Trees Killed - Lessons Learned

TreeBay

Time for us all to come clean. Post your hit list, and any amazing (to you) discoveries you've made.

I'll go first

1992

Sagerettia mallsai - about 5 years old
The third bonsai I owned, left outside in a CA winter for two years. The second year it did not pull through

1993

Small cotoneaster
I am not sure what exactly killed it, but I believe it was probably overwatering.

1994

shohin azalea - 3 years
Planted in a stone. Stone dried out. ex bonsai

1995

New Zealand tea tree - overwatered. Actually it had a saucer underneath it and that spelled its doom. Lesson 1) Tea trees need great drainage! 2) Don't put a saucer under your bonsai.

1996

Collected Oak
Did not refoliate after repotting. Lesson learned - Oaks need good drainage, but absolutely do not repot them (esp if they are weak) after the buds have begun to swell in spring. That's worse

1997

Large Bougainvillea
I mean big. This one hurt. Lesson learned. Guess what? Bougies are tropical! The ones growing around the various chimneys and stonework are attached to nice heat sinks. In your backyard, they won't do as well unprotected. Because they are deciduous in cool weather, you may not see the damage until spring.

1/2 of a large ficus
See above. Ahem. Top half died back in frost. Luckily you can better tell a dying Ficus because they are evergreen!

Imported red Stewartia did not bud out. Looked a little sickly first winter. I think the soil held too much water, but I really can't be sure.

1998

Japanese White Pine - Imported
Causes unknown. Maybe rootrot.

1999

Japanese Beech - Age unknown
Defoliated that sucker, and guess what. It didn't refoliate in spring. Lesson: Beech are weak little guys.

2000

A few colleced Japanese Black Pines. Probably too aggressive with the pruning and lifting. I had about 85% success, but that put another half dozen trees in the bonepile.

I had to lift 100 trees in July from the field because the area had been sold. I thought the losses would be huge, but in actuality, only 12 of 24 Japanese Maples died. Everything else was OK. Actually the maples all looked great the first year. I think the problem was a soil borne fungus in the new planting area, because the problems occurred 2 years later. Lessons learned - Maples can be difficult to move because of fungus induced dieback. Extreme heat (100deg+ F) shuts trees down and allowed an out of season repotting, but I would not count on it again.

2001

container grown Japanese Black Pine in training (aggressive pruning)

Bald Cypress (underwatering) Now I have the Bald Cypress spending the summer with a nice big saucer of water under them as bonsaial suggested - Lesson learned. Some trees like water & saucers can be good for Wisteria & Bald Cypress ( See New Zealand Tea Tree above)

2002

No losses of note, really... Yet!

One holly keeps dying back. I think it is probably diseased as it has been repotted without improvement.

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Shambhala

2001

Juniper - bought it from a store, the pot didn't have sufficient drainage.


2002

Cotoneaster - while doing yard work, SOMEONE somehow broke the damn thing in half... and I really liked it


I think I have had some luck though... I repotted 4 trees and they didn't even drop leaves. I've never actually lost a tree directly because of my mistake... though I am just waiting for that to happen

David Chauvin

4/00- Azalea- overwatered
5/00- Japanese red maple- Defoliated and never refoliated?
6/00- Mugo Pine- Too agressive on pruning
7/00- Procumbens Juniper- planted on rock and then droughted
8/00- Procumbens Juniper- 1st try at carving shari...failed miserably
2/01- Procumbens Juniper- poor job of repotting
6/01- harland boxwood- pruned too hard, never recovered
8/01- trident maple- pruned too hard?
2/02- Procumbens Juniper- pruned too hard and repotted

This is only a partial list. In total I've killed 23 trees in 2 1/2 years. Most were small garden center stock trees and became victims of stupid mistakes, usually the result of being over aggressive. Three of the lost trees still hurt... the japanese maple, a small trident maple and a really nice procumbens. I'm not counting another half dozen or so collected trees. I'm happy to say that most of the losses came in the first year or so. It eases the guilt a little to think that I've learned something from each death.

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DavidN

This thread has brought back memories of trees that I have killed. I really find it hard to remember all of them so I am surprised how you have managed too. I have killed too many when I first started but recently hardly any have passed on. The only thing that has recently killed my trees is that one of my large Acer palmatum had vertirculm(sp) wilt. I have lost it and very saddened by it. Have lost more Acer palmatum with this disease before I lost this one.

Then again had the same disease hit another of large palmatum but this time thanks to some uselful info from the IBC and forums like this I think I have saved the tree. The rot only kill the top part of the tree and thankful it seems to have survived so far. Better than losing the whole tree.

Killed trees mainly because of bad soil mixtures. Since I have been making up my own soil I used to buy ready made mixes from nurseries. This soil was terrible. Water wouldn't penetrate the top half and the trees would die from being too dry.

Killed a blue spruce as repotted at the wrong time.

So biggest lessen learned is to have a very well draining soil mixture. This is my key to healthy bonsai and resulted in the majority of the deaths to my trees.

David

Moni

OK,ok, ok. So I should have been keeping a log (diary) all these years. I knew that.............Let's see...............I've lost a couple of cotoneasters due to the learning process and either over or under doing something or other. Same with a couple of Japanese maples. I've never lost a juniper, so I tell beginners to start there. I have actually been pretty lucky until a few weeks ago, when I came back from having tended to a sick sister for @ 6 weeks and found my husband had let my 10 YEAR OLD Ficus cook next to the gas fireplace. I am distraught! All the leaves are gone. But hope springs eternal and I have my fingers crossed that I got to it in time.................Silly,huh?
Moni

Moni

Gee. I think I'm depressed all over again..................
This is fun.

DavidN

Moni
I have had the same luck with cotoneasters. No matter what time of year I touch their roots they just decide to die on me. That's why I hate them. >
Only have one more cotoneater left to kill now.

splinter

Gee...now I don't feel quite so bad. I've been into the bonsai thing for about 2 1/2 years now, and have lost more trees than I care to think about...but, here goes.

1 Sawara Cypress (don't know what happened)
1 Stewartia (got infested with white flies, and I think I over treated it)
2 Boxwoods (over fertilized 1, possibly over pruned the other)
1 Pyracantha (dunno)
2 Japanese Hornbeams (repotted them and they never recovered - I think it was maybe too hot out, and they got way over stressed)
1 Shantung Maple (dunno - was green trunked through the winter, started leafing out last Spring, then died before it was in full leaf)
1 tiny Mugho Pine (tortured it by pruning it back hard - then repotted it the same day - when it was probably 95 degrees outside)

I think that's it. *sigh*

I'm trying to take things slower, and reading all that I can about the different species, etc. Patience is probably the most important thing. I'm still only guessing at why I lost some of them, but was probably too aggressive at everything I thought was helping them. I know I repotted a couple of them at the wrong time, just because I couldn't be patient and wanted to see them in a nice bonsai pot. How stupid is that?!?

Interestingly enough, I still have my first little bonsai. It was a tiny Juniper seedling, and it's still a baby - but looking nice and healthy.

Earl

I can't believe you guys can actually remember which and how many trees you have killed! I lost track a long time ago so I can't list them but I'm sure it's been at least 20!

Earl