What to do with this Azalea gift?

[The-Calli-Kid]

Hey,
This was a birthday gift early last year, clearly from bunnings and probably not one i would get for myself but never the less, its the thought that counts!
I don't have much experience with broom style and this is my first Azalea!. I'm looking for others input!... What would you do with it? (Is it worth any serious effort?)

I am thinking about potting it into a 300x150x150mm grow basket for a couple seasons to thicken the base & trunk?.. What should i do with the top? (the one-directional top growth is not appealing to me at all!)

Thanks,
Lucas

Front.jpg

side 2.jpg

side.jpg

back.jpg

base.jpg

Top.jpg

[The-Calli-Kid]

Sorry this is nothing special to look at and of poor quality but i don't want to get rid of it..
Cheers

[paddles]

pot it out.. then when it puts on new growth, begin to look at style.. you can make it into nearly any style you want, azalea are slow growers, so you will have time to think

[Watto]

Hi. IMO get rid of all the rocks and associated rubish, put it in a suitable small pot and enjoy. That's what bonsai is for, enjoyment. In spring it will flower and you will have even more reasons to enjoy. Not every tree will make a champion bonsai, but most trees will have something that will give pleasure, and this Azalea will probably give much pleasure over the coming years. Enjoy it as a small bonsai, trim it, water it, fertilize it, and re-pot it when necessary.
Watto

[Watto]

I should have said I think the back view is great - good looking nabari.

[Paulneill]

Azaleas are more dominant towards the base keeping them short and stubby . To build a nice tapering trunkline remove /low branches and continuously prune low growth to direct vigour toward the upper branches . Also leave a sacrifice branches every inch or so as u move up the trunk give the trunk taper . Water with vinegar mix if u find the soil a bit alkaline . Plant into the garden for faster results but may be harder to prune .

Paul.

[Craig]

Hi. IMO get rid of all the rocks and associated rubish, put it in a suitable small pot and enjoy. That's what bonsai is for, enjoyment. In spring it will flower and you will have even more reasons to enjoy. Not every tree will make a champion bonsai, but most trees will have something that will give pleasure, and this Azalea will probably give much pleasure over the coming years. Enjoy it as a small bonsai, trim it, water it, fertilize it, and re-pot it when necessary.
Watto

Great advice

[Damian Bee]

Looks like the variety Sao-to-me. I have thought long and hard about what you should do with this Azalea and my advice is.......give it to me

Just joking.... the advice to pot out is good for it, also it looks like it is getting too much water due to the slime on the lower part of the trunk?

[NathanM]

Definitely looks like a sao-to-me. Which is great, but it won't be flowering anytime soon.
That little tree has heaps of potential mate. I'd be chuffed if someone gave that to me.
Pot it into a bit bigger pot, and start selecting what you want to keep and don't want to keep. With what it's got you should be able to get it presentable within 2 years

[witchstreet]

The Calli-Kid, what a lovely little tree. I agree with the others, repot into a larger pot, decide which branches you wish to keep and enjoy for a while. Be a proud owner.

[The-Calli-Kid]

Hey WOW, thanks for all the helpfull advice and warm comments guys!, most appreciated

I have read that the soil mix for azalea should be slightly acidic (5.0 to 6.0). Any recommendations on a mix???
The mix i have generally been using on other trees so far consists of 40% premium bonsai mix (pink bag), 20% Crushed brick, 20% Course sand, 20% Perlite.
I have yet to get my hands on commercial Akadama... should this be high on my priority list?

Again, Thanks allot guys
Lucas

[GavinG]

OK, here's another thought (and I am NOT an expert on azaleas):

As Watto said, there's a great LITTLE trunk hiding away under all the foliage. If you're feeling adventurous, before the leaves shoot in early spring, cut all the branches back to less than a cm from where they all come from, and re-start the tree from there. That would give you a relatively solid trunk on a very tiny tree. You would need to take the rootball down in stages, and keep the foliage pinched fairly rigorously. Whether the tree is big enough for a couple of foliage-clouds, or just a head coming up from that trunk, I can't tell. But some azaleas have nice veining and texture on the trunks from quite young, and that looks to have potential. Get wiser heads than mine to confirm this before you actually do it. Good luck.

Gavin

[dragon]

gday calli-kid
the one thing i did notice when you did this post was that it is a azalea,so if this is the case it is evergreen,and from what i have learnt in the years of bonsai
that a broom style is a deciduous so the branch structures can be seen from when the tree looses its leaves hence the saying broom as it take after the asian
style broom so in all fact i thing you might be better to go a cloud style with this one
cheers dean (dragon)

[dragon]

[kcpoole]

Hi Calli
Hmm
Pot it up for a few years and style as you wish
cut it back real hard and make a mame out of it in Whatever style you can find in the trunk to utilise the nice small trunk base.

Use the rocks to start some root over rock trees ( small figs will do well) Us ethe pot for a tree you have nearly ready so it look nicer than a black trainer.

Re the Soil mix, What you have will do just fine. the Japanese prefer to use Kanuma for Azaleas with good reason, but unless you are getting into azaleas in a big way, do not worry.

Have not got a lot on Soil components yet in the wiki but the Kanuma page is here.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Kanuma

Ken