Apr 13 2015

A Cracking Night!

Last week I had a night at my garage for the guys who do one to ones with me. I needed a hand getting a large Scots pine bent into shape. This was an old tree collected from a bog back in 2012. This is the tree at the time of collection.

This was it a few weeks ago, sitting outside where it’s been for the last 3 years. It’s been chopped back a few times to remove unwanted trunks and branches and to help chase back the foliage.

The idea was to create a twin trunk image from the remaining foliage. However it’s always good to have a Plan B!!

Here we have the tree placed into the workshop after a 4 man lift. Took a coat of paint off the door on the way in!

Some deadwood will need to be worked.

Help from the chaps in getting the raffia applied.

And then my Plan A went out the window lol. When bending the lighter of the two trunks I managed to snap it beyond the point of repair/survival. I was a bit amazed at the time to be honest as I hadn’t applied that much pressure and the trunk had been raffia’d, taped, and cable-tied. On closer inspection later I noticed a weak point where a branch had died previously, but still…

I was quite pleased with how calm I remained. Nothing I could do to change what had occurred, all I could do was look for options within the remaining trunk to create a tree. The original plans for this trunk had to be dropped and the whole tree evaluated to select another styling option. Once done we again got to work and did a little more bending, this time with no mishaps.

This is how the tree finished before the guys had to head home.

As the branches where all hanging at weird angle with buds pointing towards straight down, I felt that it would be better to fire on and get the tree fully wired so all buds were facing up to help with vigour. In some cases this was exaggerated on the weaker buds. This is how the tree turned out. I actually had another smaller branch break, again with hardly any pressure applied. Some trees just seem to be a pain in the arse!

A first step on a long journey, a lot of back budding will be required but the tree is budding strongly this year. I’m pretty pleased with the result, possibly a better image that I was aiming for with the twin trunk image.

Apr 7 2015

Root Over Rock Itiogawa Juniper

After waiting to make sure this Juniper was happy after a recent styling, I finally transferred it over to a new pot. Not the final pot, but one that allowed me to adjust the tree to the proper planting angle.

Before styling in February.

After styling in March.

Repotted now.

Apr 6 2015

Shohin Larch

Little Japanese Larch in a John Pitt Pot.

Apr 5 2015

Berberis Clump Outing

Time for this berberis clump to come out of the poly tunnel. Going to make a nice tree.

Apr 4 2015

Mame Hawthorn Cascade

I’ve had this little tree for 20 years, you’d think it’d be better by now lol.

Apr 3 2015

Hawthorn Adjustments

I was pushing my luck today wiring this Hawthorn so late on. Easy to knock off emerging buds. However if left for another season the branches would have stiffened further making it harder to get the right shape into them. Some deadwood also removed to improve trunk line.

A long way to go to create enough ramification on this one to make a convincing mature image, but that’s the fun part 🙂

Apr 3 2015

Mame Elm

Potted up this little English Elm into it’s new pot made by Magic Ceramics.

A nice combo I think.

Feb 16 2015

Escallonia Repot

Having taken a sneaky day off work I decided to do a little repotting. This Escallonia needed done as drainage was poor and I wanted to change the front and potting angle slightly.

Bit of a lip on the pot so out with the root saw.

A good mass of root but surprisingly not totally pot bound. Drainage issue must have been due to compacted fertiliser pellets breaking down into the top layer.

After a cut back and wash out. I did manage to get rid of the very last bit of garden soil.

Back into the Walsall Ceramics pot. I do want to change this at some point but am still looking for the ideal pot. A mix of Akadama and koyodama which proved successful last time.

Potted up and ready for a good watering.

The final image.

The slight front change and tilt below.

Next step will be the treatment of the deadwood. Tricky with the tree as the wood rots fast if wet , but also hard to get the right colouring as jin seal looks too harsh. You’ll see how I get on with this here of course.

Dec 16 2014

Winter Image: Trident Maple

Dec 15 2014

Sequoia Sempervirens Update

Did a little more work on my Sequoia Sempervirens last weekend. An odd choice of tree to work on especially in the UK, but I have enjoyed growing this from a 6 inch nursery tree to this. Been trying to pick up a few tips from the West Coast Americans on their traits as bonsai with varying advice being given in return.

2011

First styling

Some carving in September with Peter Snarts assistance and advice.

and now…

Trying to get the rising branches to behave. They have a natural tendency to pop up. Here you can see the first branch wired.

This was done before raffia and taping up in an effort to set it more permanently in position. A groove was cut along the length of the branch for the initial 6 inches and then sealed with paste, raffia’ed and taped. I did this on a few of the heavier branches.

This was the tree after wiring and thinning out. I’m learning a lot about this species as I go along. A fun journey. It continues to grow when most other species have stopped. I now see what branches are likely to be thrown and how to work with this, hard to explain. Give this tree another 3 years and I reckon I’ll have a pretty decent image, but then I love tall trees.