Boxwood bonsai - part 3: styling for future beauty | Blue Sky Bonsai

[@PumpkinBecki]

Isn't the bark of Box absolutely lovely, so craggley, but completely in scale. Wonderful! I look forward to seeing them develop Dave xx

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Yep that's definitely one of the best things if not the best about using these box for bonsai, it really helps to look like a real tree. Thanks Rebecca for watching and commenting! 😊

[@BackGardenBonsai]

You’ve a great looking bunch of box in your collection. Great trunks on all of them 👍

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks BGB! 😊👍

[@grobonsai]

Nice series, I like them all. It’s nice to see what can be done with Buxus.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Cheers Darren! Yes I think they're a great species for low-maintenance bonsai.

[@bobbymalta73]

Im learning a lot from you my Dear Friend! My wife sad at last after 20 years my bonsai leaves are Growing 😃. I wish if i knew you 20 years ago now i had a yard full of Bonsai Trees. Blessings From Malta 😉 👍 👌 ✌

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Great work Bobby! I went to Malta 15 years ago, 2007 with my wife and back then only one son. There was a heatwave at the time, but we loved it. We were staying in St Julians. Memorable holiday! ☀️😊👍

[@readman53]

Again, nice walk-along, so to speak...helpful.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks so much Windy Hill! 😊👍🏻

[@BonsaiJCan]

Nice job, both trees are looking good !

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks J! 😊

[@zoe2466]

You are a master at pruning. Trees look great and thank you for not filling you videos of useless chatter.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thank you very much for your kind words. I certainly enjoy pruning!

[@kreativ_corals]

great series. I appreciate your editing, a lot.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@DoBonsai]

You have 2 nice trees. I have some radikal ideas about second one. Good luck.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks DO-B! Does your idea involve air-layering the trunk to get two smaller shohins?

[@DoBonsai]

​@@BlueSkyBonsai ıt is possible. Air layering is a good idea.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

@@DoBonsai thanks for the idea! I will give it some serious thought.

[@DoBonsai]

@@BlueSkyBonsai I am sure you will do the best. good luck.

[@collenburows]

To keep the moss in check, you could also put some diluted vinegar on the lower trunk with a small brush. That way you don't have to scrape the bark and possibly damage it.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Yes, good call. Thanks!

[@kuya5000]

i just got a boxwood the other day and it looks super similar to the one in the middle in the thumbnail!! was super cool to see haha

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

That's cool! If you're interested you can see me repotting this boxwood into a shallow pot (after a discussion of how pot depth can affect the bonsai) in this video : kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5uYm3-dipKNrrs

[@williamaitken7533]

Hey there! I noticed your owl statue when you were watering the plants. Do you find that this works? I have problems with squirrels and birds digging into my bonsai and it would be fantastic to discourage them in some way!

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Hi, I've found the owl seems to discourage rodents, but doesn't really discourage birds which is what I wanted it for. Some of my neighbours hang their owl on a rope from a bigger tree, but they're not protecting bonsai, so don't think that would work for me. I also hang a load of smallish shiny discs from the shelves etc and that has had some limited success but the blackbirds wise up to it and still attack the moss on my soil. The best deterrent I have found is long strips of silver tape, you can buy it online as bird deterrent. It keeps the birds away but is not very attractive in a bonsai garden!!

[@jeffhurst4744]

In the series you mention/use a small grain topping. However cannot quite make out name of it. Can you respond with nomenclature. Love the boxwood series of videos. Thanks

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the question, it is called Kiryuzuna, from Japan, some call it Kiryu. It's a bit like pumice, but it changes colour significantly between wet/dry in the same way akadama does, so great for top dressing to see when the soil needs watering. It seems to hold structure for more years than akadama, in fact its properties are quite similar to pumice. Some people here in Spain add 1/3 kiryu to 2/3 akadama. Hope that helps. Thanks for your kind words!

[@jeffhurst4744]

@@BlueSkyBonsai Appreciate reply. Sounds like an excellent soil ingredient and topping for both our Bonsai and succulents. Will be procuring some for this coming spring repotting and initial potting of our trees in nursery/plastic training pots. Again thank you for your videos.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

@@jeffhurst4744 agreed it sounds good for succulents too. Hope it's not too expensive where you are. Here it has come down in price significantly just in the last 2 years.

[@eduardogamboa3400]

I just got myself a boxwood tree! I'm gonna find a pot tmrw and start pruning and shaping. Only thing is i'm not 100% on what soil i should use any recommendations?

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Great! In most garden centers or nurseries you can find a small bag of "akadama" which is granules of clay, exported from Japan. It is perfect for box. Mix in some peat if you live in a hot climate, and sieve the mix to get rid of fine particles and dust. That dust clogs up the drainage, and you need good draining soil to get the water and oxygen to the roots every day. I'll be interested to hear how you get on. Give me a shout if you have more questions!

