Aug 17 2012

Cotoneaster Tidy Up

Should have taken a before photo of this one to show just ow vigorous it’s been this year. I air layered the apex off it earlier in the year and am now filling out the new apex. This was it after the tidy up.

Aug 16 2012

Happy Birthday to Me

Another milestone comes and goes today. No intention of saying how old I am as there are a few cheeky beggars on here that will only take the hand out of me 😛

This page on our Club blogsite was drawn to my attention by a fellow bonsai blogger last week. Alberto kind of stumbled across the page and enjoyed the story. I thought I’d share it here. It’s the story of how I got started in bonsai and shows my garden over the early years. It’s kind of embarrassing really, it’s shows that I really have aged !

NIBS – Ian’s Profile

Aug 14 2012

Japanese Black Pine Wiring

On Friday afternoon before the rest descended on my garage, I decided to test out my should with a little wiring. I opted for this shohin JBP. This is it before wiring.

Option 1

Option 2

I opted for option 1 to hide the chop wound to the back. This is the tree after wiring.

Aug 4 2012

Janet Juniper Adjustments

I had just started pinching this Juniper, [Full History Here] when I decided I should be taking a few photos for blogging. One handed pinching is rather difficult but my shoulder has improved. It took a while with quite a few breaks but I got there in the end.

This was it at the start, well almost.

I even remembered to use the towel technique for keeping the needles off the soil surface.

This was it after pinching

I decided that it was time to thin down the live vein a little more. This section looks a little thick I wanted to add more continuity between the areas of white wood.

This was it after removing a slice.

A little Lime Sulphur added.

Jul 29 2012

Defoliation Bounce Back

These two have flushed out again after defoliation.

Rescue Maple

Silver Birch

Jul 27 2012

Hardening Off

I decided yesterday to do a little shuffling of trees that had been collected in the Spring. Well, when I say me, I mean my two sons working under my direction.

Most where still in poly tunnels and I wanted to get them out to harden off a bit. The foliage as you can see here shows that most have responded well after collecting. There was a mixture of Scots Pine, Spruce and Larch.

I’m running rather low on space!! Had to add a few temporary benches to facilitate them.

All squeezed in! With trees visiting on holiday care it’s a tight fit!

Jul 17 2012

Satsuki Flowers

This is a satsuki azalea that I grew from a cutting. It was in my flower bed for about 6 years and was lifted last year. I just love the flowers, no idea of the variety. Any knowledgeable folk out there who know, please comment.