Building a Jacaranda

[MattA]

I have been a bit lost without my pc for the last week, but it has also been good to spend that time taking the lessons learnt from Ausbonsai and applying them to my trees. Lots of threads have contributed but one comment in particular has stuck with me, that of not wanting to rework trees from the start of your time with bonsai.

I have a jacaranda that has been with me from the very beginnings of my journey with bonsai and besides coming at it all wrong and hence never progressing, it also has a nasty flaw, dead straight trunk from ground to 1st branch and that 1st branch comes out at a perfect right angle. No matter what i have done over the years i could never get it to move away from that position.

I finally gave up on trying to make Jacky (Jacaranda mimosifolia) into a small tree and planted her in the ground 2 yrs ago to grow on. However I was still working with the original idea of 20yrs ago, until this week. Now I have a clear plan of attack.

My first issue is that awful right angle branch, so I plan to cut a wedge out of the bottom of it, bringing the branch down about 20degrees. Repeat the process on the trunk just above the first branch so I can bring it across about 10degrees in the same direction as the 1st branch flows. Allow free growth for a year to ensure good healing of the cuts then cut back hard to my starting point, dig and replant inclining the trunk about 30degrees in the opposite direction to the flow of the first branch.

I will then allow free growth for another year to let the roots get established and growth rates to increase. In 2 years time I can start pruning twice a year for another 5 years, then dig, do root work again and start phase 3. For the next 5yrs I will prune 3 -4 times each season, slowly building the framework for my final planned tree. After this period of ground growing, I will move her to an oversize pot and continue pruning 3-4 times a year for another 5yrs. At this stage I am hoping she will be approaching my final desired size & structure, about 100-120cm high & a bit more in width. And I will finally allow her to flower once again.

After this 15+yr building process I should be ready to start working on foliage reduction, I know I can get the leaves to reduce to about 5cm in total length compared to the usual 30-40cm on a mature tree in the ground. On seeing how far Grant is pushing some trees and especially the Ash in the national collection I am sure that the leaves on my Jacky will go even smaller. Hopefully by then I will also have more knowledge and skill to be able to achieve my aims. A Jacaranda in miniature that resembles the one I saw every morning growing up as I opened my bedroom window, and the mother of my eventual bonsai.

Matt

[archie1979]

Hiya Matt,
Sounds like a plan, have you got any pics to show us.

Arch

[anttal63]

Give it ya best shot pal!

[MattA]

Hey Archie, Sorry no pics as yet, am using the local library or a mates pc to access the net. Once I get mine up & running again and get my camera out of the local bonsai club library (I left it behind last sat) I will get some up. I also found a photo from 1997 and 2005 that really highlighted how little changed over that time. I will scan them & get them loaded up as well.

Ant, thats all any of us can do... a good friend asked me why i would bother persisting after so many years of no progress... because i can...also because i am coming at it from a very different perspective.

A few things that I have been trying to work out in my head since posting this yesterday. I am wondering if I should do the branch repositioning first or dig & replant first. If I dig first it would simply reverse the order but not alter my planned timeline, however it would mean that once the branch is repositioned it would not be in a downward stance and hence less likely to be shed. Jacaranda have a huge dislike of anything being taken below the horizontal (guess that answers my own question).

The other is doing the wedge cuts, where i plan to cut into the trunk is directly above the branch that i will also be wedge cutting, am i right in thinking that the flow of energy from each section will be sufficient to heal both at the same time or would I be better to do one then the other once the first has healed? The same friend who asked why I would bother has put forward the idea that by doing both wedge cuts at the same time I am risking losing the branch or even the whole upper section of the tree. What do others think?

Matt

[MattA]

I finally have my camera back, many thanks to our club secretary for taking it home instead of locking it up in the library cupboard for a month. So here are pics of my 'Jacky' and the one I used to see every morning when i opened my blinds.

jacarandainsprs.jpg

jacky97.jpg

R0012827.JPG

I have been thinking about the wedgecut and wondering can I make the cut thru the base of the branch and into the trunk, effectively moving both trunk & branch in a single operation? Not the best illustration of what i mean but something like this.

R0012828.JPG

Matt

[dennismc]

Matt

No disrespect intended but should you get a jacaranda bonsai to flower you will have achieved something unique and thus achieve world wide fame!!

Even Jacaranda that have flowered in the ground stubbornly refuse to do so when Bonsai trained. Even if allowed to grow unrestrained in a bonsai pot - no success.

I am looking forward to seeing how this one goes.

haveaniceday

Dennis Mc

[MattA]

Matt

No disrespect intended but should you get a jacaranda bonsai to flower you will have achieved something unique and thus achieve world wide fame!!

Even Jacaranda that have flowered in the ground stubbornly refuse to do so when Bonsai trained. Even if allowed to grow unrestrained in a bonsai pot - no success.

