducing the whole tree drastically. Both are currently quite tall for the thickness of the trunks. That's fine for some trees but tall, thin bonsai just do not have as much 'presence'. Buxus are quite tolerant of reduction pruning provided you take some time and work sensibly. The whole bonsai could be built using just the smaller middle trunk and possibly the 1st left branch on the left trunk. Most of both larger trunks reduced to dead wood.That option will take a few more years to develop but would have real eye appeal on a show bench when it is finally achieved.

I can see other options not quite as drastic but anything that involves keeping both main trunks in entirety worries me because both are so similar.
It is possible to reduce the visual impact of thick trunks by converting one side or part of the front to dead wood but that is probably getting into advanced design.
Other options could also be available from other viewing angles. Without seeing the tree in 3D it is very difficult to decide which options are better.

I wish I had such insightful perspective from Neil on my trees lol


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shibui wrote: ↑May 2nd, 2021, 6:17 pm Your first looks like it will make a nice twin trunk bonsai. Not all twin trunks complement each other but these flow really well.

Thanks so much for taking the time to critique my trees i really appreciate the effort and time.
I look forward to having a good sit down with both and working with them in the next stage.

Cheers.

Hey All,

Thank you for the wise advice on my two Buxus.
First one mentioned previously is doing well.

The 'second one' however had a slight trim and clean up back in early May and just recently has been on the bench in full Sydney sun.

Unfortunately its now browning slowly at first and now almost the whole thing.
I have given it a seasol bath and then moved to a shaded spot.
I note that its 'brother' is on the same bench and is still lush and green.
I was thinking of pulling it out of the pot, just to inspect if there was any curl grub but i didnt notice any when i potted.
There appeared no pests on the tree itself so im thinking its either too much sun/not enough water or something in the roots.

Any suggestions welcome.
TIA

error post- see above

Some of them go through a winter dormancy where the colour changes to orange/brown, so that might be what's happening here. Just keep an eye on it, don't over water it now you've moved it out of the sun, but leave it settle and look to do some work on it in Spring.

I think Mel is probably on the money. Give it until spring until you make any decisions. Some of the buxus in the ground around here are a burnt orange colour but the weather conditions are a bit cooler here.

Yep, mine is doing the same, getting brown/orange tip growth since the weather has cooled off.


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