Some ideas please

[squizzy]

Hi all,

I am after some ideas and opinions on this azalea I aqured a year or so ago. It has a reasonable base with a hollow section and a strong first left branch but from there up it goes a bit down hill.

My thoughts at the moment are to cut itr just above the first left branch and class that as the new leader but if someone with more experience witrh azaleas convinced me that the rest of the tree is workable I might consider leaving it.

I am looking for input from anyone really but hopefully guys like hackimoto, Damien Bee or KC Poole might have a good understanding of this variety.

DSC04382.jpg

DSC04383.jpg

Thanks in advance everyone

Squizz

[Gerard]

That looks like dynamic lifter on the soil surface.
If it is, you should get it off immediately.

[kcpoole]

Yeah if it is DL then i woud remove it.
I have lost a few Azaleas and the only thing i can point to is the use of DL early in the journey.

Now to the tree. I think it has 2 problems.
The trunk leading up to the upper branches is too straight with no taper. It bends a little, but not enough.
There is too much "negative space" between the first branch on the left and the foliage above.

the trunk can only really be fixed by cutting back hard and regrowing the top section to give taper, but this will take a long time. Other alternative is to take it right off above the first branch on the left and make it Shohin size. Nice trunk and base would result from this I think.

The other issue only is a problem if you leave the full trunk.
You could make the lower pad much larger to bulk it up so the space is reduced. the pad would become much larger than it is now. Can you bring the uppr one lower with Wire?
Could you Remove and regrow that one?

What about tilting the tree to the right and then wiring these pads back out flat again?
Will see if I can do a virt later

Ken

[squizzy]

Thanks so far Ken and Gerard,

Can you tell me what the issue is with DL. Is it a component of the nutrient make up or the fack it attracts nat fly or something else completly? I will get rid of it asap.

I will look further into those options Ken. You can see the issue which is good. Maybe the trunk needs to go above that first branch???????

Squizz

[Gerard]

Azaleas love acidic soil, products like chicken manure will raise the ph and cause problems.

[squizzy]

Cheers Gerard.

I have made a special mix for these guys which consists of about 40 percent peat moss which itself is acidic. This should help to control the ph. It is based on a special mix we used in one of the wholesale nurseries I worked in years ago. I am not sure if I have the mix exact yet but I hope it's close.

Squizz

[Hackimoto]

All I can say is what I would do with it if I had it.( Hint, Hint) I kinda love it as it is. It is a Southern Indica possibly Alphonse Anderson or Exquisite. With that flower size a tree any shorter would look out of proportion when in flower. Have a look at some of the Satsuki Bonsai on the internet, (Google it and click on images) If anything, I would try to raise the lower left branch to fill that void a bit and settle for a broad umbrella shape for the canopy. Maybe adding another layer or new apex on the top later on. Also I would pot it a little deeper to try to get more roots around the base and improve the nebari or work on other methods to achieve the same. There's my worth. Hope it helps. Nice plant! Dynamic Lifter is usually too alkaline.

[Gerard]

This does look very much like my Alphonse Anderson but mine usually flowers in mid October.
I agree with Hackimoto that they are better suited to larger trees because of the flower size.

Alphonse Anderson.jpg

[Hackimoto]

[quote="Gerard"] mine usually flowers in mid October.

Depends where you live, Mine have all but finished, Squizzy's in Sydney are in flower now and yours in Melbourne haven't started yet. It all depends on day length.

[Damian Bee]

Hi there Squizzy,

I reckon that the trunk is too narrow at the moment as the first and second branches are too heavy. It even looks as though you have two plants growing around each other but I don't think you would have much luck separating them now, too woody and brittle.

If you want to keep the height, you would need to encourage some shoots on the lower sections of the trunk which should not be too hard. Left to grow for a couple of years they will build up the girth of the trunk, after two years you can remove them and seal the cuts. If you have a copy of the Stone Lantern Publication on Satsuki at hand there is a section regarding this method.

Gerard and Hacky are right, its a Alphonse but it is bloody hard to tell, Alphonse Anderson has a messy lineage and the form we know may not be that which is found internationally.

How long was the DL on the soil for? Poultry based manures such as DL or Ktec are bad news for Azalea some more than others, despite all Satsuki being Satsuki and all Kurume being Kurume etc, etc, they each have their own little fancies and dislikes so you can't tar them all with the same brush.

Have to go, computer sharing issues

[Guy]

you could----airlayer above the first branch---make a small interesting shape and taper-and have two trees instead of one------------but flowers possibly too big for a small tree--

or move the first back branch back around to the left to partly fill that emptiness ---use a mega branch bender to give some action on the middle trunk area--

and also reduce the length of those upper branches

[Guy]

unfortunately unless azaleas are very old or have small flowers ,most have a canopy that is much too large for the trunk diameter--and tend to look like a bush rather than an old tree.

[MoGanic]

I think that a reduction to the left of the top of the picture, and a bit extra volume/length for the bottom left branch followed by moving the top branch down and the bottom branch up would be great. Also move the left most branch down a little, and give it more definition from the crown of the tree.

Not 100% if that's what anyone else would like to see, but Id love to.

[squizzy]

Thanks guys,

Plenty to think about. I think what I take from that is that I am stuck with keeping the height in the tree given the flower size but I am going to need a miracle to make the middle section work??????????? I like the idea of getting shoots to grow on the trunk and possibly keeping a few of them long term as additional branches. Should I cut hard to get these shoots happening?

I will think some more and see if I can find a solution using this great advise.

Squizz

[Damian Bee]

Hi Squizzy,

Just a quick picture for the value of sacrifice branches on an Azalea trunk.

IMG_1020.jpg

These at the base have been left to grow for a couple of years, they will be reduced and taken off along with most of the rest to start it off again with a new design.