I used the Kaizen Algae cleaner on this yew a few days ago and it worked a treat. I did miss a bit but you can see how things have improved.
Missed a little bit here 😦
Maple Thinning
This Coral Bark Maple has grown rapidly this Spring to the point were the canopy is so full that no light is reaching the inner buds and branches. This needs to be rectified to avoid die back on the inside of the tree.
As it was the last day of the Premiership season with all the ups and downs of relegation, I brought the tree into the conservatory to work on. A rare occurrence in my house.
I took a quick snap before I started in earnest. Notice how little you can see of Sky Sports on the telly.
I then started to trim out any extension growth taking it back to the first two leaves on the branch.
Here you can see the centre shoot removed.
Now to let extra light reach the interior of the tree I remove one of leaves from each pair on the exterior of the tree.
This is the leftovers.
Now compare how much of the telly can be seen through the tree.
and here it is with a clear background.
It’s still early stages as far as development of this tree goes. It will need a major wiring in the Autumn to correct a few issues.
Oh, and I was gutted that Blackpool went down 😦
Walk in the shade
It amazing the difference a few weeks makes to a walk. I walk in these woods every 2 or 3 weeks and this time it was striking just how full the canopy has become creating that dappled shade.
Blue skies after very heavy rain all night. We wrapped up expecting rain and the heat left us cursing the layers!
Giant Killer Snails!!
Just love these headline grabbing titles 🙂
I spotted this huge snail devouring hostas with the walled garden at Greenmount Agricultural College today. Stephen was able to ride it home. [Yet another height joke at his expense]
I was there on a club job moving display stands but took the opportunity to take a few photos for the blog. It was raining so I didn’t get to spend much time at it. Here’s a few taken within the walled garden.
The Bonsai Art of Japan Episode 2
This has got to be one of the better quality You Tube Bonsai channels, both in content and in production. I thought the advice on leaf pruning maples in this episode was particularly good. Wish they were longer!
The Bonsai Art of Japan Episode 2
Alien Invasion!!
Ok, It was only a moth but what a beauty. It’s a Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi [Googled]
I spotted it on my boiler house roof this afternoon. With a delicate poke I managed to get it to pop out it’s aerials 🙂 After a while it started to shake and then flew over onto my fence.
A loner
I had a strange request this week. A friend of the family asked if they could borrow a bonsai for a jewellery display stand at a local event. They wanted one about 20 cm tall. I decided to lone them a typical Chinese Elm. It’s what most people [general public] think a bonsai looks like and as it was an £8 purchase from B&Q 2 years ago. Wish I had a before photo.
I spotted it in the store in a bad state. It was reduced to £8 and was mostly yellow leaves. I liked the squat heavy trunk. You can see were I removed the usual lower poker straight branches.
The top of the tree was poker straight as well so I chopped it off and brought up a branch as a new leader that matched the twisting flow of the trunk.
It’s not everyone’s idea of a good bonsai. I bought it to sell on but have grown attached, dangerous habit in bonsai! More filling out required, so I’ll keep it a while longer 🙂
Signs of life
The Cotoneaster that was collected a few weeks back is showing signs of life.
Small red buds can be seen in many places so fingers crossed.
Alas, the big Ceanothus that I lifted has now been checked and I can pronounce life extinct 😦 It was a long shot and had suffered during the cold snap this Winter. It did try to bud but these soon died. Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Stolen Bonsai West Yorkshire
Some thieving ‘toe rag’ has been at their work stealing bonsai in West Yorkshire. As many of those following this blog are from the UK, I thought I would add a post about it.
The stolen bonsai can be seen on an IBC thread. Just click the stolen tree below to see the rest of them.
Whoever stole them obvious had an eye for good material as opposed to finished bonsai, so they knew what they were looking for.
Satsuki Flowers
Satsuki Guessing Game
By way of update for the above post, here is the Satsuki in flower now. It looks like the apex is dark pink with the rest of the tree light pink.
Haven’t a clue what variety it is, perhaps ‘Wishinu’ 🙂
Bonsai Eejit 