This is my first post on the forum so I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong category.
I was at my families home and noticed a rosemary bush that has some nice shape to it in a planter on the front driveway. I was wondering what do you all think of the shape of it and if it is a good candidate to be turned into a bonsai? I have never done urbandori and was wondering if you have any tips on collecting it and what type of soil to plant it in etc.
Hi, I have one, I collected it from my garden, planted by previous owners of the house.
I collected it in Autumn/fall, it had a deep tap root but did my best to get plenty of root. It suffered from the cold so moved it to the greenhouse.
Last spring I thought it was a goner, but it grew away strongly all summer, producing strong root growth, plenty of adventitious roots from the trunk.
They do not produce buds on old wood, but they do air layer. The lignified wood tends to splinter rather than bend, so shaping is best done on young growth.
Protect from freezing, foliage suffers very quickly from frost damage, when in a container. I’m told that they don’t like root work, but have yet to do first repotting. I’ve also been told that they tend to slowly fade, so might be worth planting in the ground every five years or so to rejuvenate - but again, this is second-hand (albeit trusted) info.
Collecting that one might be challenging, but a strategic air layer is definitely worth a try.
Another source of info might be evergreen gardenworks, I believe those guys grow them for bonsai?
Hope that helps,
Okay, thank you for the info. I am located in Phoenix, Arizona if that info helps. Although we are having our spring showers right now and it has been raining for the past few days. I do believe to collect it there might be some challenges due to the planter that is so close around it so air layering might be a good option.
GREAT looking trunk:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:. Never grown these but hope that you can:wink:.