I am looking forward to seeing how this one goes.

haveaniceday

Dennis Mc

Hey Dennis,

None taken, I have had this tree from a 1yr old seedling. I had been told they can take many years to flower (up to 15yrs) from seed so never worried about if it did or not. It finally flowered on its 21st birthday, it has always been grown in pots, usually deep cascade type pots or the common glazed garden pots as it is in in the pic from 1997. After it had flowered is when I decided to put it back in the ground to get some real growth & thickness on, mainly because the flower spray just looked so out of place on such a small tree. At that time the trunk was less than 2cm and it stood 45cm tall, 2yrs in the ground it is now about 6cm across the trunk and about 90cm tall, tho this height will be radically reduced after flowering in October, when I will also dig & replant with the trunk on a slant.

Matt

The secret to getting them to flower is to not touch the shoots after the end of February, it flowered in ground last year as I had not pruned it. As for world wide fame.. NO THANKS.. I just want a Jacaranda like the one I grew up looking at and climbing. I will get my folks to take some more pics of it when it flowers later this year, the mother of mine has spread so much in the last 20 yrs, it is now difficult to get a car in the driveway it hangs so low & full, taking up over half of their front garden.

[GavinG]

Since the "first branch" looks to be about as thick as the upright "trunk" have you considered cutting the trunk off above the first branch, and leaning it over to the left for a semi-cascade? Could be elegant.

Gavin

[Jamie]

if you cut that main trunk section off then tilt the tree to the right you are then going to have a bit of movement in the tree instead of it looking like its going straight up, then what would happen is the tree will throw a plethora of new shoots from around the wound to create a first branch, then build the rest of the tree from that

just a thought

[MattA]

Since the "first branch" looks to be about as thick as the upright "trunk" have you considered cutting the trunk off above the first branch, and leaning it over to the left for a semi-cascade? Could be elegant.

Gavin

Gavin,
I hadnt considered turning this into a semi cascade. The thought does sound elegant tho and gives me an idea to use on the latest batch of seedlings waiting to be planted out.

if you cut that main trunk section off then tilt the tree to the right you are then going to have a bit of movement in the tree instead of it looking like its going straight up, then what would happen is the tree will throw a plethora of new shoots from around the wound to create a first branch, then build the rest of the tree from that

just a thought

Jamie, lets see a virt of your ideas, I am aiming for a tree of about 3-4ft high. This will allow it to carry blooms without them being too out of proportion. While leaf reduction is extremely easy to achieve, the flower sprays do not reduce, approx 12-18" long. I am no good with virts but have started a painting to try and show what I am after, none to easy for an abstractionist. I dont see a heap of "movement" just subtle curves like some informal maples.

Matt

[Jamie]

quick and dirty matt

virt for matt jacaranda.jpg

you would need to cut at the red lines then tilt the tree clockwise.

R0012827.JPG

jamie

[kcpoole]

That would be easily doable trunkline Jamie
The foliage will never look lie that tho

Ken

[MattA]

That would be easily doable trunkline Jamie
The foliage will never look lie that tho

Ken

Ken you are spot on, the trunkline is very doable with the right species and gives me ideas for a pine I recently got. But not with Jacarandas.

This is a really rough mud map of how I see this tree. The canvas is approx 110cmx 120cm wide, work in progress just like the real tree.

R0012845rs.jpg

Matt

[Jamie]

That would be easily doable trunkline Jamie
The foliage will never look lie that tho

Ken

i never expected the foliage like that, it was just quick and dirty but it didnt look right without something there

[MattA]

All the local Jacaranda are blooming so its time to repot or in the case of this one dig & replant. Because of late pruning it didnt flower, instead that energy has been thrown into growth, already over 1m long & new branchs almost 1cm thick.

R0014115.jpg

All the growth was cut back into last years wood apart from the first branch on the right. If a branch is a bit weak at the end of its first year, it is often sacrificed for a new shoot somewhere else. If you prune all others and not that one there is a good chance it will shoot & gain enough strength to not be lost in future seasons.

R0014117.jpg

The tree was then dug & roots inspected, not that much to look at really, shortened up to go with the new planting angle & then back into the ground.I am not too bothered by the roots as I knew I would have to do remedial work at some stage in the future. I am going to do some expereiments over the coming years regarding layering of the species but if that is not an option I know they fuse easily enough so grafting roots around the base to create a better nebari is an option.

R0014122.jpg

R0014123.jpg

The first branch is actually thicker than the trunk in a few spots due to scar thickening and with the new planting angle presents a very different picture. I didnt take too much notice of the angle I was taking the last pic from. I will get some more tomorow from a slightly different angle, there is a really good front I can see from the lounge window

Plans out the window again .. thats what they are for ... the tree to disregard....
(someone had a haiku on there sig about plans & trees disregard, I cant remember or I would credit)

Matt