Collected Euryops pectinatus Viridis or African Daisy

[Steven]

To make way for my extensions, I had to remove a 3 meter tall African Daisy (Euryops pectinatus viridis) from my back yard. Unfortunately I don't have a shot of it before cutting it back hard. The following pictures were taken during the removal;

04.04.09 front.jpg

04.04.09 back.jpg

04.04.09 out of the ground.jpg

It has a wonderful root spread however it is not easy to see in the pictures as it blends with the medium. The trunk is completely hollow as can just be seen from the front.
Daisy's back shoots incredibly well even from very old wood and flower for about 9 months of the year. I am not aware of seeing any bonsai Daisy before however this stock has potential despite all its shortcomings.

23.09.09 Front.jpg

23.09.09 Back.jpg

23.09.09 Left side.jpg

23.09.09 Right side.jpg

It now stands 900mm tall and the root flare at the base (in the first picture) is 180mm wide.
I have been contemplating different styles and designs but wasn't able to make up my mind so I forwarded some pictures to a great inspiration of mine - Harry Harrington from Bonsai4me.com. Following is Harry's reply and his virtual progression.

Fantastic looking tree already! I loved 'working on' this tree; a great find!
OK, I find it better to show the step-by-step build up of the virtual as this should help explain how I feel you should approach its actual styling. I will not try to advise horticulturally given the species, your location and the high likelihood that you will know what to do anyway!
My preferred front is your first image (and I assume your preferred front)

image004.jpg

Cut back the branches hard; your priorities in this styling/development are to remove the straight untapered appearance of a lot of the branches and recreate them so that they have taper, movement and scale.
I would describe this bonsai as an INformal broom. It is NOT a formal broom and perfect symmetry etc wouldn't look good with the gnarled, hollow trunk you have here!

image005.jpg

There are 3 problematic branches to deal with at this stage;
1) the 2 overly thick and heavy branches on the right. My personal solution would be to literally thin out the branches by splitting/carving them vertically. They will be left with long vertical scars (that you can hide from the front view) however I do not think that the resulting scars will be out of place on this tree.
For aesthetic reasons I would try and remove the top half of each branch if possible as this then leaves light in between the adjoining branches when seen from the front. But horticulturally you will obviously need to ensure that live veins remain out to the tips of the branch
I realise that both of these lower right hand branches are awkwardly positioned when seen from the side. I think it is something you will need to live with though you can compensate for this awkwardness in the future by carefully placing any secondary branches that appear. I feel that when the tree has filled out in a few years, the awkwardness of these two branches will be very minor.
2) the branch on the left that I have marked in red. I have removed it in this virtual as that area looks slightly congested at present. However you may wish to keep this instead of/or in addition to the branch directly behind it. If you decide to keep it, I would suggest using guy wires to pull it down a few degrees so it fans out in the same way that its neighbouring branches do.

image006.jpg

Left branch removed

image007.jpg

I think from here on it is a straightforward case of allowing 2 new shoots at the end of each branch to extend, thicken and then be cut back hard each year. I would suggest wiring each new shoot to give it some subtle movement.

image008.jpg

I have drawn out the tree with three sets of new growth (this may equate to 3 years as it does over here or much less for this species in Australia, I don't know).

Note that I have drawn the foliage mass so that it has a very subtle lean towards the right.

I hope this all makes sense Steven!!

regards

Harry

image009.jpg

Now comes the challenge of making Harry's virt a reality. Has anyone had any experience working with Daisy?

Regards,
Steven

[Pup]

That is one nice Daisy Steven. As you said now is the challenge to get that image.
I had one I first started out in my Bonsai journey.
Smaller but similar I killed it. I learned that you can kill things with kindness early, so it was not waisted. Pup

Ps the reason was too much water in the pot. Not enough sun two lessons as I say learned

[Steven]

Thanks Pup!

One of the challenges will be splitting the 2 large branches on the right. Both are way too thick for the design and to remove them would leave an unsightly mess.

Are you [or anyone else] aware of the best time to repot?

Regards,
Steven

[Asus101]

Nice trunk!! Appears to be a great start.

[Pup]

As I said Steven I killed mine with kindness the one thing I remember was. I re potted in spring. Because being a new chum that was when you re potted.

I managed 3 years with it, but the because I was watering every day as new chums do, and a sheltered position, much too sheltered, it Karked it so my information will not be of much use to you.

I have spoken to my friend. She cant remember specific's but believes Megumi Bennett might be able to shed some light on it. I will try her again with a picture.

[Amanda]

Thanks for the advice given here.

Steven, when you cut back hard, did it backbud relatively well? Do you have any updates?

[alpineart]

Hi Steven , i have been waiting for an update on this Daisy ,since you first posted .After the vert from H.H ,i think you have it well on the way . I have collected a few , butchered on removal by a Bobcat , bare rooted and potted .They have back-budded well , except for 1 i put into a bonsai bowl , it was placed into a shade house then full sun .Didn't work its magic but it is still green , the others were placed under 70% shade cloth and have shot well .I have been neglecting 1 in my front garden for well over a decade ,i simple dead head the plant and shape with hedge trimmers {not part of my bonsai tool kit } hacking back hard after the flowers finish .That the extent of my experience .

