Mar 15 2012

Suteki

Plenty of things impressed me at the weekend and not just the Exhibition itself. I was also delighted to have the opportunity to buy from a few of the trade stands.

My first purchases, albeit small ones, were from Suteki, Simon Haddon, Bonsai monkey. He’s even more names than me 😀 He had a small but packed display and I took up one of his great offers for multi purchases. When I eventually get them planted up, I’ll share the results here.

In the mean time, here’s his stand.

This is Simon’s tree, a Lonicera that won a Certificate of Merit.

Click on the image below to go to Simon Pots and Accent Plants.

and this one to visit Simon’s Blog

Feb 27 2012

Michael’s Repots

Michael brought along a few trees on Saturday to repot and a bag of biscuits too, top bloke 🙂

This little Japanese White Pine was over due a repot and was growing in very compacted akadama. It got a new pot that was a more suitable colour than the original cream one. Original post about this tree HERE

This Cedar also got a repot.

The jin in the middle of the shari is an add on but very well done.

Last up from Michael was this Scots Pine.

A productive afternoon.

Feb 26 2012

Stephen’s Raulii Repot

Stephen repotted his Raulii at my place yesterday. It was in a very shallow training pot and he brought along two pot options and we opted for the oval cream pot.

This was it before the start of the work. There was two possible fronts, this one with this nebari.

and this one which we finally opted for.

The root mass was shallow but was solid fine roots with no heavy stubs to be pruned. The previous owner had done a great job in the development.

Stephen taking a few record shots with his camera. Maybe he’ll actually get around to posting them on his own blog 😉

Washing out the roots to get rid of some old compacted garden soil.

an even bigger nebari is uncovered and was the reason for picking this as the front.

It’s new home.

The tree potted up.

Feb 23 2012

Ben’s Beech Group

I plan on looking back at a few of the trees worked on over the weekend, as does Peter on Willowbog Chat. As Peter didn’t get a chance to work on this one, I thought it was safe to share.

This was a beech group that Ben had in a pot for 4 years. They are young trees but even still they can make a nice image. Ben had brought the group to a meeting and I suggested that they would look better on a slate. It just so happened I had one lying under a bench that was big enough, and gave it to Ben. I also suggested that a few thicker trees would greatly improve the image as well.

Ben took me at my word and brought it along on the Sunday along with a few Beech that were recently liberated from a garden.

If it was just a matter of lifting the existing planting out of the pot and popping it onto the slate, it would have been easy. No tie wires even needed as the trees were all meshed together after a few years in a pot already. Our problem was that a few new and bigger ones had to be added. I had 2 choices, split the whole group up and start again or fit the new ones in around the existing trees. I opted for a bit of both. I liked the positioning of the original trees but I split the group in two creating a gap for the new ones. I drilled the slate and wired these in place and also added a few tie lines for the original trees as well. The whole lot where then covered in keto and then moss.

Ben was pleased with the result and I feel the slate works far better than the pot in this sort of forest planting. Now he just has to keep the birds away from the moss 🙂

Here are a few photos of the action. Sorry no starting shot of the original group. I honestly thought I had one somewhere from the meeting Ben, ah well.

Ben me and Ovidiu doing a little manoeuvring.

My secret technique of using the force to position the trees 🙂

Ben checking that the work is up to standard.

Adjusting the heights of a few trees to make a better design.

The finished forest at the end of the day. The new trees are slightly darker bark for now but this will even out with equal exposure to the sun.

Ben emailed these photos taken in 2007 when he put the original group together. I believe it was his first attempt at a forest.

Feb 8 2012

Bonsai Friends

Following on from my post about Phil, I have to complete the triangle. Stephen and I met back in 1995 when he appeared at a club show and signed up. We have been firm friends ever since, which is the only reason I can get away with what I’m about to post 🙂

This is Stephen back at a workshop in the 90’s. I have to admit, he hasn’t changed that much. He’s a little grey on top now and he certainly hasn’t grown.

This is Stephen sleeping off a bender at the EBA Congress in 1999.

