AusBonsai

Zimzallabim and Sno: thank you for the encouraging comments.

Hi Lisa all that praying has worked . This competition finishes at the end of November . Now if I get down on my hands knees and start praying I wonder if it will work for me . In the mountains to your south we are slower to get going than Canberra in spring .
With your tree I like your direction .

Gee, Sno, I should pray more often. In the meantime, maybe I'll learn to read the competition rules a bit better! Sorry, Steven e.a. -- But it still is a relief that I'll have the time, hopefully, to repot this babe and render it a bit more presentable before the final deadline.

Lisa

Progress report:
Removal of the biggest root;
Further shortening of the smallest trunk;
Thinning of secondary branches.
Present height 27 cm, so a bit too tall. Planting it deeper should fix that.

Lisa

One month since the last update. Leaves growing bigger, otherwise no change, which isn't surprising considering the season and the fact that a large root was removed.

We are very slowly getting there. This shohin has spent the entire Winter in a sunny, frost-free place, hence the early leafing out and the chance of bonsai-potting it. Still a bit too tall.

Lisa

Since the last posting I have removed the 3d and smallest branch and repotted this small privet again. The present pot is a bit big, but I had started by giving the shohin a pot that was too small for the size of the rootball I had had to leave on repotting. The little tree almost died as a result and took a long time to recover. So, in the end I don't have a very elegant bonsai, but it's still come a very long way and has plenty of potential. Height 22 cm.

Lisa

I have privet project on the go as well
Love the movement and nebari! thanks for sharing!

Thanks, banong, and good luck with your privet project!

Lisa