bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Species Spotlight: Myrtus communis

OK, I know your starting to think, "what do I care about myrtle as bonsai". Well it has come to me that during the course of rebuilding a home devastated in a fire, the owners have decided that all the landscaping would have to be removed to make way for new landscaping. The present landscaping was badly damaged in the fire and much of it is dead or ruined beyond repair. I began to notice the large shrubs around the house and started to think I should take a closer look at what this home has to offer.

In my business I come across plants being removed all the time. To my dismay, many of the plants earmarked for removal are of inferior quality for bonsai and I never give them a second glance. I had checked out the landscaping early on for junipers, which can be cut back hard and regrown if they have some promise within a tangle of trunks. This yard had none , so I never really looked any further....till yesterday.

The large shrubs that were to be removed were two large common myrtles. They were about 6 feet tall and had a canopy about 10 feet across. After I went thru the plants from top to bottom, I decided that one of them, after making some selective trunk removals, would make a suitable bonsai.

Pictured below are the first photo's of what could soon become a masterpiece bonsai. The trunk is a full 9 inches across at the base and 6 inches across at the first bend. 3 inches across near the top, and only 20 inches tall. The tree will be cut down to 18 inches soon due to wanting to shorten the apex a little. The trunk has a nice curve at the soil line and a decent flare. The roots are barely decernable and the tree will be lacking a fine nebari for years. I did manage to get some fine feeder roots during removal.

I understand that I am jumping the gun a bit, and will have to tough out the next 5 weeks till I see signs of growth. I reduced the tree to a trunk, since mrytles push shoots from old wood very easily. I did keep a sucker like appendage coming straight up out of the trunk base with some green on it just to keep the sap moving up the trunk. With any luck I should have green shoots all over by Easter.

Best in bonsai, Al