Jan 9 2013

Boat Booked!

That’s the boat booked for our trip over to Willowbog Bonsai on 25th January for the Ryan Neil Demo and Workshop.

Looking forward to getting over there and seeing some old friends and a few new ones to boot. Funny this internet carry on. I chat with folk every day who I’ve never met. It’s always interesting to actually meet them in the flesh and see if they match up with who you thought they were 🙂

I have my driver lined up, Phil is taking his van over as both our workshop trees are rather on the large side, however they might not be on the way back. If you follow this blog, you all know Phil ‘The Fingers’ Donnelly.

Joining us as a passenger on his first trip to Willowbog is Ben. I’m not sure he’s wise getting into a van for a long drive with Phil as these two constantly banter when together. I think I’ll have to sit in the middle 🙂

Ben will be gutted when he realizes that the chance of getting a mobile phone reception at Willowbog is practically zero! I think his expression will be similar to this 🙂

Or this 🙂

The children playing together 🙂

Enough about that pair, what I’m looking forward to is a good walk around Peter’s benches to get another look at some great bonsai.Here’s a gallery showing my last visit.

Jan 8 2013

Warren Video

Interesting snapshot on video of Peter Warren grafting a maple. It says field maple on the video but it looks like a field grown Japanese maple to me. May be they mean’t field grown maple.

But hey, I could be wrong, I often am 🙂

Jan 7 2013

Trident Pruning Video

Youtube video uploaded by Sebastijan Sandev showing the pruning carried out on a chunky Trident to take it back to it’s former glory.

Jan 6 2013

Bird Feeder

Not much happening this week other than some major computer issues!!!

Anyway, I did manage to snap a few photos of some wild birds on a feeder through a window, hence they are a little fuzzy.

Photos include Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Redpoll, Gold Finch, House Sparrow.

Jan 5 2013

Peter Tea Bonsai

Shimapku, The Unexpected Surprise

It was just another work day at Mr. Moriyama’s garden in early December and the weather was starting to get cold. Mr. Tanaka and I spent most of the first half installing thick plastic over the hoop house in the back of the yard. With us was Mr. Tohru Suzuki and his apprentice Mr. Takuya Suzuki of Daiju-en. After finishing the grunt work, we started to do some maintenance work on a couple of trees which consisted mainly of cleaning since we were only there for the morning. As I was working, I could hear Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Tohru Suzuki talking to Mr. Moriyama about something in Japanese. I picked up words here and there but didn’t much pay attention and kept my focus on the tree in front of me.

After we finished our work that morning, I wondered around the garden admiring many of…

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Jan 4 2013

Michael Hagedorn

What is a yamadori bonsai? What is a pot-grown bonsai? Here are a few simple definitions:

Yamadori: Bonsai made from an older collected tree
Pot-Grown: Grown as a bonsai its whole life

A yamadori was crafted over a very long time by the elements, by it’s location in nature. These birth marks are what make them so extraordinarily special when we make bonsai from them. A pot-grown tree, on the other hand, has been crafted by hand from its beginning. Old pot grown trees tend to have clear evidence of styling choices that date way back to its beginnings as a young plant, partly obscured by time in a pot.

Why are these distinctions important? Other than being able to tell one from the other, why should we care? It is just a labeling system. Nothing more.

Or is there something more?

If you take a minute, you may notice…

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Jan 3 2013

A Few From Stephen’s Benches

Jan 2 2013

Cork bark Forest Update

Took a few snaps of the forest while we were sizing it up for a Spring repot onto a slab. Paul B and Bob B should recognise the slab 🙂 A few adjustments to be made before we make the move.