AusBonsai

This is Buddleja saligna, a very popular tree for bonsai here in South-Africa because it is freely available. It can be dug quite easily and the leaves reduce tremendously. It backbuds profusely everywhere! The only setback is that the roots are connected to certain branches in veins. Cut the branch then the root may die or the other way around.

Here are a few views of the nebari, which side would you choose for the front?

I vote 'E' for the best trunk view but branch positions will have to be considered too and we can't see them very high up.

nice trunk lennard, full of character. look forward to seeing what you do with it.

yep E aswell, has good character, if these back bud well branch selection and placement shouldnt be an issue.
nice one tho

An update on this one.
The branches are forming nicely and I have started to grow a few new ones. I'm keeping the older pads regularly pinched to force all the growth into the new branches.

I have not decided on a front of the tree and I'm thinking of growing this tree into a bonsai that have a few fronts because the nebari looks good from a few sides.

What I have decided is to grow the tree into a formal upright lightning struck style with slightly drooping branches because I don't have a formal upright. I believe the species will be well suited to this because the leaves are pine-like.

At last I have found a tree that I can model my tree on. Its a formal upright by a certain Mr. Iwasaki as shown in Charles Ceronio's book, Bonsai styles of the world. (I believe he would forgive me for using the photo for a virt.) The biggest challenge for me is to hide the non-taper top part of the tree.

The virted tree. (I am allowed to dream?)
Any comments or advice as always welcome.

Lennard

Nothing wrong with Dreaming Lennard. If you can achieve that Virt it would be fantastic.

nice one lenard! i can see this virt coming up true for sure!!

i may be a little bit pedantic but technically with the curve in the trunk its not a tru formal upright, but it will still a nice tree so technicalities dont bother me!

Jamie

An update on this one:

I have carved the trunk a bit and the pads are coming along nicely.

This side is the lightning struck side:
I am still building the pads and the deadwood area on the top left hand side need to be worked on to get better taper. The finer detail on the deadwood will be done as soon as the pad building is complete.

Any advice and comments still welcome.

Lennard

Love how this one is shaping up mate, got some real nice structure going and plenty of character.

I am rethinking the front of the tree.

When working on the tree I was always thinking of the tree as a tree with a few possible fronts, but after the carving I realized this was a far fetched dream: trees with multiple fronts may work when you are doing styles like brooms or the like.

Turning the tree a little bit to the left gives a better front- the nebari is more interesting and there is some taper visible:
Then turning it a little more to the left it gives you even better taper, nice nebari.......but little deadwood!
Any thoughts on this?

Lennard

Hey Lennard,

This is really progressing well, another couple of years on the pads and you will have a stunner. I really like both of the last 2 pics, there are several fronts as you originally thought, if you plant it in a drum pot you can turn it on whim and enjoy all its faces.

I have a couple of pieces from an old bush that had to be removed, would love to know more about your care & training methods, most here consider it not suited to bonsai so have never been able to find out anything about it.

Matt

MattA wrote:
I have a couple of pieces from an old bush that had to be removed, would love to know more about your care & training methods, most here consider it not suited to bonsai so have never been able to find out anything about it.

Matt

Which Buddleja species are you talking about?

Lennard

Hey Lennard,

Unfortunately I do not know, it was part of a load of stuff I removed from a friends very old garden. It has a creamy white flower with yellow centres. It sends up suckers & also suffers from a fair amount of rot & die back each season but powers back everytime...

Matt

Hi again Lennard

Another great progression mate. I missed it originally.

I would have chose C/D for the front in the original post, and this seems to equate to b in your recent post. I agree it shows good taper and nebari. You might not see the carving, but you could actually carve a little more and improve the taper again. Nice to have options and you could certainly work with a couple if you choose.

Nice virt and a good place to aim.

Once again nice work.

Best Regards

Tony

MattA wrote:Hey Lennard,

Unfortunately I do not know, it was part of a load of stuff I removed from a friends very old garden. It has a creamy white flower with yellow centres. It sends up suckers & also suffers from a fair amount of rot & die back each season but powers back everytime...

Matt

Picture maybe?

Lennard