Japanese Boxwood Question

zenwarrior

Ok, so I followed Mr Will Heath's advice on nursery collecting, and have since believed myself to be some sort of bonsai visionary. In my great enlightenment I have seen the potential of many plants not only in nurseries, but in my own backyard. You see, in the past year my wife and I purchased our first home here in Houston Texas. Needless to say there are an abundance of shrubs and such that have been growing for many years, planted by previous owners. (and I must say I am very glad to have discovered the love of bonsai BEFORE chopping all these shrubs down which I once considered to be junk)

I regret not being able to post pictures of these plants due to the fact that my digital camera took a dive. But I will be able to post some pics in the next few weeks when I buy a new one.

For now I just want to know if the lovely japanese boxwoods in my backyard can be put in a pot(or growbox) now, or should I wait until spring? They are very healthy, growing under the shade of a giant oak tree with no care whatsoever. The occassional watering when I water my grass is all it gets. As I said, until now I planned on cutting them down, so I never payed any attention to them.

Sorry for the long post for one question, I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who spend time writing articles and such, enlightening beginners like me. This forum has made me realize the true way to participate in bonsai, rather than simply buying ready-styled trees from bonsai dealers, which was where I was headed. I am very excited to show you guys what treasures I have found in my own backyard.

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Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.

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Vonsgardens

Zen,
They can be dug in the fall through early spring. I have dug on the 4th of July, but didn't bareroot until the following February. Are you a member of the Houston Bonsai Society (AKA Club?). Houston is having Marc Noelanders in to do a demo on Friday and Workshops on Saturday. I am driving down for the exercise. John

zenwarrior

No, Im not yet a member. Thanks for informing me of the workshops though!
Wish I could make it, but I'll be volunteering at one of the sites where the evacuees are being cared for.

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Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.

-Morihei Ueshiba

bwaynef

Bravo to you

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zenwarrior

Any particular soil to plant these in? They will be going into a growbox.

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Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.

-Morihei Ueshiba

Ralph

Mr. Zen,

I have several urban yamadori japanese boxwood like this one:

http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthread.php?t=13091

It , and all the rest are in plastic tubs, and I use a mix of turface (Shultz soil conditioner), expanded shale (designer dirt), and landscaper's mix ( chopped hardwood).

I collected two years ago, and first year I left alone two recover, then began reducing roots, and thus the size of my tubs. I also began this past spring making my rough pruning decisions, as the shrubs have really been growing vigoroulsy.
The first year, they just kind of pouted in the tubs, so I left them a lone from a pruning standpoint, and just watered and fertilized liberally. They also got a spider mite infection after collecting which I treated by briskly hosing the foliage and then sprayed with liquid kelp for a few weeks. Now I still regularly do still foliar spray, and occasionally hose the foliage, of course keeping them in full sun.

This next spring/late winter, I will be looking to put this in a pot and do the finer styling.

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Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


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