Apr 16 2015

One to One: Mixed Bag

I had Ben over for a one to one last Saturday with a van load of trees to discuss and work on, always an enjoyable session with Ben.

These are a few of the trees covered on the day. First up a beech that got a pruning, thread grafting and a repot.

This Beech group on a slate had a few adjustment made to the slate so it didn’t look like it had just been stolen off a roof!

And finally a Yamadori Hawthorn getting it’s first shaping. A strange one to do but we opted to try and recreate an actual Hawthorn image that can be seen throughout Ireland. Typically seen growing the in the middle of a field with cattle lying under it. I suggested this to Ben as a possible accent feature but thankfully he’s wise enough to know that this would be tacky 🙂

Mar 14 2015

One to One : Scot’s Pine

Another one to one today, this time helping out with a tricky repot of a Scots Pine. I love this tree! It’s been in a wooden box for a few years to increase vigour after a few years dealing with Needle Cast. I helped with the first styling of this tree back on 11th September 2001, an easy date to remember due to the tragedy that unfolded as we finished the tree.

This was the tree today.

And after a tidy up and old needle removal…

Then the repot

and the result

Over exposure but kinda cool all the same …

It’s been nice to keep a connection with this tree over the years. I even looked back in my files and found some older photos.

September 2001

March 2002

And a virtual image I made back in 2002. Not too far off the mark.

Stephen reworking the tree back in 2004

2011 with Stephen for scale. The tree isn’t really that big, Stephen is tiny!

Being inspected by Peter Warren in 2012

Mar 11 2015

One to One : Zelkova Group

Had another one to one session on Tuesday night, this time helping to get this Zelkova group planting on the right track. This is a very natural looking group put together last year after the trees had been field grown for a number of years by a previous owner. The group needed a serious working through planning for the best approach for each tree and branch. We had some die back to deal with and a few straight branches to sort out.

This was it last April after putting it together.

This was it on Tuesday night. Extension growth has been cut back a few times over the last growing season.

This is it after pruning last night with it’s new owner. Still some branches in need of work but care needs to be taken not to lose the naturalness of this image. Another year in the training box gaining vigour will allow for more detailed work next Spring and perhaps a pot.

Feb 15 2015

One to One : Japanese Maple Clump

This really nice Japanese Maple Clump came to my place on Saturday for a little work. Already a great tree, it needed a little work to keep the foliage under control and to help improve ramification.

One of the issues with this tree was the trunk on the far right which is a lot stronger than the other. This was going to need a heavier pruning.

We started with the other trunks to build a better structure. This is something that needs to be kept on top of with a decent tree or thickening of branches on outer reaches will occur and years of work can be ruined. Afterwards we removed quite a bit from the fast growing trunk on the right and then sealed all the cuts to stop dessication.

The reduced strong trunk.

Next step was to remove tree moss that was covering the nebari and starting to climb the tree. This was hiding one of the best features of this tree. Initial work done with a toothbrush and fingers but was finished off with a water jet.

The final change was to do with it’s position in the pot and the direction of movement of the tree. The tree was potted a year ago and sat centrally in the pot. However looking at the movement of the main trunk and the nice flow of those to the left of it, we decided that by potting the tree slightly further to the right and giving more negative space to the left would add more interest to the image. This will require the strong growing tree on the right to be kept under tight control. The tree was taken out of the pot and a little root pruning allowed us to reposition it without the requirement for a full blown repot. The roots were fantastic for a years growth.

The tree before and after work. The plan is for the lower left branches to be extended further to help create a more dynamic image over the next few years. Pot is slightly big for this Winter image but perfect for the development that’s required to take it to the next level.