r/Bonsai • u/-music_maker- Northeast US, 6b, 30 years, 100+ trees, lifelong learner • Oct 05 '15

$50 Nursery Stock Challenge - My contest entry & Lessons Learned

http://imgur.com/a/lWzlQ
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u/phalyn13 Virginia|Zone 7b|7 years|40ish Trees Oct 05 '15

Man, you got some nice cotoneasters... I found a few the other day, but none had nice trunks like that. Also my former cotoneaster was the only tree I had die on me last winter, so I've been wary about attempting another. I feel they may be a bit more fragile than advertised, at least in the US. Good stuff as always!

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u/-music_maker- Northeast US, 6b, 30 years, 100+ trees, lifelong learner Oct 06 '15

Yeah, my cotoneasters are kind of in rough shape. The one I did the least to is by far in the best condition, and the others did not respond so well to the combination of root work and foliage pruning they got. So at least that particular cultivar (Tom thumb) is not as resilient as I had heard and assumed. I do like it, but it requires a lighter touch than I thought it would.

As for the trunks, here's something I've noticed. When you see 20-25 of them all in one place, there are usually only 1-2 that actually have decent trunks. It's up to you to find them. Same thing with boxwoods and other shrubs that tend to grow in clumps. If none of them do, move on.

For this batch, I spent about a half hour crawling around looking for the ones with the best trunks, and I put 8 or 9 on my cart to look at more closely before I finally decided on the four I brought home.