That's awesome to hear. You won't be disappointed! It is my mission to champion this species for bonsai. Will be interesting to see how more people go with them over east.
Albany Woolly Bush - Two year progression
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Patmet
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 323
- Joined: March 31st, 2019, 8:21 am
- Favorite Species: WA natives
- Bonsai Age: 5
- Bonsai Club: Albany Bonsai Collective, Bonsai Society of Western Australia
- Location: Albany, Western Australia
- Has thanked: 377 times
- Been thanked: 524 times
- Contact:
Re: Albany Woolly Bush - Two year progression
-
Patmet
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 323
- Joined: March 31st, 2019, 8:21 am
- Favorite Species: WA natives
- Bonsai Age: 5
- Bonsai Club: Albany Bonsai Collective, Bonsai Society of Western Australia
- Location: Albany, Western Australia
- Has thanked: 377 times
- Been thanked: 524 times
- Contact:
Re: Albany Woolly Bush - Two year progression
[UPDATE]
It is with much sadness, i have to declare this Woolly Bush never recovered from whatever the issues were that lead to it's health deteriorating. I still have it sitting on the bench and have been leaving it alone for quite some time now just to make sure it doesn't miraculously recover but I'm 99.9% sure it's dead.
Although i've been very disappointed with myself over this failure, i think it's crucial to share our failures as well as success. This has been my first really devastating failure so far, but i feel like i have learnt a lot from it and am looking forward to progressing with my other Woolly Bushes.
It's hard to pin down exactly what lead to it's eventual death, but i know a handful of facors which were the mistakes i made, along with the winter we had this year.
The key points i want to point out are;
- Trying to reduce to a bonsai pot too soon, and at a time when the weather was extremely wet and cold for months. I think waiting another year would have made a big difference.
- Doing a fairly hard prune and styling only around a month after transplanting into the bonsai pot.
- Using a mix in the bonsai pot that was too wet for the conditions. (The tree never really got a chance to dry out).
After this the roots started to rot, the tree was weakened significantly and the pests started to take notice. By the time i realised and responded i think the damage was done. I tried my best to recover it but just haven't seemed to be able to get the roots to come back.
I don't think this is necessarily Woolly Bush exclusive, but just general bonsai mistakes mainly. Hopefully my experience can help some others avoid the same thing.
It is with much sadness, i have to declare this Woolly Bush never recovered from whatever the issues were that lead to it's health deteriorating. I still have it sitting on the bench and have been leaving it alone for quite some time now just to make sure it doesn't miraculously recover but I'm 99.9% sure it's dead.
Although i've been very disappointed with myself over this failure, i think it's crucial to share our failures as well as success. This has been my first really devastating failure so far, but i feel like i have learnt a lot from it and am looking forward to progressing with my other Woolly Bushes.
It's hard to pin down exactly what lead to it's eventual death, but i know a handful of facors which were the mistakes i made, along with the winter we had this year.
The key points i want to point out are;
- Trying to reduce to a bonsai pot too soon, and at a time when the weather was extremely wet and cold for months. I think waiting another year would have made a big difference.
- Doing a fairly hard prune and styling only around a month after transplanting into the bonsai pot.
- Using a mix in the bonsai pot that was too wet for the conditions. (The tree never really got a chance to dry out).
After this the roots started to rot, the tree was weakened significantly and the pests started to take notice. By the time i realised and responded i think the damage was done. I tried my best to recover it but just haven't seemed to be able to get the roots to come back.
I don't think this is necessarily Woolly Bush exclusive, but just general bonsai mistakes mainly. Hopefully my experience can help some others avoid the same thing.
