Rescued Jacaranda - Help me make a plan!

[aramirezo91]

Hello everyone

My name is Andrea and I’m new here!

My hobbies include painting, building furniture out of recycled materials, making jewelry real dried leaves and flowers, and plant keeping! I’m also huge on fishkeeping although I currently don’t have any fish tanks. I’m 30, originally from Venezuela but living in Florida now and I’m very excited to get to know you all!

Long story short, I rescued an abandoned Jacaranda tree from my neighbors house. Apparently they went to a show where they were giving away free trees, but when they realized how big this tree grows they were just going to let it die. This is my first time attempting to make a bonsai out of a tree and although I have read and research a lot, I still feel fairly lost.

I am attaching pictures of my tree below to see what you guys think of my current plan

I am planning on getting to bonsai out of this tree since it is already fairly tall. The bottom has thickened up a little bit and is not really shapeable anymore. I was planning on cutting it a few inches above where the roots end, and letting it grow from there.

It has a few exposed roots that I kinda like. I’d probably get rid of the top one but I was thinking maybe I could try an exposed root type of look?

For the second half, I shaved lightly part of the bark and put some rooting hormone in that spot. I covered the tree with soil and coconut fiber around that same place, then covered it with a dark bag and some saran wrap to keep it moist in an attempt of getting roots to start growing there. He is kind of awkwardly tied right now with some wire and a cord because I’m worried about it hardening up before I can shape it. The top is super flexible but the bottom seems pretty solid already.


What do you guys think? Also, how di you defoliate a tree with this type of leaves?

Also, I put some cutting paste over some dead roots I cut off the base. I read it helps the tree scar better and avoid infection? Should I put that over the stem once I chop the top part off?

Thank you!!




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[Akhi]

Welcome to the bonsai world once in there is just no escape, Jacaranda as a bonsai subject is not the easiest tree to bonsai, but if you do want to persist suggest that you plant it in the ground and let it grow a thick trunk, say 2 inches or so, and then do a Chop say 5 cam from the base. New shoots should develop, pick one of the and gently wire in the direction you want it to grow. Allow that to keep grown till it is thick enough to heal over the chop you made earlier. Do that a couple of more times and you should end up with a good trunk line. Developing a trunk is the toughest and most time consuming stage. Only then you get into developing branches.
So good luck with that one and while this grows over the next decade, you can accumulate a large number is easier trees like azaleas, Chinese elm, maples etc.

[shibui]

Aki has some good ideas.
Wire and bend is only one of the ways we can put bends in a trunk. When we chop a trunk the new shoots that grow will all have different directions. As they grow that can give us bends in the trunk.
You mention cutting paste to help heal cuts. Are you referring to some sort of wound dressing or the hormone we use for cuttings? Cutting hormone does not assist healing as far as I am aware but cut paste or wound dressing does seem to help.

[aramirezo91]

Thank you so much for your response! Since I’m trying to get some rooting toward the top of the trunk I figured I could use both methods.. cutting near the bottom where its thicker, and then bending with the top piece. I’m now debating if I should just leave it planted on the ground first for some time to let the trunk grow thick. I hadn’t considered it until it was mentioned here because from my understanding there’s other ways of helping to thicken the trunk.. the two that stood out (and seemed faster/easier… I know….. this hobby will DEFINITELY teach me some much needed patience! ) like splitting it in half at the bottom or making some cuts so that the trunk generates scars over them that will make it get thicker. What are your thoughts on this?

Regarding the cut paste that I bought, here’s the link!

Kiyonal New Bonsai Pruning Cutting Paste 100g Made in Japan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJM7TMI/re ... UTF8&psc=1


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[Akhi]

You can split and scar the trunk and plant it in the ground which might get you the best outcome. Jacaranda however has lovely bark but takes time to develop. Good luck. And saw anotherr post from you on defoliation, that's for advanced bonsai trees which are not in trunk development mode.

[aramirezo91]

You can split and scar the trunk and plant it in the ground which might get you the best outcome. Jacaranda however has lovely bark but takes time to develop. Good luck. And saw anotherr post from you on defoliation, that's for advanced bonsai trees which are not in trunk development mode.

Sounds good!! I’ll be back for more defoliation questions in.. who knows how long! I’ll be sure to upload some update pics in a few months though thank you so so much for your help!


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[aramirezo91]

Update!!

I chopped my little tree a few weeks ago and it has exploded since then!! I was going for a larger bonsai and definitely regretted cutting it so short, but he still looks adorable

Any suggestions on where to go from here?









