buxus harlandii shohin

[Jamie]

Hi Jamie,
I am not familiar with this species, is it a rough bark species of box ? Certainly seems to make nice bonsai
Craig

yea pretty much mate, i think i would call it more corky than rough though. here is a close up of the way the bark is,

buxus.jpg

it is a very soft cory bark, yet the actual wood is quite hard, i find this species more interesting with the trunk than that of japanese box and kingsville box.
both of the others have a smoother bark.

the bark on this doesnt take long to cork up either, this tree was bought as a starter and i would say is only 3 - 4 years old, cant be certain on that though.
and yes they make great little trees, as for larger trees they take a fair while to thicken, so ground growing them probably wouldnt hurt if you want a bigger tree. ramification can be developed quite well, and the leaves are naturally smaller than that of the other box species. the leaves are about 8-10mm long by 3-5mm wide, oval elliptical like shape

jamie

[craigw60]

Thanks Jamie,
Thats beautiful bark. You are going to have a lovely tree there I suppose the bark will get better as the tree ages.
Craig

[Jamie]

thanks craig

yea the trees bark will keep corking up as it ages, which i like because it adds alot more width to the trunk, this trunk being approx 30-35mm wide, i would say about 3mm of that would be the cork bark, if not up to 5mm.
i love the little tree, i have another little upright one aswell. but it suffered some die back when i potted it, that was because i took a heap of the rootball off straight up, i learnt my mistake with this one and reduced its root ball in stages until i was able to fit it in this pot

jamie