AusBonsai

I hemmed my 'across the park' bonsai mate's jeans [easy peasy job] and he dumped this pyracantha on my table in unask for restitution. I tried a wiring but wasn't achieving what I wanted so wetted the raffia, wrapped the trunk and started to shape. For those of you who have not worked with Pyras they are GREAT fun. You can snip the thorns which miniaturise along with the leaves but can still remind you of their presence. The wood fibres are short and break easily and the branches harden quickly so shaping is not always easy. However, you can crack a pyra branch and as long as it is still connected it continues to grow. So if you are going to do major shaping it is best to wrap the areas in wet raffia or vet tape [I would not use bicycle inner tube lengths on this species as that will inhibit shooting and a pyra shoots more than Ned Kelly on a good banking day.

Once the stabilisation material is in place do good wiring. Then start careful bending. Don't worry if there's a crack as long as there isn't a wobble that indicates the two pieces have separated. You have to be gentle but you can get away with a lot.

This particular tree was pulled from the garden and plopped unceremoniously into a pot of garden soil. Several weeks later I got it and repotted it with almost no roots into good soil AFTER doing the shaping. I didn't buy the ideal cascade pot because I wasn't paying $20 for what was most likely going to be a dead tree. But this baby has NOT looked back. From Day One it powered on. I have just snipped a bit of raffia away as a shoot is developing EXACTLY where I need it and I don't want to restrict its growth. Hold your breath and cross your fingers that it survives... it is just minute at the moment.

I have since checked every bonsai nursery in Sydney and not one has a pot that suits. But hey, what the heck... I can't touch it, I won't touch it until March 2010 at least to give this root growth time to really establish itself. It is such early days and I am not a cascade person but I think this little tree is going to be something really nice.

Pyras can display a wealth of tiny blossoms and then the berries, green for a long stretch than fat and orange or red in the autumn. They really beautifyyour bench, are fantastic trainers for newcomers as they need frequent pruning and shaping, are very forgiving and shoot back on old wood so if you lose an important branch you will get another in close proximity pretty soon. They can be hungry but aren't we all....

nice one lee! this will look great in flower and berry!

I'm not sure about the 'apical' branch - whether that will be part of the design or not - I'll see how the development goes before I make that decision. The branches near the ground are sacrifice only. It will have to go into a cascade pot far too large for its current size. Dorothy Koreshoff says that you cannot style a cascade outside of a cascade pot so it will be overpotted for several years. This is only a training pot... I want a round one with NO lip or a hexagon. But I think round will be the choice .. .when one comes on a shelf in a reasonable size.

It is important to ensure that the pot is not smaller at the top than the middle as Pyras are good rooters and it would be hard to remove it safely. I have a cascade pot that would suit it well but it would mean breaking the pot to remove the tree for the next repot and I am not prepared to do that to an older pot. In the meantime, grow Baby, grow.