Hi Terry.I also have a transvaalica and have the same problem with die back for no apparent reason.I am glad to hear I am not the only one with this problem.
No Marius you are not alone. 😉 It has been suggested to me that they don’t like to dry out and if they do on occasion, this leads to the dieback. However this is a single person’s observations and I am not sure over how many trees as I keep mine pretty wet. Perhaps not wet enough. However I will certainly investigate this further and see if I find an improvement.
Interesting that you have not had flowers Joe. I suspect you are pruning off the growth which bears the flowers. I doubt it’s too much or too little sun, the wrong fertiliser etc as they are not fussy at all.
Thank you Terry, this is an awesome video. Great to see work done on this indigenous tree. The species name, both botanical and other common name 'Transvaal privit', was always an irony for me as they have been more commonly seen by me in the Cape Town area and I've rarely seen them in the 'Transvaal region where I am from. Desperate for one, I purchased mine in Cape Town and flew it back with me on my lap on the plane. Looking forward to an update of your tree, it looks great. Thanks again.
Thanks for the compliment! Most appreciated. The common name is Wild pride of India which is very odd considering it’s indigenous. Where did you see it called Transvaal privet? They are not common as bonsai at all as you say which is odd as for me they give much better autumn leaf colour than any acer. I have another large one too, also field grown. I’ll update on this tree and perhaps feature the other one in the future. Thanks for watching!
@@TerryErasmusbonsai The common name 'Transvaal privit' is usually listed as a secondary common name, behind the primary common name 'Wild pride of India' on 'treesa.org' or 'indigenoustrees.online' as examples. But it was listed as its primary common name in 'Field guide to trees of South Africa, B & P van Wyk, 1997'. Will be cool to see your other one Terry, and thanks a mil. Really enjoy your videos.
Thats indeed very interesting! Thanks for the reply. I consider plantzafrica.com to be the authority or reference as its the SANBI site and they only list the following names: Galpinia transvaalica. PlantCommon names: wild pride of India (Eng.); knoppieblaar (Afr.); UmDlampangele ( Zulu) But the field guide you refer to is also a good piece of reference material. I guess this is why it is always best to stick with the botanical name and the common names often lead to confusion. Thanks again and thanks so much for watching and the kind compliment.
Thank you again for sharing your knowledge. Beautiful tree. It already looks great after what you have just done to it, so I can't wait to see what it looks like in the future!
So nice of you! Really appreciate it. I really hope it fills out a lot, which I trust this work will stimulate. There are a lot of open/negative spaces which will look better filled. I hope to post updates as it develops in the future.
Very beautiful subject - I had to look it up on line to see the pretty clusters of flowers. First styling was really interesting to watch. Good tips re: wiring brittle species - working the deadwood was also super helpful. Is this species considered deciduous? Look forward to seeing further development of this bonsai!
Thanks Sue. Yes, it’s deciduous. Has beautiful autumn and spring colours. I bears masses of white flowers. The berries aren’t much to look at though. I love the green, wavy leaves and the autumn colour most.