[@sergy5337]

I have 5 korean boxwood plants grown from small cuttings for ~2 years. Now they are 12-15cm tall with 6-8mm lower trunks and lots of what you called "trifocating" branching. Completely shapeless naturally :). I struggle to decide what to do with them. None has a major leader, frequent branching starts from about 1/3. The only suitable style coming to my mind is broom. But do I start shaping now or leave them as they are for longer, another 2, 3 years? Similarly, do I remove trifocating branches now or later? What do you think?

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Mine are also buxus micophylla but I don't know if they are Korean or Japanese variety. Do you know a sure way to tell the difference? Anyway, it's difficult to recommend a specific action for your boxwoods, but, since you have five of them, this is an ideal opportunity to do a growing experiment over the next five years! And because buxus grow so slowly you will need to apply a degree of patience. So, this year prune and start shaping just one of them, leaving the other four to grow bigger. Then each year add one more of them to your pruning schedule. So after five years you will hopefully have five very different looking trees, and five different experiences. Also, if you know that they will definitely become broom-style trees, then trifurcation (or more) at the trunk is ok because in my opinion a broom can look attractive and realistic / natural if it develops some inverse taper leading up to the branches. On the other hand, if you sense that any of them could become a formal or informal upright, then better to sort out those trifurcations as soon as possible, to avoid inverse taper. Also keep an eye on any low branches for the normal reasons: they're good to help mature trunk taper, but when a low branch becomes nearly as fat as the trunk then the decision to remove it is much harder - like you can see with one of mine in part two of this video series. Whatever you decide I'll be very interested to hear your progress!

[@sergy5337]

@@BlueSkyBonsai Very good idea, will take it! None of mine has an obvious trunk or single leader so formal, informal styles are ruled out. But I'm looking everywhere for other, maybe less traditional styles in addition to broom, anything that is based on decurrent branching. Not sure about Japanese boxwood, but compared to English, Korean has much smaller leaves and it has flowers and edible fruits! I'm sure you can find info on the net Japanese vs Korean. Cheers

[@mariakellner5429]

Have you tried Peter Change method of distressing the area you want to grow a branch ,chopping small chops, tfs your methods Nigel recommend your chanel.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Hi, thanks for the suggestion! I have not tried it, it's probably worth a try... but boxwood are extraordinarily slow growers: if I make the small chops now I could be waiting until 2023!

[@HAJUBONSAI]

nice

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thank you!!

[@daver9643]

So I bought a boxwood today from a nursery it’s bigger it cost $45 and it’s about 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall and the trunk thickness is about as half the diameter as you can make a circle with your index finger and thumb. So my question is I see that they can go through some massive reduction, do you think it’s OK for me to put this into a bonsai container that is 9 inches left to right and 6 inches front to back?

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

If you want you could send me a photo of the tree and the pot. My email is [e-mail] One thing I have to say, if you need to prune the roots to fit it in the pot... it's much safer for the health of the plant to do root pruning in early spring, than it is in autumn. Where are you located? From $45 I assume you're somewhere in USA... sorry for the assumption if you're in Canada or Australia. If you do decide to repot it in Autumn, try not to damage the roots. Then do a more comprehensive repotting in Spring, with root pruning. I did a video this year about repotting a boxwood in spring: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnWsg61ojqubnNk

[@1Mutton1]

How readily do you find boxus backbud in older bark. I have one with no lower branches after I lost one and am wondering if I give it a severe prune up top if this will encourage something. If not, then I need to make it into a large bonsai....lots of time. I guess I could try a graft.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

I find they back bud, occasionally, when you let them grow without any pruning for over a year. Somehow the extra energy and root growth seem to encourage a few new buds lower down the trunk. Pruning does not help back budding for this species... it's quite the opposite of many trees. Maybe it's because buxus is really a shrub, more than a tree. And yes, we need a healthy dose of patience and lots of time!

[@1Mutton1]

@@BlueSkyBonsai ok thanks. I'll wait with patience as to what design the tree wants then. Growth is so very slow. Love the trunk and nebari on it, which is why it's not gone in the green waste bin.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

@@1Mutton1 +1 trunk and nebari...

[@angelgonzalez5036]

Podías subtitulado en español gracias

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Sííí cuando tengo el tiempo lo pondré en español. Mientras tanto, si ves el vídeo en un ordenador, KZbin te da la opción de autotraducir los subtítulos en español.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Hola de nuevo. Este vídeo ya tiene subtítulos en español.

[@panembahan7710]

like

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Thanks! 👍

[@kingchan1546]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5DHkHyhaM6Krs0 🇮🇩🙏🏻