AusBonsai

everyone,

I'm kinda new to all things gardening and have seemed to quickly developed a love for japanese maples. This has in turn opened up the world of bonsai for me.

So, I recently had to dig up fairly mature camellia (due to house renovations). I thought hey why not try to keep it.
So I heavily pruned it, did some radical root pruning, washed out all the old soil and repotted it in some nice stuff.

I'm hoping to get some suggestions on where to go from here, or to hear if anyone has any experience with these plants?
I can't even tell you what variety it is. Didn't pay much attention to it while in flower last year Red flowers i think
here's a few photos of it.


The last pic is of a branch I tried to air-layer about a year ago. I really didn't think it had worked and had just left the sphagnum moss on.
When i dug up the tree I unwrapped the moss and.. Well....one single 100mm root had grown. I cut the branch and stuck it in a pot.

Two weeks later theres new growth on both trees.

That's a graceful curve on the trunk, and well worth digging. You will probably need to pick one of the top two trunk options and remove the other, down the track.

Then you need to deal with the sudden decrease in thickness between the trunk and what else has grown. I'd leave it a year to stabilise - fertilise and let it have its head while it gets a good root system, then grow a leader quite long, to thicken it, and keep a few low branches, selected to balance each other, cut fairly short, so they form the lower framework when the upper trunk tapers gradually from the lower. It will take some time, but it's worth it.

Hope this makes sense.

Gavin

Great dig. Follow Gavins advice and give it at least 12 months to recover and put on some growth. When healthy you can make some styling decisions. It is a few years away from being very good.

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for your feedback.
I like the idea of removing one of the top two trunks and was probably not going to do anymore trunk cutting for a year or so, just like you said. I'm in absolutely no hurry with this and am happy just to feed and let it grow. I have a feeling these guys flower over winter - do you know if this is correct? Will be interesting to see if it flowers again this season once it recovers.

There doesn't seen to be much discussion around about camellia as bonsai Do you know why this is ?

maybe just not that desirable??

does anyone experience or possibly photos of ones they have done?

Cheers Watto,

At least this will keep me interested. Think it will be a good way to learn how trees grow

G'day parkdalemaple.

Nice Camelia mate. Yes you can Bonsai em. I have one myself which is responding quite well this year. i should get quite a show. It is about 10 years old as a bonsai. They are slow growers as in height but having said that,they will put off a lot of new leaves eash year but not long leggy runners or much height. And yes, they flower in winter mate.

Here she is today in Flower