Dec 31 2016

Cascade Japanese Black Pine

I finally got around to doing a little work on my new Shohin Japanese Black Pine. I picked this one up whilst on holiday in Tenerife back in October. A visit to Bonsai Centro Tenerife and a chat with Jose Acuna did the job.

This is it as purchased.

and after a little work.

A slightly different angle.

As a large shohin I like the fact that it has possibilities for reversing it in a box stand to fit different displays. Here’s the back.

and the other sides just for giggles.

Jose gave me a few earlier photos of it which I’ll share here too to keeps my records all in one place.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Dec 30 2016

New Toy – Sony 6000

Santa was good to me, I have acquired a new toy and have been playing a little.

sony_alpha_ilce-6000_2014_cp

I now have the Sony 6000 camera. My old Nikon D5000 had it’s limits were video was concerned and I was looking something for up coming holidays that was a little more compact. I’m no camera buff, I know what I need it to do to allow me to capture images and video for the blog, and this little fella fits the bill. I have a few add-ons to get my hands on but so far I am loving what it can do. Mirrorless cameras have really closed the gap with the DLSR range!

Dec 20 2016

Shohin Zelkova

This one is new to my collection this year. An old tree that originally was an import to the UK back in the late 80’s, it lost it’s apex when with the previous owner. I got the tree back in June as I saw some potential in making it into an even smaller shohin tree.

This was the tree as acquired. A bit weak with some dead branching. It hadn’t been fed much in recent years.

when I got it home.

I cut down the height by about 2 inches and cut the leggy branches back quite hard. After a few months free growth it had produced some new fine growth.

I was able to do a little wiring once it dropped leaves for Winter. This is it after work. Some branches left long and will be left for another year to thicken branches as required. New beginnings, we’ll see how it goes. Major repot required this Spring.

Dec 18 2016

Chuhin Japanese Maple

Catching up on a little blogging. I’ve missed a few trees in their Autumn garb. This was one. I like to add them here as my record each year. This one had a bad insect attach a few years back and I lost branches. I’m in the process of rebuilding the apex and ramification.

Dec 17 2016

Beech Winter Image

My favourite tree on the benches in Winter. Shown here with and without leaf.

Dec 16 2016

Korean Hornbeam

My Korean Hornbeam showing the change from Autumn into Winter.

Before trimming.

After trimming.

And in Winter image after dewiring.

Dec 14 2016

winter workshop december ’16

Sally's Bridge Bonsai

Last weekend Mark hosted a Munster Bonsai Club workshop with Ian Young and Phil Donnelly. I could only take part on the Saturday although the lads kept things rolling on Sunday.

Ezo Spruce Formal Upright Styling

One of my favorite species for bonsai is Ezo Spruce… Although we don’t have the wonderful collected Ezo that the Japanese have, sometimes one can find cutting-grown Ezo that are often p…

Source: Ezo Spruce Formal Upright Styling