Entry #32
Golden duranta (Duranta erecta)
Zambia
70cm (27.5")
Before
I grew this plant from a cutting for a hedge two and half years ago. They were around 50 of them. This one was in a packet and the roots escaped into the ground and it grew over 3 meters. I dug it out for the competition in January, and planted it in a large planter bag, since I still need to grow it.
I reduced all the branches to 15cm length from base, since I reduced the roots drastically, and needed to reduce the leaf mass correspondingly .
It has shot up since . Duranta has very hard wood, and it is almost impossible to bend ones the branch has matured. Even young shoots are somewhat brittle and need to be treated carefully.
I plan to style this tree in an informal upright style, with a large cave in front of the trunk, where I plan to remove all the large branches.
Need to grow a leader, and thicken it. The planned height for this material is less than 40cm.
Climate here is nice and warm without extreme temperatures, so I hope to do a lot with it, since duranta is a very fast grower.