Jay: For future reference, I would have simply brought the azaleas home, cleanly
pruned any torn ends of branches or roots, then planted them in landscape mix
(mulch) to let them recover from the ordeal until after flowering next spring.
Fortunately, azaleas have a shallow root system, and you usually can come up
with sufficient rootage, even if they were roughly pulled out.
I hope all that top pruning combined with the root work hasn't stressed them
too much. I would still recommend mulching them in the ground or a raised bed rather
than individually potting them at this time. If you have a greenhouse, it would be
good to protect them from extreme winter weather this year. If you have space in
your garage or storage building, you can do like Carl Rosner and build a raised bed
by laying out a couple of courses of cinder blocks and filling in the middle.
Alan Walker, Lake Charles, LA, USA
http://LCBSBonsai.org http://bonsai-bci.com
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"Beckenbach, Jay" wrote:
Or what I did on my "vacation"
I took yesterday afternoon and this morning off because the Grounds
Department told me they were removing some satsuki yesterday. I had
previously looked, and they seemed to be planted in fairly uniform groups as
a decorative mass plantings. So I brought my hand tools and showed up. So wrong!
First, they were removed Monday morning and just piled back behind a utility
shed. Next, no one told the crew doing the work that someone from the local bonsai
group was going to be coming by. Finally, the plants had been planted over twenty
years ago and some of them much too deep so the visible portion of the plants were
really branches of bigger plants. Naturally,
they ground layered at that point giving many plants two root systems.
I took 22 plants home with me last night after drastically pruning the tops.
Boy are my hands sore. I've washed out the roots and have them covered with a wet
sheet in the shade near my potting shed. This morning the ones with leaves looked
happier so I've potted up 6 using the original roots where they are acceptable (some
were not planted as low as others and two never had their original roots spread when
initially planted so the original roots didn't grow much). The 6 have been
re-washed and put into a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and peat moss (or moss peat for
those on the old side of the pond). I plan to do the rest as soon as possible and
are keeping the roots wet with the sheet.
Here's the question, what can I do to increase the survival rate? All
suggestions gratefully accepted. I get the digest for lunch entertainment
so if I do not respond immediately, that may be the reason. TIA - jay
Jay Beckenbach - Melrose, FL - Zone 8b/9a -
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