Jul 21 2013

Sequoia Sempervirens

This is an update on my Sequoia Sempervirens or Coast Redwood. This was the tree back in 2011 when the initial work was carried out.

April 2011 before work

April 2011 After clear out and basic shaping.

And this was it earlier in the week. As you can see it has put on a little growth.

This is it after some further wiring, mostly primary branches and a few secondary.

I felt that the image was a little uninspiring and wanted to make a slightly more dynamic image, well, as dynamic as you can with this style! I opted to remove two of the lower branches to give the overall image more movement to the left.

It’s obviously still a little unkempt as no fine wiring was done but the basic structure it there. I was reluctant to do much fine wiring as they seem to like to throw branches that are over handled.

I’ll try and give this tree a little more attention now over the next few years and get a balance of growth and refinement. A shari on the trunk would also help add interest, something to think about.

Any of the American followers who work with this species, I’d be delighted to hear your tips for care etc. It’s a rare sight here in the UK.

Jul 17 2013

Shohin Juniper

This little Shohin Juniper had a hard year last year and seemed to be struggling a little. All seemed to stem from a repot. However, with some TLC, good light and this great weather, it seems to have made a comeback. I’ll give it until the Autumn and perhaps a little wiring is in order.

Jul 7 2013

The Other Bit of the Garden

I posted a few snaps of my display area a few weeks ago and some said how they were amazed that I could fit so much into a small space. Well, the reason for that is that I have another area down the back for everything else. Far too much stuff to be honest but a lot of it isn’t mine. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking too it. It’s getting a major overhaul this Winter as the benches at this end are done.

Jun 20 2013

Elm Forest Trimming

My team of slaves busily working away. I forgot to get a before shot, probably due to the weight of the flippin thing.

Jun 9 2013

My New Baby

This is my latest acquisition, a Root over Rock Itiogawa Juniper from Willowbog Bonsai. This is it just as I bought it. I’m not working on it until the Peter Warren Workshop in September, but I will do a little clean up of the shari and bark and inner weak foliage.

The Front

The Back

My son’s nipples for scale 🙂

May 30 2013

Flowering Cotoneaster

I’ve had this Cotoneaster for 19 years and this year sees it going through a few changes in it’s pot, deadwood and also a few design changes with some new growth. More on that later in the year. For now I’m just enjoying the flowers. It flowers from the top down for some reason this this was the optimum time for the photo. Another few days and the ones at the top will be gone.

May 29 2013

Korean Hornbeam May Progress

This was it back on May 9th

And this is it yesterday.

It’s been the coldest Spring here in 30 years and everything is darn right sluggish to get going. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the rest of the seasons this year.

May 28 2013

Sumo Chop Cotoneaster

This Cotoneaster was collected from a garden back in January. It’s going to be a sumo bonsai 🙂 Fat short tree with taper. When it was lifted I left a few longer bits on it with foliage to indicate how the health was progressing after collection. It’s doing very well and has back budded onto the trunk. I have therefore removed the unwanted bits and can now they it grow unchecked this year. A longish term project with plenty of carving required to tidy up the cut ends but it’ll make a reasonable image.

May 27 2013

Field Grown #4 Yew

Another field Grown Yew. This one has quite a bit of character when you see it in the flesh. It’s been on the sales page here for a while and instead of it sitting for another year without any work down, I have went ahead and gave it the initial styling. It now has a good basic skeleton structure to work from and build a nice little tree. A few too many branches retained but these can be removed as the tree fills.

May 27 2013

Field Grown #3

This is a little Shohin Yew grown from a cutting. Out of all the Yew field grown, this one did the least growing, as it turned out, not a back thing. This is it front and back before and after a light trim.