Dear Friends,

Presenting an original bonsai tree from my home collection treasures.

July 2021

Historical Information

ID: 0037
Nickname: Unnamed
Type: Lavender (Lady Lavender)
Age: 4 years
Grown: seed
Last repotting: October 2021
Wired: July 2021

The botanical scents of the lavender flowers in mid summer are a honeybee and hummingbird magnet.

Every fourth of July, this perennial erupts into multi-stem sparklers of blooms.

For gardeners who enjoy cut flowers and natural lavender scents to bring indoors, the flower stems can be safely cut off without harming the plant. Or leave them on and enjoy the view of long-lasting flowers that attract an entertaining show of various pollinators.

To develop this into a tree form, allow the strongest stems at the base to thicken into branches. They will bend around the thick foliage on their own, and a bit of wire can be applied to open up the center more.

Pluck out sprouts as they emerge around the base and between branches, and encourage growth along the branch ends. Any overly long branches may optionally be shortened to personal preferences. Branches will backbud vigorously even if defoliated during the growing season.

Avoid pruning stems in late May through June to ensure the maximum numbers of blossoming stems can develop for a July reveal.

September

In August and September encourage leaves to grow. They will change from silvery green to a more saturated, full green if given fertilizer and plenty of hours of medium sun (meaning, only shade it on days of extreme heat).

Pluck off old dead leaves or withered stems. Living stems will appear thicker and more woody this time of year, and have many clustered leaves. The scratch test (check if it is green under the peeling bark) works well if unsure which branches are alive.

Avoid wiring this time of year. Leaf clusters snap off very easily if the branches are bent or twisted. Any snapped off leaf clusters are less likely to regrow this year from the wound.

October

When the temperatures drop into the colder ranges and the sun starts setting much earlier, take note of the roots. Lavender will eventually spend less energy growing new leaves and roots will start tunneling deeper out of the pot.

In a pot like this the roots are better trained to divide and spread more evenly throughout the soil. The base of the pot is always where the most roots will congregate.

The root tips will attempt to tunnel deeper in the next few months to survive winter. I chose this time of year to remove the plant from the pot.

Neglecting this action could cause many problems. A potted lavender placed on the earth will send roots burrowing deep. The plant and pot will be stuck to the earth in Spring, and might suffer in health if those long roots are removed all at once. Alternatively, a potted lavender placed on a dish, deck, or patio will suffer the affects of the cold air constantly harming root ends. It would be less hardy and suspectable to frost damage.

So what to do?

I usually examine the soil line on top when I am considering replanting in autumn. More soil can be placed on top if too many roots are running along or over the surface. Soil can also be scraped away from the surface if too much of the trunk and nebari (thickest roots flairing out) is covered. Revealing as much of the nebari as possible also allows more oxygen airflow to prevent mold, mildew, and rot diseases around the trunk.

Examine the bottom layer of soil and the side edges.

In this case, I did not find any thick taproot, or overly long roots, and no rootbound areas. The roots are all slightly too long, however I will not remedy this by trimming all the new tips off before winter! Instead I believe the better solution is to add a fresh layer of additional soil below the roots.

Fortunately I can reuse this same pot again. Since the previous soil line was a couple centimeters below the edge, this pot will have space to hold the additional volume of soil.

Over winter the young root tips have fresh loose soil available to grow through, and the new moisture rich soil will also act as a barrier against wind, cold , and dry air.

Results

This strategy seems to have had a good immediate protective effect on this tree for a better future.

The trunk is better aligned with the soil level. The deep roots are buried more deeply, further holding the tree securely, but not so tight to prevent roots from spreading.

I won't be able to bury this mini tree deeper and deeper every year in this pot, but eventually the roots should spread wider and wider into the unused soil around the sides. The more the roots spread densely out, the more options I will have to plant it eventually into wider and shallower pots. The advantage of upgrading a tree with a wide root mass into a shallower pot is that the shallow pot can keep the most root tips constantly moisturized, due to the larger area for water to accumulate on the base (water sinks).

Musings

So little time, so much to do. This has been a reoccurring theme I am opening my eyes to this year in 2022.

Often times I find myself so enjoying making the best of life by living in the present, I end up focusing very little on the future. Some inevitable, and possible things in the future I am not looking forward to at all.

What will happen? How should I prepare? What do I need to know before certain events transpire? Can I equip myself with the knowledge and resources I will need in time to succeed in my goals? Are the future circumstances I fear avoidable, and can I survive the unexpected storms?

Living fully in the present is to embrace one's true reality. This self-made reality can also become our greatest delusion if we become overly comfortable for too long. Although the present may seem timeless, reality is always changing. While enjoying peace of mind, ambition, exploration, enlightenment, and accountability can all fall through the cracks; lost opportunities for growing a steadier foundation for the future. Without a foundation, peace of mind has no more worth than vices of pleasure.

To unchain ourselves from the moment, we are obligated to bravely dedicate a new part of life to making changes in ourselves, to best be equipped for the great mystery of tomorrow and beyond.