Well, over the last 2 days, Josh has been retrieving his bonsai from my garden and returning them to there proper home. I can’t really take any credit for their care as I wasn’t here either 🙂 All thanks goes to Brian, Stan, Phil and Sam on the watering crew.

Before he collected them I took a few quick snaps to share here. Some of them are seen here for the first time as they were only dug out of the garden in the Spring.

The new guys from the ground, a big hornbeam, a beech, a root over rock Chamaecyparis and a Scots Pine.

Improvisation ?

Chamaecyparis Obtusa

Blue Cedar

Wych Elm Raft front and back.

Yew Front and Back

Turkey Oak

Another Hornbeam

and a Little Lonicera.

I now have space on my benches again 🙂

I managed to trim a few other trees as well. Here’s a few before and after shots.

Dancing Hawthorn before

Lovely fine growth on this Hawthorn and this is the 3rd trimming this year.

Cork Bark Elms

and another one that Stephen trimmed for me.

and my Silver Birch.

I probably trimmed back another 10 today!! No photos 🙂

I decided to have a peep at a few of my air layers. No sign of roots on the oak but I had better luck on the Cork Bark Elm and Cotoneaster. I decided that I would go ahead and remove the layers to give them time to establish roots before the Winter.

This is the Cork Bark Elm.   ORIGINAL POST

It was an easy decision to remove this one. Not only had it filled the moss, it was sending roots up and down the trunk as well!

The unveiling …

The separation….

The Cotoneaster hadn’t issued as many roots but as I was too worried about it anyway, I opted to go ahead and remove it any way. ORIGINAL POST

The parent Tree needed some adjustments to create a new apex. This will need a few months to fill out.

This is the 3rd major trimming for this Cork Bark Elm Forest. It just loves life in the Poly Tunnel. Here was the tree when I lifted it out with Stephen’s help yesterday.

One of my frogs was rather reluctant to leave his little forest and had to be lifted off and returned to the tunnel. He has also doubled in size during July. I noticed that I had a fair amount of caterpillars eating away at my Elm leaves and these were removed. I also noticed that the wood at the base of the main tree was being eaten. I found a few little white grubs and about 3 earth worms that where working their way up underneath the bark.

Stephen removing a few bits of wire.

and here it is after the trimming. As it was only put together in the Spring, I’m happy with it.

See this Forest’s story so far here.

I have 3 oaks on my training benches and two of them have got a bad case of Powdery Mildew during July. Hot and humid weather has helped to get a grip. I’ll be spraying with a fungicide to treat the trees.

I have found a few leaf Gall’s on my Satsuki Azalea. Not pretty to look at and caused by the fungus Exobasidum Vaccinii. Wet conditions helps them to spread. They don’t cause any great harm to the tree. Just remove them before they turn white to help stop the spread in future years. Ugly things, hard to believe that some people actually eat them!!

Here’s a link to Bonsai Basho’s YouTube Channel were Kevin Willson takes you through the steps of carving. Very Interesting.

Kevin Willson Olive Carving Part 1

Mario, a club member from Dublin who is moving to Dubai for a few years has left his collection with me to look after. I have promised to keep him up to date with their development while he is away. Here are a few of them showing new Summer growth.

This Shohin Japanese White Pine was sitting on a box full of grit and has issued roots down through the pot.

This Japanese Black Pine is showing it’s second growth of the year. Very Strong!! I didn’t do the initial pruning, perhaps it could have been held back a little longer to produce tighter growth in the second flush.

And this is a lavender!  Never seen one as a bonsai before and Mario has made a good job if it. With 4 weeks of no pinching, we now have a lavender about to flower 🙂

This big Japanese Maple had been defoliated during the Bonsai School in June. It is now back in full leaf and has extension of up to 8 inches in places.