Sep 12 2011

Wind!!

All the trees in my garden look like this today!!

The UK is getting the tail end of America’s Hurricane and there are some very strong gusts. Things are meant to get worse overnight. After a quick check everything is still where I left it. Fingers crossed there will be no broken pots or branches to clear up in the morning.

Sep 12 2011

Bonsai Cafe

Returning the favour 🙂

As Hans has given my blog a mention on the Bonsai Cafe Facebook Page. I thought it only polite to give the Forum a mention here too.

I joined the forum earlier this week after following them on Facebook for a while. I was unsure if it was worth the hassle joining yet another Forum, especially one that wasn’t English Language based. I soon found that the embedded Google Translate feature on the forum was very effective.

After signing up I got my warm welcome with a warning 😀 ‘This is an honest Forum’. On many forums you will see trees getting a ‘pat on the back’, ‘Oh nice tree’, even when it’s a stick in a pot. Not so here. I took a little time and read through some of the other posts assessing the honestly levels. Great advice was available for those willing to take it. Some take it well, some not 😮 I took the plunge yesterday, posted a tree and received excellent feedback.

Isn’t bonsai all about the learning and the fun. Everyone, especially me, has much to learn about this art. If you are truly out to learn, then this is a great place to be.

Click on the image below, or the new link in the side bar, to visit Bonsai Café.

Sep 11 2011

Tour of North Down Part 2

Next stop was Stephen’s garden. Again this was a first time visit for Stan and Stephen gave him a tour of some of his trees.

I was too busy looking for bugs 🙂

Stephen’s little Bonsai Studio, only big enough for hobbits. He’s still looking for a round door 🙂

Some of Stephen’s trees.

Larch

Deshojo Maple

Hawthorn Raft

Korean Hornbeam

Cascade Hawthorn. Has yet to have it’s first styling. This was it as collected a few years ago.

I love the bark at the base of this large Larch as well.

If memory serves me right, Stephen was giving me stick about waiting for 30 minutes before I offered him a coffee the last time he was at my house . Did I get a coffee at his?? No! Some excuse about having no milk! Just thought I would share that to the bonsai community as a whole LOL 😉

Sep 11 2011

Trident Maple Explained

I have several Trident maples in my collection and they are one of my favourite species to work with. I read this latest post by Peter Tea about his work with these trees in Japan. I picked up a few good pointers and was pleased to see that what I had been doing was heading in the right direction.

Here’s a photo of one of my Tridents.

and this is a link to the post by Peter.

PETER TEA- TRIDENT MAPLE HUSSLE

Sep 11 2011

Tour of North Down Part 1

Yesterday I spent the day whizzing around North Down running errands involving bonsai.

First stop was Stan’s house. I was going to drop off some trees at Josh’s house and asked Stan to help with the heavy lifting. I had never been to Stan’s before. He’s a newish club member who appears to be as hooked on bonsai as me!! He started about a year ago and I was delighted to see his progress in his back garden. What impressed me most was his willingness to get stuck in on his own and style trees. Some of the tree were new to me and I was delighted to see his set up.

He’s already got himself some railway sleepers to make display benches.

Moving swiftly on from Stan’s we arrived at Josh’s Garden with a boot full of his trees to return. He was out!! We broke into his garden and left him a few extra trees for his display, kinda like stealing in reverse LOL.

I really enjoyed watching Stan’s face when he saw the size of some of the big trees in Josh’s collection.

Left to right, Hornbeam, Cotoneaster and Mugo Pine.

Lonicera Forest Planting.

Beech and a Turkey Oak.

Beech, Oak, Hornbeam and an Ivy cascading on the end.

and a Mugo Pine on a Rock.

As Josh was out I suggested to Stan that we pop down and get him a look at Stephens collection. After a quick phone call to make sure he was in, we headed in that direction. Photos to follow next post.

Sep 10 2011

Club Night

Last night was NIBS Club night. Normally a workshop, but last night turned into a demo! Most of the bonsai and material brought by the club members was there for advice rather than work. We opted to do this as a group and also styled a little Chamaecyparis Obtusa. As I was busy, Stephen took over the camera duties.

This was a lovely little Common Juniper that is crying out for a nice pot next year.

Weighing up the options on a Potentilla.

The little Chamae.

The basic styling has been completed. We decided not to fine wire or over pinch at this early stage. We will revisit this little one next year.

Sep 10 2011

Autumn Colour Creeping In…

I noticed a little more colour in the garden today.

This little spiraea is turning lovely shades of pink.

Josh’s Beech Forest is well on the turn now.

This was it 2 weeks ago.

A cotoneaster

and a wild pear.

Still no sign of colour in any of my Japanese Maples, can’t wait of it to kick in 🙂

Sep 9 2011

Two Hearts beat as one :-)

I noticed these two leaves on a recently collected Ivy. most of the other leaves are the normal shape but these two, well, I just fell in love 🙂

Sep 9 2011

Matthew’s San Jose Juniper

This is my son’s San Jose Juniper. It was field grown from a cutting and I gave it to my son to try and add to his interest in bonsai. That’s still a work in progress!

This was it a few weeks ago. I had lifted it in for a quick record photo. I had plans to style it with Matthew at some point.

Then a few days ago this happened! Freak gust of wind and down it went..

The pot would have survived if it had missed the slate on the ground!

This forced my hand a little. I needed to get it into a new pot but wanted to give it a quick styling before I did that. My son wasn’t free to do it with me so I did a quick job on it yesterday and repotted it this morning.

I removed 2 branches.

and about an hour later..

I changed the front slightly to bring the second live vein into view at the base.

This still leaves me with the biggest problem on the tree, the long straight section on the trunk after the first bend. The shari makes this a rather stiff problem to bend.

I repotted it into the only pot I had available that suited the tree. It’s a little big but will be ideal for developing the tree further. This wasn’t a full repot, just a transfer with a little soil removed to facilitate the new potting angle.

and this is it with a little virtual foliage added.

I’m not overly struck on the tree but my son is happy. Next year, once the tree is established in the new pot, I might tackle it again and take drastic action with that straight section by splitting the trunk and using raffia and heavy wire, add some movement. If it wasn’t for the smashed pot I might have tried it now. Ah well, there’s always next time…