AusBonsai

Hi there, newbie here and I recently bought a Camellia sasanqua from a nursery.

I am thinking of cutting the orange parts and leaving the white ones. The blue one I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards leaving it but cleaning it up a bit. The main trunk in the middle is too thick and doesn't taper. Looking for suggestions too.

Also, does anyone know if any resource regarding Camellia as a bonsai? Most I can find are high level information stuff.

Camellia are not often used as bonsai. I think most people get frustrated with how slow they are to grow, lack of ramification and larger leaves and flowers but that does not mean it can't be done.
They bud really well after pruning so removing the thick leader and cutting back the other branches should result in a mass of new shoots.
The lower branch is pretty straight and bare too so I would also look at cutting it back at some stage but maybe leave it until you get good regrowth from the other section then prune it next summer.

I don't know of any camelia bonsai resources but someone else may have seen something.

Thanks Shibui

I have a camellia which I air-layered off a large one growing in my garden. Not the fastest growing tree I have , but also not the slowest. It hasn't got to the stage yet where I would defoliate it to encourage leaf size reduction, but it has put on a bit of girth in the trunk and main branches. Even at this early stage it has flowered a couple of time already. Here are some pics of its development. The latest pic is from just over 1/2 a year ago. Hope this encourages you to persist with yours.

Hey Raging Bull, thanks for that. Yes, I'm still going to continue with my Camellia.

Sasanqua camellias have small leaves (Japonica camellias have much larger leaves) so leaf size should not be much of an issue. My experience with camellias, though, is that they do not always bud back well when cut to bare wood. Sometimes they don't shoot at all - the remaining part of the branch just dies. So, I would do a test cut on a branch you don't want and see what happens. Again, from experience with camellias in the garden, you can cut them back at any time, but in Canberra you wouldn't expect any budding before spring. It may be different in other climates.

You can also ring bark just above where you want the new bud and then once the bud has put out a couple of leaves cut the top. Safer but slower approach.

I have had these for a while. The white is the standard large leaf and the pink is the small leaf. The white was one of two I dug from the garden in 2004. As Phil said, rarely buds back. I generally cut them back when they show signs of new growth which can produce some back budding.

Thanks for the input Phil, Akhi and Peter.

Nice trees, Peter. I'm thinking if getting a couple more then plant them in the garden.

I have found Camellia sasanqua are generally hardy and bud back well but it is safer to leave some leaves on the piece to be cut off. They grow well and flower with lower light conditions than some and are frost tolerant. They can be root pruned quite harshly and are fairly pest free. An exception is scale. If you are growing garden dug trees they are likely larger which negates the tendency for larger leaves.
I'd like to see how you go.

Thanks for the input Stu specially regarding root pruning.

If you want the trunk to thicken much, consider ground-growing it for a few/some/many years, depending on your patience and ambition. Cut them back quite rarely, to get the most thickening. This will help also with leaf size - aim for a larger bonsai. They are not easy to get much form or structure to them, and are mostly grown for the flowers. I've had considerable die back when I cut back to bare wood - half the tree just didn't shoot back...

They're considered particularly poetic in Japan - the way the flower heads drop intact signifies the sudden death of a warrior.

Gavin

GavinG wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:04 pm They're considered particularly poetic in Japan - the way the flower heads drop intact signifies the sudden death of a warrior.

Gavin

I will never look at the carpet of flowers under my trees the same way.

Kirky

GavinG wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:04 pm If you want the trunk to thicken much, consider ground-growing it for a few/some/many years, depending on your patience and ambition. Cut them back quite rarely, to get the most thickening. This will help also with leaf size - aim for a larger bonsai. They are not easy to get much form or structure to them, and are mostly grown for the flowers. I've had considerable die back when I cut back to bare wood - half the tree just didn't shoot back...

Uh oh, I have already cut back my first one. I'll be buying a few more and put them on the raised beds. (For the flowers) then see if the wife will let me use them for bonsai.

I found a sasanqua camelia I might try to Bonsai. The variety is transnokoensis.
It has very small flower buds and I suspect the flowers will be small, but the leaves are already very small on my 30cm high cutting.

Now has anyone tried this? As I understand them ramification of camellias like sinensis, is successful and is the basis of making lots of leaves for tea, but can the sasanqua and in particular this cultivar work for bonsai?

Is there a sasanqua that stands out as the best ?

Chris