Jan 28 2012

Garage Night Tree #2

This is a Beech that Stan brought along for some thinning out and general discussion.

This is the tree after thinning and with a slight change of front selected. It will need a slight readjustment in the pot and then it’s good to go.

Commiserations to Stan today, he’s a Manchester United Fan and insists on wearing his Utd top and scarf to my garage nights. Being a Liverpool fan this is somewhat inflammatory!! A pity the workshop wasn’t tonight, the jacket may have been left in the car 😀 Just for Stan, here’s a photo of Utd Goal Keeper today ‘Dylan DeGea’ lol

Jan 28 2012

Garage Workshop Tree #1

A few mates came over last night to play with trees. There was plenty of variation, from raw material to Forests, and fine tweeking.

Michael, as promised brought this Juniper that I discussed HERE on the blog. It isn’t a Common Juniper as we thought, but a Squamata variety with a short needle. We all had a good chat about the options for potting angle etc. A few things worried me. Michael said that it has suffered a bit this year and some of the foliage on the lower branch was weak. I also wanted to confirm the limits of the live vein before we went any further. A few places looked like it could have retreated since the carving work. I wanted to confirm if this was a cause of the weakness shown during the year.

Here you can see an area that I felt may be no longer alive.

On a brighter note, I felt there was a better front on the tree by adjusting the angle. The foliage also looked to be making a come back with new strong buds appearing.

We used a makita with a wire brush to define the limits of the live vein and it soon became apparent that there was one live vein which started at the back of the tree and extended to the apex. To ensure that we could see where the vein starts from the bottom we had to consider the back being the new front. This actually turns out to be a far better option for the tree.

The area marked in yellow below is still alive but I think this will also die back this year leaving one narrow vein from base to apex.

This is the proposed new front.

As you can see above and here, the shari now extended to the top jin. In this pic you can also see the split in the trunk created by Michael to get the initial bend in the trunk.

Michael has done his own comprehensive post about this tree on his own blog. This is the virtual that he has come up with. I feel that the top jin needs shortened and there’s plenty more refinement required on the dedwood

I feel that with the proper after care, this tree should continue to improve in health and has the potential to be a very nice juniper indeed.

Jan 17 2012

Larch Forest Pot Virtual

Roy C brought this Larch forest to the club meeting on Friday. Roy has been creating bonsai for many years on his own, learning from books and his own experiences. About a year ago he heard about the NIBS and made contact through the Website. He has a bit of a drive to make it to the meetings but when he gets there, he always has something interesting to see.

This forest was created from young Larch seedlings that had self seeded into the guttering on a shed roof at his farm! When he put this group together, he added the white limestone as it reminded him of his local landscape. I quite like this sentimental idea but in it’s current form, the white rock over powers the image and the rocks are a little too angular.

We chatted about the group at the meeting and I made a few suggestions that in my opinion would make for a better image.

Firstly I felt that the stones should go. The rock to the left look as if they are holding the trees in the pot and are very distracting.

Secondly I felt that the height of the soil mass should then be reduced. It sits very high in the pot in its current design. This may be more sustainable in a wider pot.

Thirdly, a change to a larger, shallower oval pot would greatly improve the image. The current rectangle is too deep and inappropriate for a group.

Lastly, I felt that a few of the trees should have their height adjusted to give a more overall triangular over view. This could be enhanced by adding a further small tree or two at the edges.

I took a photo and said I would play about with a virtual to see if helped explain my views. Here is what I came up with.

A smaller tree could still be added to the right hand side during repotting. If Roy still wanted to include some white stone, a well weathered piece with a more worn appearance could be added in the space to the right as well. It would need to be low lying, mostly buried, just visible on the soil surface. Two trees to the right have been shortened as well.

With a few more years of ramification and a little wiring here and there, I think this will be a very nice little group indeed. Moss would be nice but the sparrows on the farm do major damage, but the less said about the sparrows and Roy, the better 😉

Jan 16 2012

Phil’s Chamaecyparis Obtusa

Bar a few minor changes, that should be all the faffing about finished. Hope you like the different theme. I think it suits a photo based blog better.

To get the ball rolling again, here is a Chamaecyparis Obtusa that Phil collected from a garden a few days ago. I was at his place the other night and he insisted on getting the lamp out for a look in the dark. Plans are afoot to get it reduced in height and thinned out.

When he told me he had collected two Obtusa Chamae that where 6′ tall, I expected the inner branch structure to be bare. How wrong I was! Branches to the base on this one and foliage right to the trunk. Best of all, being a landscape gardener, he got paid for taking them out!! 🙂 The other one has been put in a flower bed for a year or so.

The faded original label was still attached. It states that its a Nana Gracilis. I always thought that this was the small variety and the label says a top height of 80 cm. At over twice that height, I think this may just be obtusa.

