名媛直播

Hey guys, i have recently discovered a lavender bush that is in a pot in my garden. It has a lovely taper to the trunk and i want to turn it into a bonsai since it is desireable and my mom has enough lavender haha. (Note: i did ask her if i can take it)So my question is, how do i go about taking this tree out of its current pot and re-potting it? Is it possible to bonsai this tree? If any kind person would be able to advise me on soil options that would be great aswell as when it is actually safe to remove it from its current pot. Thanks guys

Yay, another young person! I suppose the first question is: which branch is going to become the trunk? And have you considered how long it's going to take for the scars from all of the other branches you'll have to cut off to heal? A loooong time, from the looks of it. As for repotting, spring is best but fall is also ok. Don't repot and prune all in one day, or your plant will probably die, as manofthetrees demonstrated with his juniper. (it's in progressions if you want to look) Repot, wait a couple of weeks to a month, and then prune. Soil... there are lots of guides on the internet as to what's best, and I've read all about soil acidity and different grade mixes and akadama clay. Personally I like to take mine from this big bag of Miracle-Gro garden soil mom bought from ... Lowe's I think, but it might have come from somewhere else. It's got fertilizer in it, but weak enough not to burn your plant. Of course, if you want to show it in a bonsai competition, that won't cut it, but if you want a simple solution that's an easy, accessible one.
When you go to repot, you will want to have your soil, new pot, a pair of scissors, and a little garden shovel handy. Do this outside in a spot where your mom won't be upset if you drop a little dirt. Start by removing the plant from the pot. I find it easiest to tip the pot on its side and slide it out, but if you want to use the shovel that's ok too. Clear off the excess dirt until you get down to the root ball. There's a very good chance of your plant being root-bound, where the roots are throughout all the soil. In that case, you'll need to take your scissors and trim the root ball down to size. Don't cut off more than 1/3. Then you stick the plant in the new pot and hold it steady with one hand while using the shovel to put soil in with your other. You may need to ask someone else to steady the lavender for you. After that, you just pack the soil down and water it.
Good luck, and I hope you succeed!

Hi Joncoh,

First of all, you may have quite a challenge in trying to get the plant out of that particular pot shape...the roots may very well fill the widest part of the pot and, if so, it won't come out thru the narrower opening. The only way I can see one might achieve this would be to either break the pot or (maybe) slice straight down thru the roots all the way to the bottom of the pot and all the way around the opening. These are not suggestions but rather just me thinking out loud. Should you choose to slice thru the roots be forwarned that I have no idea what the repercussions may be on the plant. You must take responsibility for your own choice, should the plant die. Perhaps the more experienced bonsaiers on the forum would have better suggestions.

Once again, this site has excellent advice on repotting and recommended soil for 名媛直播. Scroll up to the Main Menu in the upper left-hand corner of this page; click on "Care" then click on "Repotting". There is a lot of valuable info in this article with step-by-step photos. Also, be sure and watch the two videos listed at the end of the article on "repotting" and "soil". The video on soil will explain why it is strongly recommended that one does "not" use regular potting soil for 名媛直播. Under the same "Care" catagory click on the "Fertilizing" topic. Fertilizing your bonsai must be done with care and, I personally, would not risk using a pre-fertilized soil.

I've never seen a lavender bush before...only as garden plants. I am looking forward to following the progess. Thanks for sharing the photos. Best of luck!

Leslie

Thanks i am worried that the plant will die if i take it out of the pot at the wrong time so im going to try do more research before i yank it out of the pot. I am definately not going to cut branches before it is settled in a more appropriate pot. It seems as if there are two trunks in the pot, one dead and one alive. So i will pot the dead part as deadwood next to the lavender and then grow the live part. I will try to take progress pics as i go

Jon,
First of all..great plant
You can slip pot this now if you don't disturb the roots too much.If you can wait, do it next spring. Then you can reduce the root ball and put it in appropriate soil.After the re-potting, keep it out of direct sunlight for a few weeks then gradually increase the sun over a few more weeks.
Once you do the root work, wait until the plant fully recovers to do any thing else.The roots need time to send out new shoots to nourish the tree. I would wait at least a month..a few weeks isn't long enough.
A rule of thumb...if you reduce the roots by 1/3 then you can safely reduce the foliage by that much.
Good luck.
Lance

Ok cool thanks man, im just wondering though, what soil would be appropriate for a lavender

Free draining soil is always good

Ok im going to pot it soon as it is starting to get to the appropriate potting season for a few trees here in S.A, as many trees are shooting now

Joncoh, that is a nice looking lavender man. If it was me I would just break that pot. If you do, be careful not to hit to hard and damage a few roots. Deadwood would look awesome on the tree. Seeing that spring has started its a good time for repotting, but with this weather we are having I will have to wait until next week to repot. Hopefully the weather will play along.

Ya thanks man hein, the thing is, with our weather its been raining alot. And aparently it is better to wait and leave your soil in the pot to dry out before you pot. Its probably just to make it easier to bare root the tree. But i will wait until it starts getting warmer here. That deadwood is fantastic, im so excited to work with it. I might just do a pheonix graft with it and a Ficus and pot the lavender seperately