I’m reliably informed that this guy, James Madden, predicted both recent bad Winters ahead of time. He also predicted in January that this would be one of the coldest Summers on record for the UK. He got that right too!!
And what about Winter 11/12???
You guessed it, Snow in Oct/Nov. Frequent heavy dumps of snow, worst in Scotland, North of England and, you guessed it, Northern Ireland. Click below for all the info.
Korean Hornbeam stolen overnight at the Bath and West garden show. This fine Bonsai belongs to John Trott, aka Mendip Bonsai.
Please do get in touch if you believe you have any knowledge of its whereabouts, or indeed if you hear anything that may assist John to recover his tree. I have included a picture below for reference purposes.
When my Uncle Joe died I was allowed to collect this yew from his garden. That was 4 years ago. It is nothing special but has great sentimental value. Joe was a great gardener and loved to talk about my bonsai. He would love to be able to see what I’ve done with this.
I removed the wire from it’s first styling back in the Spring and I have allowed free growth since then. Today I gave it a thinning out removing foliage that was growing in the wrong places. I haven’t rewired anything as yet.
Before trim
after trim
In a year or two it will fill out into a fuller image. I added some foliage with photoshop to give me an idea of where to go next.
Deadwood.
Today I finally got around to pulling a few trees out from the very back of the poly tunnel. Well, my son did, I’m trying my best not to muck up my bad neck!
This Celtis had grown vigorously whist I was on holiday but I couldn’t reach it for a trim. This was it when I eventually got it out of the tunnel.
This is only it’s second year in a pot after being field grown for 7 years. It has a lot of development to go before it looks like anything. Read more HERE
This was it after a quick haircut. I would normally just have left it at this stage with it being so close to Autumn, but I needed to get it back into the poly tunnel without taking up too much room!
Looks as if my squat Cotoneaster stump has survived collection from a garden at the end of April.
From This in April
To this at the end of June..
and today..
Links to the older posts about this material.
By calling this a top shelf Malus, I am not referring to it’s quality! I’m referring to the fact that I now keep it on the top shelf of my benching to keep my dogs from eating the apples 😀
The story behind this decision can be read here : Recovering from Dog Attack!
This was the tree today. It’s one of my novelty trees. I bought it to add a splash of flowering colour to my collection and an interest in the Autumn with it’s fruit. If the right tree or piece of raw material comes along, I’ll maybe get a better one. It hasn’t quite recovered from the dog attack of last Autumn but I’m just happy it survived.
I’ve seen a few actual trees after wiring that looked just like this lol!
It’s taken a few days to sort these photos out, it’s been a pretty shite week but the mists seem to be clearing 🙂
On Sunday past the usual suspects took a walk along the Lagan Tow Path from Stranmillis to Lisburn. This is about 10 miles on a easy flat surface. I don’t think I’ve posted pictures from this one before. Over the 10 miles we followed the course of the Lagan river and at some points to overgrown canal which used to connect Lough Neigh with Belfast Harbour.
Loads of nice trees to see, but hard to photograph as they are close to you and surrounded by others. Some wildlife around too, I did my best to capture a feel for the walk and as many points of interest as I could.
I’ll start with a few river shots.
Part of the disused canal system that has silted up and in many places overgrown with reeds etc. Great for wildlife but an opportunity missed for tourism.
I love seeing the waterside trees hanging their branches low over the river.
Many old Oak’s in the area. Lots of dead branches poking out of the tops. Don’t think I have ever seen this reflected on a bonsai from the UK.
Spotted this old deadwood on the interior of an oak. The grain was just beautiful.
The path is part of a major cycle network.
Some of the wildlife.
Thought I had spotted an otter!!
Turned out to be my dog Smudge 🙂
Some nice old Beech trees with interesting nebari.
We walked past the old Barbour Threads Mill lying in disuse since 2006. Sad to see but in someways interesting to see nature taking back what was once fields. That glass looks a tad dangerous!!
Stephen’s wee legs just couldn’t keep up 😉
As usual pollution could be seen but on the whole, the waterway was very clear considering it was a stretch of water linking two Cities.
One of the other major issues on this stretch of river is the spread of Japanese or Himalayian Balsam. Any pink flowers you see in the photos are most likely from this plant. At points along the river, it’s 2 metres high and has choked out the native plants. The only place where I saw that it had been sprayed was below the council offices in Lisburn. The RSBP has been working hard in recent years with volunteers.
This is some after spraying.
It’s a great walk and if desired you could walk all the way to Lough Neigh. I’m afraid that wasn’t an option for me!!
I found these on You Tube, via ‘ofbonsai Magazine’.
I loved them and I’m sure everyone watching them will find them interesting. They show Ryan Neil doing a tree critique at the Mid West Bonsai Society Show. Each one is over 30 minutes long but they fly through. Very interesting to hear a Westerner balancing what he has learned in Japan with what he likes in Western Bonsai.
Well done also to the Mid West Bonsai Society for putting on an excellent show for us to see. Isn’t the internet fantastic? 🙂
Just click on the images below to see the videos on You Tube.
Part One
Part 2
When I started this blog I honestly didn’t expect many from outside my own circle of friends to be reading it. This has now caused a slight problem as many of you have no notion what an eejit is …..
I thought I would clarify 🙂
URBAN DICIONARY:
eejit;
Irish slang for idiot. Also used in Scotland. Often used affectionately.
eg.
“Paddy you eejit!”
“Don’t touch that! Look what you’ve done now you eejit!”
“George W Bush, what an eejit!”
There are loads of eejit types.
Buck eejit, Complete eejit, Mad eejit, Drunken eejit, and feckin eejit to name a few..
I took the title ‘Bonsai eejit’ as I’m told I tend to be self deprecating both with regards to bonsai and life in general. I personally think it’s because I’m not actually that good at it and have much to learn.
I have no issue with being called an eejit but Ian will also suffice 🙂
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