Bonsai Update: Spring Shoots & New Life
Spring time is upon us here in Australia, and with it comes the warmer climates and new spring growth. New shoots are growing nicely on all the bonsai trees, especially the Juniper and Harland Boxwood, and having been repotted into larger pots now, the roots have much more room to grow. Click on an image on this page to view full sized images.
The Maleleuca had a bad run over the last month. About a week after bringing it home the leaves all died off and the tree started looking really unhealthy. I did an emergency re-pot and found the roots were an absolute mess. The tree was fairly root-bound but had a solid clumb of dirt as hard as clay around the primary root, and it was essentially dying of thirst. So, after getting the roots free and giving it a new pot with new potting mix and a heavy mix of blood and bone I let it up to the tree to do the hard work. After 3 weeks, tiny green shoots started to show. Today, there are shoots coming out all over it and it's started to look incredibly healthy again.
The Juniper has done really well in the larger post and with the onset of spring has seen a great burst of new growth on all the branches. My goal is to have it grow another inch or two before i really start doing a lot of work on it and put it into a full bonsai pot, so for the moment it's focussing on growing. The wiring I had done a few months ago is looking good and will stay on for another month or 2 before i take it off.
The Harland Boxwood was repotted into a larger pot a few weeks ago, and has started to settle down nicely into its new home. New shoots started to show about a week or so back, and have really exploded from all the branches. Like the Juniper, my goal is to have the Boxwood grow at least two or three more inches before I really start doing some major work on it. I haven't wired it yet, as am undecided on the best approach.
The last of my trees, the Baeckea was repotted a few days back as it was really struggling with some major root-bound issues. I am hoping that, like the Maleleuca, it bounces back. I don't have any updates photos of it at the moment.
