Thumbnail photo courtesy of Daves Garden.
I found a neat Viburnum prunifolium ‘Summer Magic’ tree for sale at Today’s Nursery in Parker, Co. It was very expensive to purchase. But, the trees new growth was red and the tag said it would then green. The tree had a nice trunk and nice branches. The surface roots (nebari) were clearly evident and looked good except the one rather large root growing in a circle. It was a fairly large tree, some people may call it a large bush. Well I brought it home and have been chopping it back for the last several years. I did try wiring it one year and had to take the wire off not long after putting it on. I finally styled the tree this spring (2019) and it looks pretty good except the large root. I will be using my Viburnum Ramification Inter-Node and Leaf Reduction Technique on the tree in 2020. This technique is going to require a lot on time on this tree since it is much larger then my test subject was. But hey I have a lot of time to do so. Future plans include removing the large circular surface root and start to reduce the root ball. I keep this tree in the garage during the winter. The does have white flowers in the spring. Fall color is red-yellow. For some reason this Viburnum does not produce fruit. Insects do not seem to bother this tree.
I really like this tree and recommend it for Bonsai.
Viburnum prunifolium Blackhaw Viburnum by Ohio State University
Viburnum prunifolium ‘Summer Magic’ by Chicago Botanical Gardens
Viburnum prunifolium ‘Summer Magic’ by Classic Viburnums
Updated 05-19-2021:
The tree under went my Viburnum Leaf and Internode Technique treatment in 2020. You can see a big difference in leaf and internode size in 2021. The leaves in 2021 are smaller then the end of my thumb. That is a huge difference from where they were in 2019. See the gallery below for photos of the tree then. Ramification of the tree is way up to. I will continue to refine the ramification using my technique on them going forward.
Gallery 05-01-2021:
Gallery 08-06-2019:
