AusBonsai

This is another of my Jacaranda, 4 yrs old from seed. It was part of a clump that sprouted while still confined to the pod. I seperated this and another from the group 2yrs ago.

The tray is 60cm long with a piece of driftwood collected from the Myall lakes, the darkened colour of the lower portion is the level it was buried in the mud. The jacaranda has been planted into the arrangement since Nov 09. Driftwood is 45cm long & 12cm high, the largest leaves are 9cm long & the smallest are just 3cm.

Jacaranda dont have the most spectacular fall colouration but I enjoy watching the colour slowly change from rich green thru slight reds to a final straw yellow before finally dropping. Matt

I like it!

On posting about my big Jacaranda I mentioned a smaller one... this is it.. The full size leaf is from a garden grown sister to this tree and is 45cm long by 20cm wide, the next leaf is a 'large' one from Crab Cove measuring 12cm long by 5cm wide and the smallest is just 2cm long by 1cm wide. I have not repotted this year as it is not an easy process, the tree is threaded thru a hole in the driftwood, it was the only way to get the roots into what little soil contained on this tray. Matt

pretty amazing mate, they look really cool

Fascinating! Have you defoliated to get the leaves that small? Or is it only from growing in a small pot? That would be fantastic if it was defoliating; I have a couple of seedlings myself and it would be great if I could create shohins or even mame from them rather than waiting for them to grow large enough to suit their leaf size. Nice landscape, and interesting use of the log!

I just bought 50 seeds today, hopefully i can create some weird things

missybonsai wrote:Fascinating! Have you defoliated to get the leaves that small? Or is it only from growing in a small pot? That would be fantastic if it was defoliating; I have a couple of seedlings myself and it would be great if I could create shohins or even mame from them rather than waiting for them to grow large enough to suit their leaf size. Nice landscape, and interesting use of the log!

The foliage size is a combination of factors:
Tray - very little soil can be fit on a tray like this as it only has a small rim around the edge
Water - allow the tree to go a little longer between waterings when it is coming into new growth
Food - Hold back on feeding the tree until the first sets of leaves have hardened
Combining heavy pruning with defoliation - I allow it to grow until the bark starts to change from green to grey then cut back to the first pair of leaves and remove them leaving the stubby base of the leaf stalk.

I have defoliated in the past and just trimmed the tips of the branchs, this did nothing for leaf size they came back larger & destroyed ramification with many buds not popping. If its combined with HARD pruning then you not only get good budding at the cut but generally get other backbuds on the trunk or branchs. Budding can often occur low down a trunk near the nebari, this shoot MUST be removed immediately or controlled rigourously as it will draw most of the energy away from the rest of the tree and very quickly take over.

This tree is 4yrs old & wont considerably change in a decade or more unless its put into a larger pot. A pair of sisters from the seeds this came from are planted in my front garden, in the 2 yrs they have been there, have gone from the same size as this to 2mtr tall trunks that are about 4cm dia! Using the right growing & pruning methods I think very credible mame could be grown in 5yrs, shohin in not much more. Something bigger? given what i know of this species now and a good starter i think a very good mid to large size tree is achievable in 10-15yrs. If you want it to bear flowers its best to go for a larger size, the individual flowers are not huge but are born enmasse in large branching panicles.

Hope this helps, they are another special tree for me.

Matt

Thanks for the info on leaf reduction Matt
I have had on e for a while now and always struggle with leaf size somewhat so will try your method

the tree grown from seed about 5 years ago and always been in a pot ( a big one).

Ken

Hey Ken,

Thats a beautiful little jac you have there. Love the movement you have gotten into it and when that bark creeps up into the branching its going to be glorious. I am guessing the photo is as its coming into new growth for the year, the leaves look pretty good for these guys. I think we will always be fighting them on this one but, after 20+yrs playing with them I think I am finally starting to understand what my jac's have been trying to tell me, tho I still dont always listen If only I could turn the clock back & start my big one again knowing what i know now.

I have mentioned before about flowering & pruning. I am going to do some tests & take more accurate notes over the next few years to see if I can pin down the timings Why cant I have my cake & eat it. Big jaccy, little leaves & wearing its purple coat each spring.

