Another tree added to the My Bonsai Tab.
This one is a Large Trident Maple. I’m not even going to attempt to figure out it’s size classification, I’ll just call it a ‘Big Wee Tree’ 😀
This is it in 2003
and in 2011
View page HERE.
Bonsai Sizes!!!
Am I the only person to find the sizing classifications of bonsai a real pain?
Everywhere I look on the Internet I see different classifications. Some are similar and some have no resemblance at all. Some are classes in themselves and others call the same thing a sub category of a size class.
Peter, from Willowbog Bonsai, queried my sizing of a Trident Maple I have in another post. He was spot on, I had it down as a Kifu size tree when Chuhin would be more accurate. I could also call it Katade-mochi!
The Japanese Maple I call Chuhin could be called Kifu , although some would say Kifu is a sub category of Chuhin and others don’t even mention kifu as a size at all.
From what little I know about all this, in Japan they don’t worry too much about sizes and measuring tapes are never seen at exhibition. It’s more down to the feel of the tree than the dimensions.
I know there are some very knowledgeable folk out there reading this, either for amusement or through friendship 😀 , Id be interested to here your views.
Here are some of the sizes I have stumbled across on the net.
I have added Peter’s and my own comments from the other post below to explain how this topic became my focus for the morning 🙂
peter snart says:
is Kifu not between shohin and chuhin ?? surely that trident is a fairly big tree ??
they all look very well !! lots of nice maples throughout the UK lost following the last 2 winters !!
Bonsai Eejit says:
Sizes confuse me a tad to be honest. Everything I read contradicts! Some don’t have Kifu at all. I have done a bit more googling this morning and have come to the decision that no one agrees on this at all. The Japanese Maple above, that I have called Chuhin, is 28 cm tall and could be called Kifu or Chuhin. The Trident is 48cm tall and, as you say would be better called Chuhin as well. However it could also be called Katade-mochi! There seems to be about 3 different size classification for Bonsai out there. Considering how complicated bonsai is, this doesn’t surprise me! 
I think I’ll just stick to calling the Trident ‘Stratford’ to differentiate it from the others 
Might be worth a post on the blog about this 
peter snart says:
I sympathise with what you say !! I was lucky enough to win best Kifu at the N.Trophy a few years back with a P. densiflora that I thought was shohin , talking to Marco about it later he claimed to have never heard of Kifu despite his time in Japan ! many years ago in B.Today there was an interesting article that had been taken from Kinbon, where a few Japanese masters got together to discuss what constituted bunjin style , the consensus seemed to me, at least, to be that a tree had to ” feel ” like a bunjin to the viewer !!!! never mind thinking about style criteria , I think the size issue is a bit like that as well , no matter what a tape measure says, the bonsai has to ” feel ” like a shohin , chuhin or whatever , John Armitage reports that he has never seen a tape measure used in shohin bonsai shows in Japan , they are more interested in just enjoying the trees than worrying about size , of course , the other side to that is that I suppose generally folk know what is appropriate for each show and what it not !! I good example is bunjin style in the shohin category , this style of bonsai can be still shohin and yet be much taller than the 22 or 25 cms height limit !! alternatively I believe that a tree that in all respects seems ” big ” can be within the height limit for chuhin and yet not really be appropriate for the category .
confusing ? perhaps just to western minds !!!
My Bonsai – Hawthorn Raft
Still trying to add more trees to the My Bonsai Tab.
The latest one is this Hawthorn Raft. Click the image to view the page.
Better late than never
Today I finally got around to pulling a few trees out from the very back of the poly tunnel. Well, my son did, I’m trying my best not to muck up my bad neck!
This Celtis had grown vigorously whist I was on holiday but I couldn’t reach it for a trim. This was it when I eventually got it out of the tunnel.
This is only it’s second year in a pot after being field grown for 7 years. It has a lot of development to go before it looks like anything. Read more HERE
This was it after a quick haircut. I would normally just have left it at this stage with it being so close to Autumn, but I needed to get it back into the poly tunnel without taking up too much room!
Three Maples
I took a few record snaps of these 3 maples yesterday. All 3 were defoliated back in the Spring.
Shohin Japanese Maple
Ivy
I collected this little Ivy off a Beach back at the start of April See HERE.
It has an unusual gnarly trunk from about half way. Unfortunately the first half is terrible! The plan this year was to allow it to recover and produce roots. It had very few to start with. Next Spring I plan to air layer and create an unusual little Shohin Ivy.
I gave it a trim today to shorten some of the runners.
This is where I will Airlayer.
From this, to this, to this….
Looks as if my squat Cotoneaster stump has survived collection from a garden at the end of April.
From This in April
To this at the end of June..
and today..
Links to the older posts about this material.
Top Shelf Malus
By calling this a top shelf Malus, I am not referring to it’s quality! I’m referring to the fact that I now keep it on the top shelf of my benching to keep my dogs from eating the apples 😀
The story behind this decision can be read here : Recovering from Dog Attack!
This was the tree today. It’s one of my novelty trees. I bought it to add a splash of flowering colour to my collection and an interest in the Autumn with it’s fruit. If the right tree or piece of raw material comes along, I’ll maybe get a better one. It hasn’t quite recovered from the dog attack of last Autumn but I’m just happy it survived.
Get wired into it!
I’ve seen a few actual trees after wiring that looked just like this lol!
Lagan Tow Path
It’s taken a few days to sort these photos out, it’s been a pretty shite week but the mists seem to be clearing 🙂
On Sunday past the usual suspects took a walk along the Lagan Tow Path from Stranmillis to Lisburn. This is about 10 miles on a easy flat surface. I don’t think I’ve posted pictures from this one before. Over the 10 miles we followed the course of the Lagan river and at some points to overgrown canal which used to connect Lough Neigh with Belfast Harbour.
Loads of nice trees to see, but hard to photograph as they are close to you and surrounded by others. Some wildlife around too, I did my best to capture a feel for the walk and as many points of interest as I could.
I’ll start with a few river shots.
Part of the disused canal system that has silted up and in many places overgrown with reeds etc. Great for wildlife but an opportunity missed for tourism.
I love seeing the waterside trees hanging their branches low over the river.
Many old Oak’s in the area. Lots of dead branches poking out of the tops. Don’t think I have ever seen this reflected on a bonsai from the UK.
Spotted this old deadwood on the interior of an oak. The grain was just beautiful.
The path is part of a major cycle network.
Some of the wildlife.
Thought I had spotted an otter!!
Turned out to be my dog Smudge 🙂
Some nice old Beech trees with interesting nebari.
We walked past the old Barbour Threads Mill lying in disuse since 2006. Sad to see but in someways interesting to see nature taking back what was once fields. That glass looks a tad dangerous!!
Stephen’s wee legs just couldn’t keep up 😉
As usual pollution could be seen but on the whole, the waterway was very clear considering it was a stretch of water linking two Cities.
One of the other major issues on this stretch of river is the spread of Japanese or Himalayian Balsam. Any pink flowers you see in the photos are most likely from this plant. At points along the river, it’s 2 metres high and has choked out the native plants. The only place where I saw that it had been sprayed was below the council offices in Lisburn. The RSBP has been working hard in recent years with volunteers.
This is some after spraying.
It’s a great walk and if desired you could walk all the way to Lough Neigh. I’m afraid that wasn’t an option for me!!
Bonsai Eejit 