I always give him stick about his lack of height, this one bears me out..

He is my regular walking buddy on a Sunday.

There’s a few things that Stephen excels at, Drinking coffee…

Supervising…

Note the coffee cup in this shot..

Posing…

Marching on the spot

Stand in garden gnome

Helping out…

and friendship…

Stephen recently started his own blog, Bonsai Baker, and he promises to post more soon. Just had a major garden revamp so he’s got plenty to share.

Feb 6 2012

Oh How We Change !

My brother reads this blog and made a comment about my mate Phil who you see featured here quite often. He sees Phil a lot these days but was shocked to see him in photos dating back 10 years. Never one to miss a chance to point this out, here is a before and after of him 2002/2011.

This is him at a show back in 2002

and this was him lounging around my garage reading Bonsai Focus with his keg out 🙂

I’ve known Phil from 1995 and we’ve shared a lot of bonsai experiences together over the years. If you asked anyone in the club, ‘what’s he like?’ I guess most would reply, using the local term, ‘he’s a bit of a Header!!’ 🙂

Here’s a few other photos I found while looking for a suitable before and after. First one is him doing a workshop with Robert Porch back in 2001 I think.

Both of us after collecting some Communis Junipers back in 2002

Showing off his collected Beech back in 2003

One tired looking puppy after wiring this Pine for styling by Marco Invernizzi at a workshop at Willowbog Bonsai back in 2004.

And here are just a few more recent ones showing his talent for feck’n around 😀

Bonsai to me is as much about friendship as about the little trees themselves. In 18 years playing with trees, I have made some great friends along the way.

Bonsai Baker! You’re next for the treatment. That gnome outfit is getting a mention 🙂

Jan 30 2012

Garage Night Tree #6

Ian B brought this Japanese Larch along on Friday past for a little thinning out and advice.

I felt that the image looked a little wrong as the tree seemed to lean back too far and gave the impression that it was unstable.

I suggested that tilting to the right would be a good option now. We only had to loosen the tie wires and shift slightly in the pot. This is the new position.

and this is it after we adjusted it.

Before and after side by side.

Jan 30 2012

Garage Night Tree #5

This is Hugh’s Scots Pine. I sold this one to Hugh about 6 years ago. It was originally collected in Scotland and was the first Scots Pine I ever owned. I was delighted to see it again and help with a restyling.

No after photo as yet as we didn’t get it finished on the night but we’ll keep you posted.

Out of interest, I looked up some old photos of this tree. This first one dates back to 1997.

This is it in 2002.

Jan 29 2012

Garage Night Tree #4

This is John’s raw material Austrian Black Pine.

This is young nursery stock that has a long way to go before it will be ready for any real work. However, this doesn’t mean we just leave it as is. The centre of the tree is of no use in the future of this tree as a bonsai. It is too straight and is without branches for some distance. We looked at viable branches with some ramification at the bottom of the tree and removed all the branches that were not needed in the future. This tree will now be left to grow and will be pinched during the year to encourage more back budding and ramification.

I see a lot of material like this and in many cases it isn’t suitable for bonsai or at the very best, it’s a long way off being ready for work. However, that doesn’t mean that people new to bonsai like John can’t learn from working on this tree for a few years, seeing how it responds to pruning and pinching.

Jan 29 2012

Garage Night Tree/s #3

Graham brought this Larch Forest to the garage night yesterday. It’s made up of young larch seedling and was put together by Graham a few years ago. It’s planted on a slate slab. This was the first time I had seen this planting as Graham had been hiding it in his back garden until now.

The photo doesn’t do it justice as the slab actual zig-zags a bit and adds interest to the composition. He had lost a few trees from the back and we discussed if they should be replaced. I liked it as is but felt that the tree to the far right might be better added to the rear behind the main tree. A few others where adjusted and shortened. This was the result.

Still a few tweeks to be made here and there but I think he’s made a fantastic job out of this using what was very young and cheap material. The slate was from the base of an old pool table. Here is Graham with the forest for scale.