Matt

MattA wrote:

missybonsai wrote:Fascinating! Have you defoliated to get the leaves that small? Or is it only from growing in a small pot? That would be fantastic if it was defoliating; I have a couple of seedlings myself and it would be great if I could create shohins or even mame from them rather than waiting for them to grow large enough to suit their leaf size. Nice landscape, and interesting use of the log!

The foliage size is a combination of factors:
Tray - very little soil can be fit on a tray like this as it only has a small rim around the edge
Water - allow the tree to go a little longer between waterings when it is coming into new growth
Food - Hold back on feeding the tree until the first sets of leaves have hardened
Combining heavy pruning with defoliation - I allow it to grow until the bark starts to change from green to grey then cut back to the first pair of leaves and remove them leaving the stubby base of the leaf stalk.

I have defoliated in the past and just trimmed the tips of the branchs, this did nothing for leaf size they came back larger & destroyed ramification with many buds not popping. If its combined with HARD pruning then you not only get good budding at the cut but generally get other backbuds on the trunk or branchs. Budding can often occur low down a trunk near the nebari, this shoot MUST be removed immediately or controlled rigourously as it will draw most of the energy away from the rest of the tree and very quickly take over.

This tree is 4yrs old & wont considerably change in a decade or more unless its put into a larger pot. A pair of sisters from the seeds this came from are planted in my front garden, in the 2 yrs they have been there, have gone from the same size as this to 2mtr tall trunks that are about 4cm dia! Using the right growing & pruning methods I think very credible mame could be grown in 5yrs, shohin in not much more. Something bigger? given what i know of this species now and a good starter i think a very good mid to large size tree is achievable in 10-15yrs. If you want it to bear flowers its best to go for a larger size, the individual flowers are not huge but are born enmasse in large branching panicles.

Hope this helps, they are another special tree for me.

Matt

Thanks heaps! this will help a lot. Great little tree

MattA wrote:This is another of my Jacaranda, 4 yrs old from seed. It was part of a clump that sprouted while still confined to the pod. I seperated this and another from the group 2yrs ago.

The tray is 60cm long with a piece of driftwood collected from the Myall lakes, the darkened colour of the lower portion is the level it was buried in the mud. The jacaranda has been planted into the arrangement since Nov 09. Driftwood is 45cm long & 12cm high, the largest leaves are 9cm long & the smallest are just 3cm.

Matt

Nice setting Matt. With a far view it give a nice penjing feel of a volcanic island with a palm(stormswept) growing on it. Saying that it would be nice if you could plant two more in the setting.

Where I live Jacarandas are declared as weeds, so you can imagine the purple glow my town has when these trees are in flower! In my garden I have one with a trunk of more than a meter wide!

Lennard

lennard wrote:

MattA wrote:This is another of my Jacaranda, 4 yrs old from seed. It was part of a clump that sprouted while still confined to the pod. I seperated this and another from the group 2yrs ago.

The tray is 60cm long with a piece of driftwood collected from the Myall lakes, the darkened colour of the lower portion is the level it was buried in the mud. The jacaranda has been planted into the arrangement since Nov 09. Driftwood is 45cm long & 12cm high, the largest leaves are 9cm long & the smallest are just 3cm.

Matt

Nice setting Matt. With a far view it give a nice penjing feel of a volcanic island with a palm(stormswept) growing on it. Saying that it would be nice if you could plant two more in the setting.

Where I live Jacarandas are declared as weeds, so you can imagine the purple glow my town has when these trees are in flower! In my garden I have one with a trunk of more than a meter wide!

Lennard

Hi Lennard,

I wish I lived in your town, jacaranda has to be my absolute favorite tree of all, I grew up looking at one out my bedroom window, It too is now about a metre across. My brother & I climbed it as kids & fell out regularly thankfully it was much smaller in those days.

I have a few small seedlings in at the moment that i could use in the setting, however there is very little room for soil & I would worry too much about them all drying out or going without enough food & dying. Never say never tho... now that the idea is out there who knows...

Matt

Took some pics recently as this is leafing out for spring. I normally wait till regrowth before pruning but as an experiment cut the first branch back to a stump just on leaf drop and it has budded well. It was given a feed with a general purpose slow release fertiliser once growth had gotten under way and will be defoliated in another couple of weeks to start reducing the foliage again.

Matt

Lovely little setting Matt. I will take your advice on leaf reduction as i love these trees to. I have one that i have decided to grow into a larger tree as i would love to see it flower. I keep trimming it to much for it to do it.