AusBonsai

I went on an 'urban dig' today, looking for a biggish boug that I wanted for a Tony Bebb workshop in July. I found this one, already in a pot, although the roots had grown out the bottom and needed to be cut. The gentleman who owned the house said he was wanting to dig it out and take it to the tip - so I was welcome to take it. He even cut the roots and put the whole thing in my car! (I did eventually persuade him to take some money for it).

What I need to know now is - what now? How do I get this to a manageable size? I know it needs to be repotted quick, but do I cut back roots and put it in a shallower pot?
What about the branches? I don't want to style them just yet, but I was going to cut everything off at about 50 cm height. Can I do this AND trim roots at the same time? We are having cooler nights now - about 15 degrees, but days are still mid 20's, and there are some new shoots on the tree.

Glenda

Bougs are very hardy so you could trim/chop any way you like without worrying about killing it. I would expose more under the soil line and chop after the first bend then also change the planting angle but at least remove the middle branch.

kvan64 wrote:Bougs are very hardy so you could trim/chop any way you like without worrying about killing it. I would expose more under the soil line and chop after the first bend then also change the planting angle but at least remove the middle branch.

Thanks Kvan. I am just going to chop off the top and some roots for now, and wait for the workshop. The flower is a lovely mauve. He had some bigger ones, but didn't want to get rid of them. He had a hedge of bougs that were all in pots - but this one was on the end and getting to the stage it was spreading over the driveway. I thought it was pretty good for $20

Glenda

Hi Glenda
I would just leave it in the pot for the demo - in my experience bougys in pots (ordinary or bonsai) take a long time to grow some roots to firm them up in the pot. If it's going to be used in a demo it may be better if it is secure in the pot.

Bougy Fan wrote:Hi Glenda
I would just leave it in the pot for the demo - in my experience bougys in pots (ordinary or bonsai) take a long time to grow some roots to firm them up in the pot. If it's going to be used in a demo it may be better if it is secure in the pot.

Bougy Fan - the pot is split and held together with wire just to get it home. The workshop is not for two months. It had hardly any roots at all! I just trimmed back the thick fibrous roots that had no feeder roots and have wired it in to a large, shallow pot after liberal application of rooting hormone to every available spot. And I have cut off the top and put it in a pot with heaps of rooting hormone too, so maybe it will strike if I am lucky. Fingers crossed for both.

Glenda