Back out walking again today, a bit of a struggle with the dodgy ankle but I was keen to get out and get a fix of nature. Accompanied by Philip and Stephen and usual walking buddies.
More pix, fewer words. Here is the message: it’s important to work the roots on trees as they’re being developed in the ground. They’re going to grow, so it’s important to have them arranged properly first, so when they do grow, they grow in a way that we appreciate for bonsai.
First:
Second…we’ll discuss this one again later this summer:
Third:
There’s that Milli Vanilli cd!
Back in the ground, cd and all. If it doesn’t grow, blame it on the rain.
Thanks for reading. Next week we’ll talk azalea flowers!
Today I attended a service celebrating the life of Sharon Green, a club member and friend. After a long fight with cancer it eventually got the better of her.
Sharon asked that those attending the service wore something bright. She even made John dye his hair and beard pink! She wanted everyone to smile. I think most of us did at some point as we saw a slideshow of photos of Sharon’s amazing life played on the wall. That said, it’s hard to celebrate at a time like this, it was still a sad day.
Rest in piece Sharon, leave some yamadori up there for the rest of us!
This hunk of wood is a Zelkova Serrata that was field grown and neglected for 8 years during this time it grew to 25 feet tall and was a bitch to get out of the ground. It was transferred into this blue tub were it has resided for the last 4 years or so. It weighs a tonne and I wanted to start to try and make a tree out of it. I needed to examine the nebari such as it is to determine the best option for the tree.
On Wednesday night, ably assisted by Alan I managed to get it out of the pot and removed the branches that would definitely not be required in any future design.
Alan and I then repotted the tree and managed to get it down in size to a mica training pot. I would have liked to have made it slightly more upright but the roots and pot wouldn’t allow this this time around. It’s not going to be a pretty Zelkova like many you see but it will have a certain rugged charm in about 10 years time. It’s a big tree as you can see below. It’ll have rotted deadwood features and a rather ugly nebari but powerful in it’s own nasty way 🙂
Some more pruning and wiring required to set it on the right path but it’s an interesting project. The big one in the middle was it in the growing field back in 2003!
I did my now yearly Spring accent swap with Xavier and my package arrived on Monday.
Very generous clumps which I was able to split again 🙂
Although bonsai is a visual art, there is more to this art than meets the eye. Of course the beauty of bonsai is of paramount importance and is commonly determined by the trunk, branches, silhouette, container, season, antiquity of youthfulness and the total aesthetic impact. However, it is important to consider other factors, which are not immediately visible to those with limited experience and exposure to the art. Most bonsai hobbyists, and professionals as well, do not have the background to fully understand the hidden beauty that lies within the bonsai and only consider what their eyes first see when viewing a bonsai.
Japanese flowering apricot in full bloom delights the eye and the old rugged trunk is matched and is respected by the careful selection of the antique chinese container
Although this antique Chinese container is not planted with a bonsai, it was displayed in the 2013 Taikan…
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First flowers opening on this Rhododendron ‘Blue Diamond’.
This one has gone back into the same pot. Temporary wire there to hold for a week or too. I have a blackbird who would just love to trail this one out of the pot!
Maybe a bit big for mame though 😦
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