I had Best get onto some info as the few collected ones i have need some direction .Maybe i will use a couple for "test pilots" in training methods .I will have a look at the roots and see if any action should or could be taken .Cheers Alpine

[Steven]

G'day folks,

Sorry for the delay... Now, where were we?

One of the challenges will be splitting the 2 large branches on the right. Both are way too thick for the design and to remove them would leave an unsightly mess.

Challenge solved, both those branches died and although it did back shoot remarkably well, it also proved to be very basal dominant.

September 2010 front.jpg

I couldn't see any reason for those branches to die

September 2010 back.jpg

It was getting very thirsty on warm or windy days and would be droopy by mid afternoon so I new the pot must have been getting pretty full of roots. When I popped it out of the pot this is what I found...

September 2010 roots.jpg

That wasn't the only surprise, there was also 18 snails living inside the trunk! Hard to see from the picture but there was a heap of them in there!

September 2010 inside the trunk.jpg

I sawed off approximately 2 thirds of the roots and then teased out the rest. Repotted it into 50/50 diatomite/Debco and cut the branches back a little longer than necessary for the final design. I did this because I wanted to leave a little bit of green on it. The long straight one on the right hand side (above the 2 dead branches) I left long as it only has a thin vein of live bark supporting the growth. If it were to die also it would leave that side pretty bare.

27 September 2010 beverage for size.jpg

It started to shoot remarkably well after about 6 days but interestingly there are a couple of branches that have stayed bare! I'm hoping that they don't die They are in different spots to the previous ones are fed from different veins. I'm really confused now! Does anyone have any ideas what could be happening?

29 September 2010 after repot.jpg

And here is another shot of the base and trunk showing the tendency to shoot from the base.

September 2010 base and trunk after repot.jpg

As always your feedback, ideas and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Steven

[Jamie]

hi Steven

I have a funny feeling that this trunk is like the way it is due to that strong basal growth, looking at how the trunk is to me is that year after year of being cut back, grown strong, cut back/dieback the shoots have developed the trunk over a long period of time. (if that makes sense) maybe this might be why those branches died back.. the life line to them could have been damaged, and that section of root system that had been damaged killed of that live vein?

maybe you could use this to your advantage, maybe not. it seems to be very inconsistent in back budding so I would be very careful in branch selection as you may only get the one chance for that branch.

in saying that I have never worked with them before and am going on what I see in the progression. good luck and I look forward to seeing it become a tree!

[alpineart]

Hi Steven ,again this is the blind leading the blind .I have 10 of these and i have noticed 4 trunks potted lower with no roots exposure have not suckered up , however the other 6 bases that had roots exposed be it minimal or a large amount have shoots down low and suckers .Some of these suckers sprouting from the top of the root have new roots attached to the sucker , even the tree/plant in the front has exposed roots and some large suckers/new plants growing quite healthy possibly 2-3 years old..

I have taken pics BUT , this new Boat anchor {computer} is not playing ball with the camera and it won't allow uploads {#*^;'/;,.} and to compound that all my entire collection has not been retrieved from the old hard-drive .

From observing these and the garden plants i have , i would assume that a Multi trunk is a trunk that has suckered up and a trunk like yours could be a clump style that has fused or a single trunk that the pesties have attacked and created the live vein/fused look .Either way it is an impressive trunk ,mine are spiralled , fused , clump , and single trunks . I have one that has dropped its bundle 2 days ago however only the top new shoots are dead , the trunk itself is green so i'm assuming it is lack of water .Like you said these Euryops drink like a drunken soldier in a pot , however the garden specimen i have is growing in rock hard clay and i never been watered by me in 15 years .Hope some of this info helps .Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Finally got the pics up

100_6104.JPG

100_6105.JPG

100_6109.JPG

Cheers Alpine

[Steven]

G'day,

This Daisy hadn't had any work since the hack and repot in September 2010. This is how it was looking last year;

2011 August.jpg

Obviously these must be regularly trimmed of they get very leggy. I trimmed it back pretty hard in December;

2011 December.jpg

And this was the result 6 weeks later;

2012 January.jpg

Today I gave it a light trim and I'll try to maintain it regularly from now on.

2012 January after a trim.jpg

The right hand side of the trunk has now died and has started to rot at the base. It's in desperate need of a repot and I'll treat the wood when then. There is lots of carving still to be done where the larger branches have been cut off - hopefully I can find time to get it done...

Regards,
Steven

[bodhidharma]

Missed this one Steven Must have been away. Lovely trunk but it will be one of those problematic trees that needs to be regularly end tipped to keep it compact, which of course means no flowers weekly maintenance and no flowers, what a dilemma. How about converting it to a semi weeper so you can have longer branches and flowers.

[Steven]

How about converting it to a semi weeper so you can have longer branches and flowers.

Good food for thought. Thanks!

Regards,
Steven

[bodhidharma]

Something like this maybe doable. Just the branching, not the trunk.