Another Great Session
Sorry for the delay in posting my notes from our last meeting. It has been a hectic couple of weeks.
Also, I had planned to take pictures during this session, but discovered after I arrived that my camera's battery was dead as a doornail.
Is a Kingsville or Not
Rodney gave some pointers on identifying Kingsville boxwood. If I understood correctly, Kingsville are often cultivated from cutting. Mature Kingsville often throw sports that are actually represent hybrid growth. If a sport is taken as a cutting, the resulting plant won't be a true Kingsville but a genetically compromised hybrid.
If you want to know whether a tree is Kingsville or something else, look carefully at the bark on the trunk. It should be white. The leaves tend to be roundish. A hybrid will have a darker bark and the leaves will be more elongated (as a rule).
If you are working on a boxwood, it's best to prune from the top and work your way down. This approach facilitate achieving the type of live oak-tree or magnolia style that seems to work well with this particular plant.
On a related note, cotton seed meal is an ideal slow release organic fertilizer for boxwoods (and probably other evergreens I'm sure).
If you're repotting a boxwood, strive for a mix that retains some moisture. Boxwoods have a very fibrous root system. If the mix is too porous, the root will dry out quickly, which will stress the tree significantly.
Bud Growth on Shimpaku
My Shimpakus look more like runty bushes than trees, so I was glad to hear that you can stimulate back budding by cleaning the bark and wiring. A wet toothbrush is good for small areas. A bonsai wire brush is best for larger areas.
In both cases, it's important to brush gently. Avoid using any of the wire brush you might find at the home store. They are much to course for this type of cleaning.
Another good thing to know: you can fertilize Shimpaku in the fall. (I'm assuming when the temperature is below 90 degrees.) Any new growth will harden quicken and overwinter just fine.
Unwanted Lower Branches
You should be cautious when removing a large branch that is low on the trunk. If you remove it in a single cut, the tree can be severely traumatized. Dieback into the trunk may result. It's much better to leave a stub, allow the stub to atrophy, and then remove any remaining material.
Anchoring a Repotted Tree
Most of us use aluminum or copper wire to anchor in a tree after repotting. Rodney suggests using cotton string, which will rot away by the time the tree's new roots have spread out into the pot.
You typically thread the string through the tree's root system and then tying it off. I'm tried this technique myself at different times, and I can see the advantage. My anchor wire tends to stay on--forever.
Jins That Last
A jin can add a lot of character to a tree, but creating a jin can take a fair amount of time. To be more efficient, you should focus on working the heartwood, which is usually a lot tougher than the surrounding tissue.
Where Does Moss Belong
A tree can look wonderful with a nice carpet of moss, but moss can also starve a root system of water, air, and nutrients. So remove the moss except for when a tree is being prepared for show. The tree will be the healthier for it.
Soil Mix
Everybody has a favorite (or convenient) soil mix. The most important thing seems to be balanced moisture retention with porosity. For trees with fibrous roots, Rodney suggests a mix of Kiryu sand, lava rock, and pumice (thirds of each). Trees with more open root systems seem to like the mix as well, but with two parts Kiryu.
To be honest, I'd never heard of Kiryu before this particular Saturday. Rodney notes that its a good alternative to Akadama, so I plan to give it a try. Like most of us, I'm a soil mix junky.
One more thing... You can purchase Kiryu at the Monastery in 10 kilogram bags. It's actually on sale for $24 since the store ran out of Akadama. Look for Kiryusuna River Sand on the store's website.
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