Apr 4 2012

Shohin Japanese Maple

This little maple is about to come into leaf.

I recently read somewhere that if you remove the stipules from the bud as it opens it allows the stalk to dry out faster which causes the inter-nodal length to become shorter. A desirable feature in shohin maples.

Here you see the stipules at the point of my scissors.

This is how it looks with the stipules removed. I will hold judgement on the technique until I see if there is any beneficial results.

Anybody used this technique before?

Apr 3 2012

Yearly Task

This recovering Japanese Maple has a big area of deadwood at the base extending up the trunk. It was extremely rotten when I got it and it requires a lot of attention with wood hardener to keep it as is. I added another coat of hardener a few days ago.

Apr 3 2012

Oak Air Layer Removal

I layered this oak last year and decided to leave it in place over the Winter. All the other layers last year had produced enough root to allow for an Autumn removal. This oak however was lacking in roots at that stage. Some where visible but not enough in my opinion.

Today I removed the cover and was happy with what I saw. The layer was budding very strongly and the roots in the moss were moving again as white tips were showing.

This was my first layer on an oak and was more about gaining knowledge than producing a great tree. Both the parent tree and the layer are nothing special but at least I know it’s worth giving oak a go in the future.

Mar 29 2012

Cork Bark Elm Air layer Repot

Another Air Layer from last year. I decided to repot this one also. I was amazed just how flared the nebari had become in a short time.

This was the layer last year, full post HERE

This was it at the weekend before repotting.

Again with the roots raked out and the layering moss removed.

Before potting up I was able to removed the stump at the bottom. This helps flare out the nebari even more.

Due to the roots still being delicate, I used bamboo canes over the outer spread to hold the tree in place. These will eventually rot away in the pot.

Potted up and a bit of a trim.

Dec 7 2011

Quick Removal of Leaves Method

Instead of lifting all my Cork Bark Elms out of the Poly Tunnel for leaf removal, I opted for the fast method. As they have lived a sheltered life, they have kept their leaves to the point were they are brown. Wind would have sorted this long ago outside on the bench. I opted for the garden hose method.

and there you go, it’ll still need to do a clear up to keep the place clean and tidy but it saved me a bit of time.

Nov 11 2011

Mycelium

At the recent Bonsai School it was discussed about how Mycelium could block drainage holes at the bottom of pots and might cause water logging issues over a wet Winter. This little Pine[ not mine] was examined recently. It’s in a plastic training pot. I think you can clearing see that the Mycelium has filled every single millimetre of space 🙂

I’d be happy to find any of my pines with this amount of Mycelium in the pot!

Nov 6 2011

Trees from Friday Night

Here are a few of the trees worked on on Friday night. Some were styled some were discussed.

Phils Scots Pine before old needle removal.

and after…

Hugh’s Scots Pine after needle removal, shown from a few angles.

One of Ian B’s Mugo Pines grown from seed.

and after styling

and another one before.

and after

Michael’s Juniper

A little Yew I worked on.

and after, still work to do but ran out of time 😦

Sep 16 2011

Oak Air Layer

I checked this air layer again today. A few weeks ago it was showing no sign of roots. This was it today.

What I can see is strong, but there’s not a lot of it. I think in this case I will wrap up again in the black rubber and add an extra layer for insulation, then leave until the Spring.

It had proved to be a lot slower that the other species that I layered this year.

Jul 21 2011

Flakey Bark on a Trident

My Trident has started to get that flakey bark and I’m in two minds what to do. I quite like the bark as is but I also like the way the Japanese will remove the flakes of bark to create a patchwork of different colours.

What do the rest of you do?

Jun 19 2011

In the Sun and the Rain

Well, I had great fun yesterday spending the day with a few mates working and talking about trees.

I started off on my own and made a start at defining the deadwood/live vein on my Rigeda juniper. This is as far as I got got before Stan arrived.

Stan brought his Chinese Juniper for some styling work. This is it before.

We started working outside in the sun.

Stan had to be given a special pass to be allowed into my garden wearing a Man Ure shirt! This was Stan’s first proper go at wiring and, he’s either a natural, or I’m an amazing teacher!! More than likely the former 🙂

We had to move inside as our usual Northern Ireland climate kicked in.

He even cleans up after himself which is a rarity in my garage.

This is the tree at the end of the day. To pull it further into shape it would have required further fine detailed wiring, but I felt that this was sufficient for the day. We discussed the addition of a shari in the future and another possible front.

Here’s the before and after side by side.

Stephen brought down his two satsuki for thinning and structural work. These hadn’t been touched in years and were in dire need of a major haircut.

We started on this one. It has had a hard life! A few years ago it lost the whole apex and had been left to regrow. This year a stray plank of wood being waved around by a careless workman broke another branch near the apex. (Sorry Phil couldn’t resist 🙂 )

Many of the problems can’t be addressed today as further growth is required. We hope that after this pruning, vigorous growth will allow for a redesign of the apex and a new potting angle to compensate.

Stephen at work, hiding behind the tree. It’s only a shohin 🙂

Pad before and after thinning.

and after work today.

We ran out of time with the other satsuki. We only managed to get the rest of the flowers removed and one branch partially thinned.

Another visitor to my garage was Michael, who has just joined the club. He’s been doing bonsai for roughly 12 years and had contacted me asking for advice about a few trees that had suffered over the Winter.

I think he enjoyed a walk around my garden and I popped over to his house with Phil that evening for a look at his trees. More of that in another post.

He brought with him a Juniper that had been previously styled by a few of Europe’s big names. It had suffered due to the Winter and a poor choice of potting mix. He was quick to see the benefits of a more open mix that he had previously been taught to use. In fact may of his trees had issues with mix choice.

This is Michael having a chat with Phil about Juniper growth and the techniques used to improve his collection.

Michael also had a problem with the deadwood at the base of his Juniper rotting. We introduced him to a few new products to stop this and helped him get the rotted wood removed down to savable harder wood.