Michael T : Buxus harlandii

[Michael T]

Buxus harlandii (b).jpg

Buxus harlandii (a).jpg

Species name: Buxus harlandii
Original height of stock: 32 cm
Source: Home grown
Cost: Zero

This was grown from a cutting about 3 - 4 years ago. It is very slow growing like all buxus.

[Michael T]

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The plant will be left like this over winter. We are expecting -1 degree Celsius on Friday morning in ACT. The plant should slow down on its growth now. In Spring hopefully more branches will grow. This is the basic design of the bonsai. There may be some changes in design depending on how the plant grows.

[Michael T]

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As to be expected, this is just spring and it is visually about the same as the previous photo, except that the flowers have opened. Still I do not expect a rush of growth as buxus are generally slow in growing.

[Rory]

I am really liking where you are going with this. Well done!

[Michael T]

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This plant has shown some spring growth but not long enough for me to choose and wire them. I have however shortened the top right hand side branch as I think it looks better. I shall let it grow more before I next style it. If it grows well, I may post one in December. If it is slow in lengthening its branches, then maybe in January or so.

[Michael T]

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This buxus harlandii has grown sufficient branches for me to style it further. Shall try to do it next week. It has got its basic structure from the main stem. The next step is to place the primary branches.

[Michael T]

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The photo shows the present styled state of the plant. It was a good thing that the plant grew a lot of longer branches which makes it easier to choose the branches for the style that I wanted.

[Michael T]

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This structure was conceived because of the beautiful curved trunk which I saw among the other branches. It is like a slant trunk with the apex directly over the base of the trunk with emerges from the soil. It is elegant in its movement. The future development would be to increase the ‘pads’ slightly. The pads should not be overdone otherwise it will become too bulky and heavy and the bonsai will lose its elegance.

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