Hi Everyone,
i bought this Larch about a year ago and styled it also last year. it grew very good, but lowest left and lowest right branch got weaker over the year. those two branches also shed thier needles first in fall. i did fall fertilisation. this spring i to to repot. butwhen i started to do little branch removal in upper part i recognised that the two low branches almost look dead. think the buds now swell little but much later than the upper part (see pictures). now i am not shure if the report this year will be good. the tree is in this very smal pot for 4 years now. this is my first post here, hope you can help also a tip how to handle the lower branches would be great, just let grow?
thanks for quick reply from Robert to Robert
yes i rather tend to repot with not to much rootwork. the collector from which i got the tree recommends slip potting. what is not ideal in my opinion.
i dońt know if there is a chance to get this question answered in Q&A, i dońt know how often this is done
I am with the others and would say that substrate could be your issue though larch are pretty resilient. Saying that, what works in the collectors garden may not be suitable for your garden and visa versa. For me I would repot into a substrate that you know works for you. You can then also check the state of the roots etc. I would not be slip potting personally providing you can keep up with the watering requirements of the pot its in.
Larch are apically dominant so the top will also be stronger. This is important to know as allowing the top to run away with itself can not only cause the tree to grow out of proportion but for it to drop lower branches in favor of the top strong growth.
One other thing to note and the advice from a great bonsai larch grower who is sadly not with us anymore… “No bud, no branch” . If you cut a branch back and it has no buds on it then that branch is now dead. On the other side of this however, you can regrow an entire tree from just 1 bud.
Larch are one of my favourite trees so I may reach out to you in relation to where you obtained that one as its a really nice piece of material. I live in France so a trip up to Germany may be required
Hi,
when styling there were some cracks on deadwood and smal tares, but nothing severe. the only thing both branches have in common is they are lower nd they were the only ones wrapped in raffia. somehow i think thid might also not have been the best idea
Hi Mark,
yes soil might be a problem. perkulation is not good any more. i only fear the repot because it might maybe weaken the two branches little more.
totally agree on the tree wants to shed the two branches. i were cutting them to much in last season. so the crown was very dense and remified, and the lower two not. think that is the most part of the reason reason for that result.
I got this larch and some of my sabinas from david quintana from spain. you can check him on instagramm. very nice guy and always best health trees. price is also good.
By the way, this was my first post here, and it feels really good how engaged all here are. will use the forum more from now on
also a tip how to handle the lower branches would be great, just let grow? 
