My new purchase.....Crape Myrtle

JBMorrey

Hey, I just bought this little Crape Myrtle today, it's only about 6" tall BUT...it's about 11" wide!! I thought it was a good start, the roots are pretty nice as well....for only $6 I could'nt go wrong!! I'm anxious to see it come spring!!
Thanks for looking...any comments are more than welcome!!

James

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bwaynef

What are your plans for it?

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JohnQuinn

Come spring...it will rapidly be 18 inches wide, and 6 inches tall. Depending on what your design plans are, that might be good or bad.

Here's but one option...remember they flower on new growth, making it hard to both keep it shaped and permit flowering.

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bwaynef

Nice treatment there John. It gets rid of the slingshot. The trunk has character but little maturity. I think he needs to decide if he wants an oak tree styling, or a crape myrtle styling. At least that would give future virt artists something to work with.

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JBMorrey

Well... I kinda like the way it looks now, but I was thinking of keeping the same basic shape, but cutting back on the width of the branch spread...does that make sense? Would this be considered a Crape myrtle style?

bwaynef

Its kind of sprawling at the moment. That looks more like an oak to me.

I just made up "crape myrtle style" so I can define it like I'd like. What I had in mind of that style is a substantial, but slender trunkline. A few graceful curves before the foliage begins, then a cloud of light foliage ...and possibly a little flowering. The foliage is really too much for the trunkline by conventional bonsai standards, but its more representative of how crapes grow when left to their own devices (and not "crape murdered" ...look that up.)

Ron Martin has the best example of this style that I've seen. Boon Manakitivipart has the best example of Crape Myrtle that I've seen as bonsai (though it may've been one of his clients'.)

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JBMorrey

So would it be best to cut out the lower branch to the right and work on what I've got going further up? I guess I was thinking that the tree was too "White" looking to pass as oak? But I guess you are just talking about a style, not the color.


James

bwaynef

Well, I had hoped I wouldn't be the only one giving you advice. That being the case, John's virtual is a pretty good one considering the material. If it were mine I'd put it in a big pot, or better, in the ground for at least 2 years (though it does look to be in a rather large-ish pot.)

Give us some dimensions.

WF

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JBMorrey

Well...the tree is about 11" wide at it's widest point and 7" tall. The ppot it's in now is about 14" x 9" or so and about 3" deep. I guess I'm so new at the whole bonsai thing that I'm not sure what each tree can do? I do kinda like the whole spread out look ,but I want the trunk to mature a little. I guess maybe I'll just wait till next spring and see where this tree goes. I have'nt even seen it in the spring!! By the way, Thanks for all your helpful answers!!! I appreciate it!!
James