Boxwood and Camelia Question

mgodbee

OK here is the deal. I have this massive Boxwood in my yard with a trunk diameter of about 6.5 inches. It stands about 4 ft tall. Beside it is a Camelia Bush that has a triple trunk with a base diameter of about 20 inches. The base of the Camelia is so big I don't even think I could pull it off, but the 3 triple trunks are about 5 inches wide.

These are trees that have obviously been here for decades but my wife doesn't like their arrangement, and the fact they are in a strange location, and she would eventually like to maybe plant azaleas in a row in the location. How do you guys think I should go about this? Will these trees take a drastic trunk chopping in the spring? I have never worked with a Camelia at all, but it grows like 15X the speed of the boxwood. The boxwood would be impressive but it would take decades to make it a bonsai. It would be a major job to move them somewhere else too. Do Camelia's air layer easy, should I try the massive trunk? Will the boxwood take the major root reduction I would have to do? Either way she is planning to remove them most likely, so if anyone has any suggestions or links, that would be great

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TreeBay

I think I'd need to see a photo before commenting too much.

Camelias seem to be like azaleas in containers. Large wounds don't heal very quickly and they have thin bark.

Boxwoods have very fibrous root systems and it should not be a huge problem to do a root reduction. You might want to transfer both into large patio tree containers to ease the transition. For the camellia that would be a pretty big container!

Regards,

Matt

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Ralph

What do you think your timeline for each will be? Generally after collecting you should not touch the trees for two years to allow the root systems to fully recover.

This boxwood will be 3 years since collected in Febuary when I finally put it into it's oversize bonsai pot:
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthread.php?t=13091

The lower branches have all grown since collection, and will take at another 2-3 year to fully thinken and develop. The top is still thicck, because I am growing out a few more branches in the front.
I was taught on this forum that Japanese boxwood can be much fater grower if you aggressively feed it, and this one has cerainly proved the case.

Anyway, you need to set realistic timelines for both your trees when you collect them. 5 years from ground to show ready is realistic if everything goes well.

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mgodbee

I'll try to get a picture, but both have such dense growth you can barely get to the trunk to take a picture.

rockm

It the boxwood is older, collecting it could be problematic. In order to collect it successfully, you need alot of feeder roots close in to the trunk. If the soil is right, older box can send out long heavy roots with feeders accumulating atthe ends. That means you've got to "push" newer feeders nearer the trunk. A two year collection is probably safest if this is your first time collecting--I wouldn't count on the camelia. It is really too large for bonsai and camelia aren't easy trees to keep, especially huge ones like that--a pot to house that monster would be well into the hundreds of dollars--even if it's mica.

This spring, cut a 12 inch deep 1/2" wide trench around the boxwood, 6-8 inches out from the trunk. severing all the roots on that side. Backfill with bonsai soil. Wait for next spring. dig the other side, pull the plant out --chop the lower 8 inches of root ball off. Wash the remaining soil off. Get it into a big training container with good bonsai soil. Put the plant where it will get morning sun for a few hours. Make sure its out of the hottest pm sun in the summer.

Wait two years.

Begin pruning for design. Expect ALOT of upright, stiff branching that can't be altered much--old box won't take to wire training, the wood is simply too stiff and pops back to its original position even after being wired for a few years. Wiring one can also kill the plant, since boxwood has bey thin bark that strips easily off of the branches.

That leaves the "cut and grow" method of training, which entails pruning for direction. This can work very well, but it takes time and patience to accumulate believable branching on the plant.

Good luck.