AusBonsai

Gday,

I have a tree (pictured) in my front yard that I have been thinking of digging up as my next bonsai project. I don't know what sort of tree it is, however it has small green leaves and small white flowers and because of the size of its leaves and flowers i think it would be very suitable for bonsai. Can anyone tell me what sort of tree/plant it is. A friend of mine said he believed it was actually a 'weed'.

Anyway I am removing it as I am installing a rain chain from the down pipe and it is in the way. Its about 1.5 meters tall with an interesting trunk base. I have never dug before and am needing some help on how to do this best for the tree (so it survives etc..) Any ideas out there?? Thought I would just put it out there as I was over sitting on the verandah contemplating it!

Any help would be terrific,

I think th common name is mock orange but that's all I can tell you, not sure how it goes budding on very old wood.

Hi there, it could be a Philadelphus Belle Etoile.

The pruning and up keep should be similar to an Azalea....I'm not sure how this would go as a Bonsai, i would just dig it up end of season and put it in a tub, prune back hard and see how it goes.

Grant

Jarrod wrote:I think th common name is mock orange but that's all I can tell you, not sure how it goes budding on very old wood.

your looking for murraya paniculata jezz, i think it is a cultivar of that as well, the flowers are the same as mine but the leaves are a bit different. i would be leaning to murraya though, same growth style in the trunk/s as mine aswell.


jamie

Looks like a species of Pittosporum.

Yes. I also think it is a species of Pittosporum,Pittosporum heterophyllum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pitto ... hyllum.jpg
Nilushi

Hi Hutch,
It's Choysia ternata - Mexican Orange Blossom, tough as old boots, re-shoots from brutal pruning, it can get a little weedy. I'm not sure how it would do in bonsai cultivation, the leaves are arranged in whorls which would make refining foliage a little awkward, but why not give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

Cheers
MM

Thanks Mojo, what is meant by the leaves are arrnged in whorls??

Leaves in whorls means that the leaf nodes occur in a ring around the stem (like some Banksia sp.), not alternate (like Eucalyptus spp.)
You will get a bunch of leaves originating in a circle around the stem.

thanks for that, makes sense