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[shibui]

You want a larger bonsai so let all those new shoots grow. All together they will add more thickness to the lower trunk than the original trunk but will also give you much needed taper and smaller scars when you chop next time.
Just watch out for reverse taper as they all seem to be close together. Don't hesitate to cut one or 2 off if there's even a hint of more thickening near the new shoots than below. hopefully they are low enough on the main trunk and spread enough to grow without causing problems.

You could start to work on structure and shape now but the results are likely to be second rate. I'd spend more time growing to get better structure to work with in future.

[kcpoole]

NIce
It is not too low to cut where you have
As Shibui said you will have to be careful of reverse taper so i would select 1 shoot only to keep and remove the rest
let that 1 shoot grow a little and then wire it loosely, to change its direction and give you trunk movement in the future.

Let that shoot grow mad for a year or 2, then cut back again. rinse repeat to build taper in the trunk then you can grow the branches in the same way

Here is my progression thread of mine
viewtopic.php?f=129&t=5621
and i must update it

Ken

[aramirezo91]

[mention]shibui [/mention] [mention]kcpoole [/mention]

Thank you so much for your time I got this tree because someone was going to throw it out so I didn’t really have time to study the process of creating a bonsai before starting. I’ve had to learn as I go.

So reverse taper, according to my research means that the trunk is thicker in the top than on the bottom, right? I can see how that would be an undesirable and unnatural looking trait for a tree, but how exactly do I avoid it? By cutting some branches down when they’re still green?

Also given the leaf shape of this tree, is there any particular style that you think would look better? I’m terrified of choosing a branch to let grow and chopping the rest off, and then regretting it later!


Kevin, I saw your Bonsai a few weeks ago and I love it!!! Your thread was the one that gave me the last little push to decide to go for it with my tree!! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the progression of your beautiful tree. Looking forward to seeing mine grow and evolve in time

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[shibui]

Reverse taper is any place that the trunk or a branch gets thicker instead of progressively thinner. Could be at the top or in the middle or anywhere.
Sometimes it just happens but most often it happens when several branches grow close together on the trunk. Each branch contributes food so the trunk grows. With several close together the trunk grows a lot thicker and reverse taper happens. It does not hurt the tree but you are correct that it does not look good so for bonsai where looks are everything reverse taper is bad.
To avoid reverse taper make sure branches are well spaced along the trunk. If several are growing close together simply prune some off. Problem solved.
It is hard to help with which branch to remove unless we know what shape you'd like to achieve. Bonsai often have bent trunks so pruning to a new shoot that gives us a bend is often a good choice but if you'd rather have straight trunk then choose the shoot that gives the straightest line.
It is also hard to pick which branches will be good and which to chop when we only have a couple of 2D photos. It's not possible to see here each shoot starts and which direction it goes so almost impossible to give meaningful styling advice.

Everyone is scared of making the 'wrong' choice but making no choice in bonsai is far worse than making any choices. In bonsai time fixes almost everything so make the best choice and get on with it. If you are still worried try tossing a coin to help with the decision process. getting started is the most important thing.

Jacaranda have large, divided leaves. Even if the leaves become smaller with bonsai they'll still be quite big so most Jacaranda bonsai will be larger trees. They can be any shape but I doubt Jacaranda would grow well as a cascade style.
Another drawback with Jacaranda is that they have a habit of branches dying without warning. Most large trees have some dead branches and dead sticks on the ground where parts of branches have died and new bits grow to replace them.
You'll just have to do the best you can with this tree.
Good luck.

[kcpoole]

In addition to Shibui post, your tree is young so plenty of time to learn on it and experiment
I used mine initially as a Wiring trainer.
I would wire it and practice as I went. Leve it on for a while and then took off and cut and regrew again

Pick one branch on the top side left to keep and remove everything else

Ken

[aramirezo91]

Update!!

A few months later and after some branch trimming, repotting, and hard decision making this is where we stand

It was looking pretty messy and the leaves are huge! So I trimmed it back a little and manually shaped the leaves to look slightly more balanced and proportional with the rest of the tree.

Underground, I planted the tree around a ton of really cool looking rocks, and am hoping to have it in a different pot down the road where the roots and rocks could be exposed. It already has a really pretty root system, but I’m having trouble getting new root growth to attach to the rocks.

Any ideas on where to go from here? Not sure what to do with any new branch growth, either on the trunk or on the two branches it already has!

Thank you all! You’ve been really helpful





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[Akhi]

Keep it well fed and get it to grow a couple of seasons. The roots will cling onto the rock as they grow thicker so hopefully there are crevices in the rock into which you have inserted the roots.

[TimJ7]

Interesting tree, I'm keen to see how it develops!

I inherited a sad broken little one of these this year that just managed a few shoots before the cold hit. I'm hoping to be able to post a comparison plant when spring comes around and then maybe I'll be able to share some experience.
Best of luck, I like the root on rock design!
TimJ