Mar 21 2011

No apology

I make no apology for posting this little fella again. Even further out than last week. Still don’t know what it’s called!

Mar 21 2011

Opening old wounds, in a good way…

This is a Shohin Japanese Maple I’ve been working on for a few years. It has a few major pruning wounds were the height of the tree was reduced. These wounds are healing well but every year I help it heal a little faster. I open the wound around the edge and re-seal it. This forces the tree to produce more callous that it normally would in the year. I have carried out this technique for years on Maples and other deciduous trees with great success.

This is the same tree back in October.

and today.

The wounds in question

This is the wound after the edge has been opened. You can do this with a sharp blade or as I do for speed, a dremel. Care needs to be taken to just open it and no more. No point removing a years worth of callous with a dremel!

I then seal the wound again with cut paste.

To finish off a add a thin layer of PVA glue over the paste. This makes a better seal and helps deter the slugs. I know a few people who add slug pellets into the paste to stop them eating it.

If you keep an eye on the paste it’s easy to tell when new callous is growing underneath. You’ll see a crack appearing around the edge like in this photo below taken from a different maple.

Mar 18 2011

It’s a dirty job…

but somebody’s got to do it!

Spent today weeding the garden and giving the grass the first cut of the year. Not my favourite job but somebody’s got to do it.

I was meant to be getting on a boat today to make my way to ‘Shohin Off’, the British Shohin Association show at Willowbog Bonsai. Due to a recent death in the family I wasn’t prepared to leave my wife on her own so I opted to stay home. I know it was the right choice but I’m still gutted I’m missing it.

I did spend a few hours today cleaning pots and weeding bonsai. I also potted up some dwarf willow

that I got yesterday from someone’s garden. I have added one to a tufa rock landscape I’m working on. What I didn’t do today was take any photos!! Now there’s a first 🙂

I hate posting without colour, so here's a splash of pink from the garden.

Mar 17 2011

Downpatrick Inspiration

I took a photo of this tree today. All part of my quest for inspiration! It’s growing in a field on the road to Downpatrick which, being St Patrick’s Day, it quite appropriate.

Mar 17 2011

Hornbeam Repot

I gave my friend Stephen a hand to repot his large Hornbeam today. A new pot had been planned and attempted but the tree proved too big and we had to repot it back into the mica pot until a suitable replacement could be found. Here’s the tree after repotting.

Stephen managed to get his sign up outside his ‘Bonsai Studio’. His next job is to raise the roof by 12″ so I don’t bang my head on the light!! 🙂 It’s like walking around Hobbiton, the door should be round. Sorry Stephen 🙂

Mar 17 2011

Happy St Paddy’s Day

Have a green beer on me 🙂

An Irish Bonsai

Mar 16 2011

Full Sun Today

The little yellow flower on my accent plant opened in the full sun today and I must say, it looks like a full sun itself 🙂

I didn’t clear a bit of dust from the camera lens today and the blur kind of looks like a glow in this one.

This is another accent, just moss but nice.

Mar 16 2011

Near the end…

It’s near the end for the flowers on my Fuji Cherry. The green leaves are showing through. I took the opportunity today in the sunshine to take a few last flower photos for this season. Every time I set it down there was a flurry of flower petals floating about.

Here you can just see a little adventurous bud appearing on the root base. I’ve rubbed it off now, but it’s a good sign of strong growth to come.

Mar 16 2011

New Bloggers added on Links Page

I’ve just added a few more Bloggers on the Links tab for those of you on the lookout for more inspiration.

Bonsai Bloggers

Mar 15 2011

Maple Moment

I had a Maple moment today when, during a brief period of sunshine, I walked into the greenhouse to check on the watering. I was greeted by buds that had pushed quite a bit in the last few days. The sun on the spring colour was nice to behold.