I love this variety for bonsai but have yet to find one worth keeping for myself. Phil has a decent start with this one, albeit limited style wise. If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it off his hands.

Here are a few that appeared on Facebook and other online sources. I have searched a few times to see what can be achieved with this species.

This one belongs to Josh, a fellow club member.

Jan 10 2012

Can Yew Help?Can Yew Help?

Phil called asking if I could help him shift and repot a Yew yesterday.

The Yew came from a club members garden. It was originally 12 feet tall but Phil cut it back and put it in a fish crate back in March 2011. The owner decided a few weeks later that it was too big for him and said Phil could have it.

Now, this presented a problem as it was too big to transport as it sits in a large fish crate. He opted to remove it from the crate and wrap the root ball for transporting back to Belfast, where it would be potted again. As it was big and heavy, he asked me to give him a hand. The plan was to repot and place it in the poly tunnel on the heat bed. Here’s the afternoon in photos.

The tree sitting awaiting collection by Phil.

The tree in the back of the car.

and in the driveway.

When we pulled it out, I was amazed at the new roots produced last year. It had been potted into fine tesco cat litter, finer than we normally use but it had worked well.

On closer inspection we could see the remains of the original burlap sack in there and even the sandy soil that it had contained. It was obvious that the tree hadn’t issued any roots into this old compacted soil. It was important that this was removed now. The best way to do this was using the hose to avoid damaging the new roots. The best way to do it without making a mess of Frankies Drive was to do it into a street drain 🙂

Frankie makes sure all is in order!

Washing out the old soil.

Clear to see the hole left when this is removed. No fresh roots had even tried to fill this area.

A quick check that the mica training pot will work out.

A mix of grit and cat litter, heavier grade, was added and the tree was watered in.

The hose is kept on until the water runs clear. This required two watering sessions before it worked. You can see the murky colour here.

Here’s the tree potted up with Phil standing to attention 😀

The next step was to remove the branches that were never going to be part of the final design. No point in energy being wasted on growth that’s going to be removed. A few of the heavier branches were roughly jinned as the will be deadwood in the final design. This stops the tree from issuing new growth on them in the meantime.

These will be reduced greatly in the future.

After thinning out.

A second watering to get the clear running water.

Next space was created in the tunnel to allow it to be placed onto the heat bed. Not an easy task!

A mild day.

I took a few other snaps in the garden while the sun was out.

Cotoneaster

Korean Fir

Frankies Chinese Elm Hedge!! Full leaf out doors.

and that was me for the day, I buggered off before the clear up started lol.

Jan 4 2012

Introducing ‘The Bonsai Baker’

Many of you have heard me talking about trees belonging to my friend Stephen. Stephen and I met way back in 1995 when he joined the NI Bonsai Society. We have stayed good friends ever since. You will recognise him from my Sunday walks as he’s a fellow dog walker and nature lover. I can honestly say that Stephen is one of the nicest blokes you’ll meet in bonsai circles in East Belfast 😀 Oh OK, Northern Ireland and the world beyond 😉 I count myself lucky to have him as a friend.

Today Stephen took the plunge and started his own blog. Like me, he is starting this because he wants to keep a record of his bonsai and related events during the year. He asked me to help him get started with his blog and I was happy to oblige. I doubt he’ll be as a prolific a poster as me, who is 🙂 he isn’t a computer lover, but, with encouragement, I think he’ll happily become an internet regular.

Why Bonsai Baker? Simple, he keeps bonsai and he’s a baker 🙂

Click on the image above to visit his blogsite. It’s bare bones at the moment but be assured, I’ll be keeping the pressure on him to add more. He has plenty of trees to share with us. You can also follow him on FlickR and Facebook.

Leave him a few words of encouragement.

Dec 21 2011

The Willowbog Experience

Peter had asked me to convert this DVD for use on his blog, Willowbog Chat.

I thought I would share it here as well. I’m glad to say that I count both Peter and Jean as friends. If you get the opportunity to visit Willowbog, you will not be disappointed.

Dec 3 2011

Loading the Tunnel

I popped over to see Phil and his trees on Thursday. I had left my camera at my arse and was only able to grab a few phone shots.

He was in the process of cleaning up his trees and placing them into the Poly Tunnel. Most have been placed onto the hot bed. They had to be, it’s 3×2 metres!

Some trees still outside awaiting attention. Bigger tunnel??

Dec 1 2011

Phil’s Quince

Phil would be one of my closest friends in the bonsai scene in Northern Ireland. We don’t always agree on what way a tree should go, which I think is a good thing. It leads to more debate and different ideas.

Anybody who knows Phil will know what I mean when I say he’s a bit of a header!! That’s a local term similar to eejit 🙂 To highlight this I thought I would share these photos with you. It is typically how Phil shows you the scale of a tree.

This is his Quince, recovered from an overgrown garden over 10 years ago.

and for scale….