Japanese Scholar Tree

[plantmanky]

Just thought I'd post something on the Japanese Scholar tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) just because I know it's not used very much. I started a few of these from seed a number of years ago and pretty much ignored them for 6 or 7 years except for watering, food and a yearly pruning. At first I didn't think to much of them becasue of their long internodes but over the years I've found that can be somewhat controlled by vigorous pruning. I have also learned that when they are kept in smaller containers they need lot's of water during the summer months. For the last few years I watered them twice a day and still they got leaf burn during the heat of the summer making them not very joyful to look at in the fall when they are supposed to be at their best. This year, I put all of them into water trays and boy the foliage is looking quite nice and fresh regardless of how hot it gets out in the full sun. I'm hoping for a good fall showing of color which these trees are known for along with that sweet smell of oils from the leaves as they prepare for winter. Here is what one of them looks like right now, and I'll follow up with a fall picture if they put on color as I hope they do.

[dbrock]

I like it. It looks somewhat tropical but coming from Japan we know that can't be. Do the leaves reduce well? What color will the foliage turn in the fall?

[plantmanky]

The leaf reduction on this tree is hit-and-miss for me so far. I have only seen 2 others done in bonsai and both of them were large (4') trees so leaf reduction is most likely difficult but not impossible. Once I have the final shape of the tree done, I'll start tweaking around with soil types, leaf pruning and other techniques and see how it performs. The fall color of this tree is just awesome. It's in the brilliant oranges and reds all swirled together. Along with the color, you get a fantastic smell of what some say is like "cotton-candy", but to me it smells like Apricot jam. This is not ever going to be a tree for the "bonsai purist" but for those of us that like the Natural form of trees in miniature It's one of my favorites even though I know I have at least another 5 or 6 years of work to get it close to what I want. I have heard that this is considered a sacred tree in Japan which has made me want to do some searching on the internet to find the Japanese story about it. I love trees that have stories behind them, its fun to look at them and then consider the story. I for one get a completely different take on a tree with a story.