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Cutback on winter jasmine

October 1, 2019 by Jonas Dupuich

Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a deciduous shrub. Unlike trees that have specific branch patterns, winter jasmine produce shoots that emerge in all directions.

Winter jasmine

Winter jasmine

They are appreciated for their yellow flowers – flowers that open at the end of winter before the new leaves emerge (hence the name “nudiflorum”).

The specimen above was in need of cutback so I reduced the longest shoots and thinned branches that grew at awkward angles.

Winter jasmine after cutback

After cutback – 8.5″

I’ll repot the tree this winter and let it gain vigor for 6-12 months before doing additional work. Once the tree is growing well, I’ll cut back further to encourage the tree to produce new shoots in the tree’s interior.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Winter Jasmine

Previous Post: « Bonsai Development Series #17: Thin foliage to preserve interior shoots
Next Post: Diagnosing root rot in black and red pine bonsai »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andy says

    October 1, 2019 at 7:33 am

    I’m curious who the pot is made by? It is a beautiful tree, and I absolutely love the pot.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 1, 2019 at 8:05 am

      Thanks Andy – it’s a porcelain pot with no chop so I don’t have an idea of where it came from. Will see if I can learn more.

  2. Thomas Morphis says

    October 1, 2019 at 9:52 am

    Hi Jonas. Beautiful trunk! What are your objectives, briefly, when you repot this jasmine? Thanks, thomas.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 1, 2019 at 5:11 pm

      Thanks Thomas! The main objective of repotting will be to determine the health of the roots and the quality of the soil. Whenever I bring new trees into the garden I look forward to the first repotting so I can learn more about the health of the tree. If there is any old soil, I’ll remove it. If the soil is great, I’ll do very little rootwork and return the tree to its container.

  3. eric morlet says

    October 1, 2019 at 9:59 am

    hi jonas ,
    so , you don’t want to see flowers this year but how you will do next year ?

    pruning after flowering ?

    thanks

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 1, 2019 at 5:08 pm

      Hi Eric – good question. I don’t know how many flowers I’ll get this year. Pruning after flowering is a good time for cutback, but I didn’t want any new shoots to grow from the ends of the long branches. I expect to learn more about how the flowers develop after watching the tree grow for a while. In the meantime, I’d rather improve the branches than see flowers. Thanks for the note!

  4. Darth Masiah says

    October 1, 2019 at 2:46 pm

    that trunk character, though. 😁 a post on the repot would be pretty cool.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 1, 2019 at 5:04 pm

      Thanks! Will look to do a follow-up post down the road.

  5. Keith R Jarvis says

    October 2, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    Very nice – seems styled sort of clip-and-grow, at least in recent years, vs wiring. Is that accurate? Do you wire this?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 2, 2019 at 1:48 pm

      Hi Keith – good question. I don’t know the tree’s history but it looks like it’s mostly grown freely for the last year or two. Depending on the growth I get next year, I’d plan on a combination of wiring and clip-and-grow going forward.

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