Azalea......I think it's time for some work!

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 7th, 2015, 6:19 pm

Hi there Ausbonsai forum.

I've been checking this forum out over the last couple of weeks and have found it to be friendly, respectful and full of very good advice.

My bonsai journey has been going for a number of years and it is generally a stop start thing with the only constant being keeping the trees I have alive, mostly!

I'm currently going through a time of increased interest and have done a bit of reporting and restyling this year.

The main purpose of this post however is to get some of your thoughts on this rather large azalea. I dug it out of a friends garden over 20 years ago and it's lived in a black plastic pot until this year when I decided to put it in something a little nicer.

The tree has some significant dead wood on it and generally has quite an attractive shape (well I think it does).

The only work I have really done to it is a bit of general pruning and I've started with the massive task of wiring it into shape. Thought I would get some ideas before I jumped in though.

Just to give you a sense of size the pot is 21cm high and has a diameter of approximately 50cm. I put my back out trying to lift it last weekend (oops).

Happy to hear your thoughts.

Theo

This is somewhere near the front in IMO.

The back. Needs a bit of thinning I think!

Right side

Left side

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Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 7th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Thought I should repost the images at a higher resolution. The previous ones are awful. Hope these are better!

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shibui · Post by **shibui** » December 7th, 2015, 8:27 pm

Should make a great bonsai. A bit big but very impressive and should look great when in flower.

I assume you already know that they bud very well on older wood so no problem shortening and long straight sections if you need to. I think I would probably concentrate on making the tree flow to the left, almost windswept. The deadwood on the right side will not be out of character with that structure.

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 7th, 2015, 8:36 pm

Thanks Neil. Maybe I should bring it to the next Albury Wodonga club meet! I did attend regularly a few years back! Might have trouble lifting it into the back of the car though.

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Boics · Post by **Boics** » December 8th, 2015, 8:40 am

This looks like some great stock.
If it were mine I'd be concentrating on bringing the foliage in a little closer to the trunk.
This will improve out of sight with some care and attention over the coming years.

Keep us posted!

fredman · Post by **fredman** » December 8th, 2015, 9:42 am

Agreed. Awesome stock. Lucky you

I agree to shorten it. The main focus should be on that massive trunk.....
Please keep us updated

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 20th, 2015, 9:34 pm

Was digging through some old photos and found these from when I dug this tree out back in Spring of 1994, and another one from 2006. The changes in his tree have been mostly through neglect

Sorry about the quality of the images. 1994 was pre digital, so they are scanned photos and 2006 was a low res digital.

Quite amazing how a tree can change so much with little attention.

Going to get into the first serious styling of this tree over the Xmas / New Year break.

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Post by **kcpoole** » December 21st, 2015, 1:42 pm

Lovely start you have there.
Like shibui I think a semi cascade / Windswept style is the go

My virt I have tried to create individual platforms of foliage and thus flowers.
Separate them with some negative space to ensure light can get in and maximise the amount of potential flowers.

The larger bendy trunk i removed ( i think that is dead?) because it is not in sympathy with the other trunks. To me it does not belong.
A little hard to see the others but you may be able to keep some others though

I will be looking forward to updates on this one.

Ken

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 24th, 2015, 6:06 pm

So I spent the last two days wiring and pruning this azalea. It is fair to say I have never done this much wiring in all my life!

I tried to pinch every growing shoot to start getting some back budding. I took a few branches out as well.

It will need further refinement, maybe a few more branches to come out and the dead wood to sort (not sure what will stay and what will go).

The pictures don't really show the full story (I'm no photographer).

Happy to hear any comments.

Merry Christmas to you all as well. Hope you have some heavy rectangular presents under the Christmas tree!

This is what came off!

This is what is left (excuse the sheet, all I could do to attempt a look at the structure that is left)

Theo

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Post by **kcpoole** » December 24th, 2015, 9:25 pm

Nice
In the second last photo, what is the long straight one doing heading up to the leaft?
I would be removing that one as it is so far out of tune with the rest of the tree. You will get lots of new growth to fill that void IMHO

Ken

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 24th, 2015, 9:29 pm

If you mean the one tucked in behind the curved bit of deadwood, that is more deadwood.

Haven't given it much thought at this point in time. I think I have sufficiently freaked it and myself out enough for a few weeks!

Thanks for the continued feedback and Merry Christmas!

Having looked again, I know the one you mean, I'll check it out in the morning and see if it stays or goes! (So freaked don't know my left from my right)

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Post by **kcpoole** » December 25th, 2015, 7:48 am

No not the deadwood, but the long straight branch on the left.
Comes from the bottom left and heads off too the top left.

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 25th, 2015, 8:17 am

Just so I've got it straight, are you referring to No. 1 or No. 2 in the pic.

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Post by **kcpoole** » December 25th, 2015, 9:37 am

number 2

Theodore · Post by **Theodore** » December 25th, 2015, 10:59 am

It admit it looks a bit strange in this pic. I'll try and get another photo that shows it better. That's not to say it won't end up in the bucket in future!

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