It's not much of a secret that my primary focus is bonsai .... and I tend to gravitate toward plants that are unusual and that I can manipulate into something unusual or more attractive than they would end up being if left to their own growth habit. I really didn't BUY those plants. We had a guest artist do a workshop for our bonsai club, and the selection of plants she had for the plantings was very limited. Those were the most attractive of what was available, so I just grabbed those, but I was really never pleased with the appearance of the plants, which, as you can see from the pictures above, quickly became unruly & to my eye not so attractive ....... so I was just looking for an opportunity to give them away. Using them in a demonstration allowed me to keep the tray they were planted in, so it all worked out. Some of you might be surprised at how much root pruning you can do without concern for the plant's survival. Here's a little boxwood I've been working with before root pruning: and here's what it looked like before it went into it's new pot: Plants are plants, whether they are houseplants or trees normally found in the landscape. They grow the same way and use the same nutrients in the same proportions as other plants, so 95% of what applies to trees applies to houseplants. If your houseplant has a branching root system, don't be afraid to bare-root it and root prune. You'll find it has a significant rejuvenating effect for the whole plant. There is a physiological reason for this that I've explained before, but I won't go into it now because I've already strayed a long way from my original intent, which was to thank you for your kind words. - Al

Let's set aside the idea that when a plant has chlorotic foliage, the first thing we need to do is reach for the Epsom salts or Fe (iron) chelate. In a very large % of the cases, the practice is more apt to be limiting than a benefit. If you are using a commercially prepared soil or made your own and used lime when you made it, a Mg deficiency would be extremely unlikely until the plant had been in the same soil for, at a minimum, at least 1 full growth cycle and half of the next. Fe deficiencies due to an actual absence of the element in soils are also rare in containerized plants - more likely would be a pH issue that can easily be resolved and the Fe already IN the soil made available. Additionally, everyone has the idea that a green plant is automatically healthy. You can make a plant green by adding Fe and sometimes Mg, but you may be masking other symptoms that will go untreated because all is thought well. Also, applying Mg w/o applying Ca can create an antagonistic deficiency of Ca, and excess Mg makes P and K more difficult for the plant to take up. You should have good reason to suspect a deficiency of any single element, and have excluded other possibilities before applying an element or compound aimed at supplying only 1 or 2 nutrients. In most cases, you'll do more harm than good. If you haven't fertilized all winter and have been flushing the soil when you water, the plant is probably starved for N, and the symptom of chlorosis in older foliage is a tell. It's likely the plant is robbing N from older leaves to satisfy the N needs of new growth, and will eventually shed the old leaves. Also, tight roots cause shedding of older and interior foliage, so your plant might be telling you it wants a repot. I would eliminate over/under-watering, general nutritional deficiency, and being root bound, before I would make any decision about adding Epsom salts or an iron supplement. What are you using for fertilizer? last repotted? Al

How forgiving your tree is depends in large part on what approach you take to reverse its decline, and timing plays an important part in determining how enthusiastically your tree will react to your ministrations. Let me know if you want to make a plan that will begin with eliminating the mealybug problem and entering into a discussion about what's going on in the root zone. In addition to my offerings here, it's likely I'll offer some links to short (short in comparison to a book, but longer than the average GW/Houzz post) articles/posts I wrote, which you can read at your leisure. Sound like something you're up for? Al

My China Doll, a regular standard, really doesn't weep. It gets longish canes but it is incredibly bushy and thick. The winds last fall nearly toppled it and I had to prune dramatically in Fall to keep it upright. The north winds flow over our house and do a number on trees in the front lawn. As a result of the very early pruning, it is all leafed out now and starting to get longer canes. Let's see if I can dig up some photos. This January before the winds, not weepy but upright, May of '05, a less windy year I am guessing, as she is somewhat weeping, Hope this helps you get an idea of what it can look like. It is not a favorite of mine because it gets lots of powdery mildew in spring and blooms sporadically for its size all summer, needing lots of deadheading to make it stay nice. And it presents as too much of a wind barrier in this particular situation. But now that I know what to do, it is more manageable. Kathy