Chinese Fringe- too tall!

[TreeClimberNick]

Hey everyone. My name is Nick. I'm an arborist in California. I've been lurking on your site for a few months now. I've not found a better bonsai site on the internet. You folks really take your time and give great details to help EVERYONE create and grow better trees.

I've been doing bonsai since 1995. However, I moved a lot since that time and the trees never made the move with me. They were always given away. I'm getting older and more settled in now, though! Some of the trees I have now I've had for a whopping three years. But for the most part, I have no clue what I'm doing. I can keep the trees alive and repot them and prune them and fertilize them. Where I need help is in seeing what the tree can and should become.

Let's get started, shall we?

This first tree I acquired just 2 months ago. I was working at a clients property and they had a 8' tall potted Chinese Fringe (Chionanthus retusus) that he wanted disposed of. I lopped the top off to see what can be done with it.

Here are the pics thus far

After topping, tree was just shy of 2 meters tall, including the root ball

chinese fringe 001.jpg

I began the root pruning by chopping the rootball in half.

chinese fringe 002.jpg

Root ball was eventually was reduced to about 20% of its original size.

chinese fringe 003.jpg

Then it was potted in a fabric pot about 1 meter wide by about 10cm deep.

chinese fringe 004.jpg

Here it is as it currently exists. It's shown a little bit of new growth, but it is winter time here, so I don't expect much until spring.

chinese fringe 005.jpg

So after all that. The big question is...what the heck do I do with it? The trunk is by far twice as thick as any tree I've ever had. But it's way too tall, no? Where should I cut it? How should I cut it? What kind of canopy do you envision on a trunk like this?

I'd love to hear what some of you think about it. I think it has potential...but I could be WAY wrong on this one.

love
nick

[alpineart]

Hi Treeclimbernick , mate i have one of these in the garden sad to say my purple /pink one died from alpineart shock quite a few years ago . I chopped the top completely off and let a couple of shoots grow on with some movement applied . Its the white flower variety and the base is around 50mm . The tree itself was grown as a bush 2m high about 7 foot in your lingo, rather than a tree , then a ripped into it a few year ago with the chainsaw and let it fly . I haven't seen too many as bonsai but if you like i will post a pic here on your topic , might give you an idea of what could or can be done with them .

Cheers Alpineart

[kcpoole]

Welcome nick,
I have not seen on myself, but the bark looks nice ant nebari looks interesting too
Do they back bud on old wood?
If so then I would cut back much harder 6 inches or so, and then regrow from there

You will need to grow a new leader and then build your branch structure based on what shoots you get

Ken

[LLK]

Hi, friend from LA! Welcome to this forum and thanks for the kind words.

Alpine, I think that your fringe flower bush is the Loropetalum chinensis, which has white flowers and a rubrum variety with pink flowers. It's not the same as Nick's, which is Chionanthes retusus, a small tree of 20 - 30 ft.
Nick, the fringe tree does exist here, but I've never seen or heard it being grown as a bonsai.
BTW, the confusion between fringes shows how important it is to use the botanical names when talking about plant species, doesn't it?

See URL for the fringe tree:http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/p ... es/671.pdf
Ditto for the fringe flower:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loropetalum

Nick, how about airlayering the top 3 ft off your tree? If it doesn't work, you'll still have the bottom half or thereabouts. If it works, well, you have two fringe trees to bonsai!
Btw, do you know the Golden State Bonsai Federation? See http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/

Lisa

While I wrote this, Ken's post came through. I have nothing to add to it.

[bodhidharma]

This looks like a great candidate for the formal upright style. Starting with the most difficult i know, but it would be a shame to waste that trunkline.

[TreeClimberNick]

Bodhi- you're saying keep the trunk at the current height?


love
nick

[alpineart]

Hi LLK , Thanks for setting me straight i would never have know as i have never really seen to many . Mine is definately a Chinese fringe flower . My apologies to Nick for the bum steer in the wrong direction and yes Welcome aboard the Ausbonsai Express . I guess i didn't tweek to well at 3.30 in the morning .

Cheers Alpineart

[bodhidharma]

Bodhi- you're saying keep the trunk at the current height?

A formal upright can be up to a metre tall but 800mm would be a good height for it. I would let it grow for a while at the height you have it now and make leader selection once the tree offers you options. if it gives you a strategically placed new leader you can use the existing trunk to hold it in position. Let it grow and give you branching for a year or two.

[time8theuniverse]

If you work on the branch structure at the top of the tree while your letting the tree regain its health, then later on you can see if the top of the tree connects to the bottom. If it doesn't connect then you can airlayer the top of and still be ahead.

I've had a similar experience with a Chinese flowering quince that I couldn't get to balance the top to bottom. So off with its head. Hopefully I'll have 2 trees out of it soon.

[Gerard]

This tree appears to be producing back budding.
I am less keen on the formal upright option because I feel that to produce a good one you need to have a bit of taper.
Have you considered a formal broom? Iwould make a "v" cut about a foot to 18 inches above soil level.
Here is a link to one I have done with a smaller elm tree.
viewtopic.php?f=138&t=11952&start=0&hilit=broom
Inspired by one of my favorite broom style trees

068.jpg

[bodhidharma]

A very nice option Gerard. Didnt enter my mind

[TreeClimberNick]

So 6 months have gone by. It hanging in there!!


love
nick

[TreeClimberNick]

Hmmm- pictures won't upload




love
nick