Defoliation of a Hawthorn.

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » December 29th, 2015, 11:12 am

Hi all,

I hadn't ever (that I remember) defoliated a Hawthorn intentionally(i.e. not because of a dry out).

I had let my best Hawthorn grow unchecked this year so when I did a big trim back I also defoliated it. This was around the 1st of December.

Well 4 weeks later it is back mostly in leaf and elongating again so I did a light trim to maintain an even vigour over the tree for the rest of the growing season.

This tree was dug from the ground around 2008 and hasn't flowered yet.

IMG_7579.jpg

IMG_7581.jpg

Grant

Pearcy001 · Post by **Pearcy001** » December 29th, 2015, 12:22 pm

Wow Grant, beautiful tree!

Was the carving a result of rot or inspiration?

Very nice indeed

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » December 29th, 2015, 12:42 pm

Pearcy001 wrote:Wow Grant, beautiful tree!

Was the carving a result of rot or inspiration?

Very nice indeed

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Some very heavy branches/trunks were removed early on; and Hawthorn are very slow to heal over so I decided to carve out the scars on the trunk about 5 years ago, rather than try and get them to heal over..

I am trying to firm up the live edges of trunk now so that i can carve out the remaining deadwood and get the tree ready for display in a year or two.

The ramification is coming along OK.

Grant

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » December 29th, 2015, 12:42 pm

viewtopic.php?f=129&t=15654&hilit=+Hawthorn

Link to another thread on this Hawthorn.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » December 29th, 2015, 2:34 pm

When pruning / defoliating hawthorn I have found that the new buds are usually protected by thorns which tend to direct new growth back toward the main trunk in most cases. Do you remove thorns when defoliating or leave them to protect the buds. I assume older thorns are always removed because they hurt!

Nate.bonsai · Post by **Nate.bonsai** » December 29th, 2015, 3:08 pm

Grant that is a beautiful tree.

If I may, have you thought about removing the bottom left branch - the one that comes off the root?

I think that it is a little incongruous and would also introduce some nice negative space and a bit of imbalance/dynamism to the overall silhouette. However, not a criticism, a beautiful tree either way.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » December 29th, 2015, 3:14 pm

Gerard wrote:When pruning / defoliating hawthorn I have found that the new buds are usually protected by thorns which tend to direct new growth back toward the main trunk in most cases. Do you remove thorns when defoliating or leave them to protect the buds. I assume older thorns are always removed because they hurt!

I took off all the thorns in the autumn trim and then any new or remaining in the recent defoliation; if that helps.

You do occasionally get a portion of twig that doesn't' bud out properly if that is what you mean, but that seems to happen without defoliation anyhow.

Grant

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » December 29th, 2015, 3:16 pm

Nate.bonsai wrote:Grant that is a beautiful tree.

If I may, have you thought about removing the bottom left branch - the one that comes off the root?

I think that it is a little incongruous and would also introduce some nice negative space and a bit of imbalance/dynamism to the overall silhouette. However, not a criticism, a beautiful tree either way.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The bottom branch is a bit of whimsy/serendipity that may or may not remain long term. It does add to the winter bulk/silhouette.

Grant

AusBonsai

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