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Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 8th, 2011, 2:49 pm
by mwkoi
This bougy was growing by the front door of my parents home as long as I can remember. One day, I went home for a visit and it was gone. To my horror, my dad had dug it out and left it by the front lawn for green waste collection. It had been sitting on the lawn, roots exposed for 2 days! I quickly took it back and potted it in bonsai mix, hoping that it would survive. Well, it did.

That was 5 years ago, all the branches were remade from sratch.

L3013313.jpg
Defoliated
L3014004.jpg
Still needs a couple more seasons for the ramification to fill out, also the deadwood needs to be worked on a bit more. Pot is only temporary.

Mark

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 8th, 2011, 3:08 pm
by cuwire
Wow Mark,

Bet you visit your parents more often now.

May have been a smart move by them - parents are cunning like that.

Cheers David

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 8th, 2011, 3:59 pm
by kcpoole
that was a very good score and well worth saving :-)

Parents! I have told all my family no to dig or remove anything without letting me know :-)

Ken

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 9th, 2011, 12:37 am
by thuynguyen001
Looking real'good,Mark!! What a great save!!!

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 9th, 2011, 3:39 am
by lennard
That's going to be a stunner one day.

Good job :tu:

Lennard

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: January 9th, 2011, 1:33 pm
by bodhidharma
very nice example of a Bougy. Very nice :tu2:

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 13th, 2012, 9:37 pm
by sharemyblessings
mwkoi wrote:This bougy was growing by the front door of my parents home as long as I can remember. One day, I went home for a visit and it was gone. To my horror, my dad had dug it out and left it by the front lawn for green waste collection. It had been sitting on the lawn, roots exposed for 2 days! I quickly took it back and potted it in bonsai mix, hoping that it would survive. Well, it did.

That was 5 years ago, all the branches were remade from sratch.

L3013313.jpg
Defoliated
L3014004.jpg
Still needs a couple more seasons for the ramification to fill out, also the deadwood needs to be worked on a bit more. Pot is only temporary.

Mark
I love the trunk movement and ramification. They are awesome. Nice job :)

Bong

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated (now in Bryan Albright pot)

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 3:12 pm
by mwkoi
Thanks for the compliments, here is a more current (two months ago) photo of the tree:
IMG_5088.jpg
The tree is now in a pot that I commissioned from UK potter Bryan Albright. I am not too happy with the planting angle and might adjust it a little (turn the tree counter clockwise) next year.
I'm also working on strengthening the right side as it has always been weaker than the other areas due to shading. I have since done a partial defoliation (not fully defoliated as the tree was severely weakened due to excessive flowering in the spring) and that seems to have balanced it back somewhat.

The tree's styling is inspired by taiwanese bonsai.

Will try to update with a more recent photo when time permits.

Regards
Mark

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 6:13 pm
by Boics
Nice tree.

I'd love to see a couple of higher quality shots (similar to the first couple) to really show it off again!

Cheers,

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 7:34 pm
by bodhidharma
I love they tree as said before but i think the pot does not suit the tree at all. A tad to small and the tree looks like it will topple out. The colour doesnt suit either. Just my opinion though.

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 9:49 pm
by kcpoole
I do not mind the colour , but think it is too small. Good Depth, just needs to be wider for a more stable base.

Love the Bougy :yes: Excellent outcome

Ken

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 13th, 2013, 5:52 pm
by mwkoi
Thanks for the replies.

I actually think that the pot size is alright, maybe because I'm looking at it in real life and photos can get a bit distorted.

Anyway, here is a low quality photo taken this morning showing the tree from the preferred front. The base looks much better from this angle.

By the way, the tree measures approx 75cms high from the pot.
IMG_5214.jpg

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 13th, 2013, 9:50 pm
by Tony Bebb
The pot doesn't look so small in the earlier photo from yesterday, but with the extra foliage from todays pic I think it does. No problem with the colour as it is not that deep cobolt blue, but I think you need more length to the pot to balance the tree better.

You did a lot of great wiring early on, but the tree has all grown together now as a large foliage mass and is not showing the age of the trunk I think. I would be working on the branch layers now to create more spaces in the tree and make it look older.

Love the tree and will be a fantastic Bonsai.

Tony

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated

Posted: February 14th, 2013, 12:49 pm
by mwkoi
Thanks Tony

I left too many flowers too long on the tree early in the season and it severely weakened the crown. The tree would have progressed a little bit further if not for my carelessness.

I have been letting the tree recover since then hence the dense foliage. A lot of the branch ends were also left to grow long to thicken the bases.

The tree has yet to be fully defoliated and wired this year. I think I might do that soon.

Will post more pictures after I have done that.

Regards
Mark

Re: Bougainvillea defoliated (Repotted in Bryan Albright Pot)

Posted: March 6th, 2013, 9:41 pm
by mwkoi
As promised, here are some recent higher resolution photos after defoliation and wiring. As you can see, the tree is already leafing out again.
06032013v3.jpg
06032013v4.jpg
I will still need to fine tune the branch placement a little bit, but thought I'll take a few photos to share with everyone whilst I had my good camera out.

These pictures show the color and glaze of the Albright pot a little bit better.

Mark