May 16 2016

Walk in the Woods

My walk on Sunday took me up to Scrabo Tower that overlooks my home town of Ards on one side and looks towards my birth City of Belfast on the other side. A great time to visit with the Bluebells in full bloom. I was joined on my walk as always by my friend Stephen aka the Bonsai Baker, and my son Daniel. Oh, and of course, Smudge, Maggie, and Stephen’s dog Rufus.

A Raven decided to sit and watch us for a while before it flew away.

May 4 2016

Jim Doyle Workshop

Better late than never!

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Jim Doyle organised by the Munster Bonsai Club back on the 23rd April.

Jim was visiting Ireland and the guys got a rare opportunity to to work with one of America’s premier bonsai artists. Jim began with a presentation about yamadori and collecting in the States. Some interesting stories shared and proves that if you want the best yamadori you have to go to great lengths to get it.

Jim then did a run through of the trees that were to be the focus of the workshop followed by some work Photos below capture the day.

We finished off with a great meal in a local pub finishing in the wee hours 🙂

May 3 2016

Image

Accents 2016 : Clematis Pixie

Mar 19 2016

Berberis Clump Repot

I had hoped to get to this Berberis Clump sooner to do a little initial wiring but the tree had other ideas. As it’s been in this big plastic training pot for a few years I decided it was still ok to repot now and make it a little more manageable around the garden. I also wanted to get a closer look at the base to help me make my mind up on a front. For some older posts about it see, HERE, HERE and HERE

This was one option for the front. I’d chatted with Peter Warren about the tree when he was last here. He liked this option but said it would always look like a garden tree. He pointed out another option.

This is his option which I also love. Either would make a great tree. Time for a closer look.

Plenty of fine root in there

I didn’t have a lot of pot options but this one actually fitted the bill ok. Loppers show scale of this big fella.

A few alterations

and a few more…

And this is the final result. An even better base that I thought, still loads to do to make a bonsai out of this but I think it’s a keeper.

Mar 18 2016

1.5 Million Hits

It would appear that while I wasn’t looking my blog has passed the 1.5 million hits mark.

After a slow year blog wise in 2015 I’m really trying to get back in the groove with the whole blogging carry on.

A big thank you to all who follow on a regular basis and even those who just pop in now and again for a wee look. Always feel free to comment, I enjoy the input and making new contacts around the world.

Mar 13 2016

Mother and Child Hawthorn

Another Hawthorn wired out before bud break. Not the best time to do this with the sap rising and branches being a little more brittle, but I didn’t want to miss another year. I was stabbed repeatedly even after thorn removal. You never get all the little buggers! This was it before.

And afterwards.

and me for scale

Mar 12 2016

Root Over Rock Trident Maple Repot

I bought this Trident back in 2011. This is the pot it was in at the time. I didn’t like the rectangle and I didn’t like that the rock over hung the left side of the pot.

I opted to change the pot to this Walsall Ceramics pot in February 2012.

And there it stayed until last week. I had another pot come into my hands that I wanted to try out and then of course I found another one as a second option. I tried the tree out in each pot.

This was the blue option

and this was the cream/white option.

After some deliberation I opted for the cream pot. It was my favourite of the two anyway but I was also able to twist the tree slightly more in the pot with the extra front to back space allowing for a slightly new front that shows a little of the rock to the right side of the far right root which I think adds to the image.

Better?

Mar 11 2016

North Coast Hawthorn

I gave this Hawthorn collected up the North coast in around 2003 a rewiring last week. It’s been knocking around my garden for years but it’s finally starting to resemble a tree. In about another 15 years it might actually look the part 🙂

This was it in Spring 2010 when I air layer a trunk off.

October 2010

September 2011, starting from scratch branch wise.

I wired the tree out for the first time in Winter 20114/15 and this was the tree in May 2015 after cutting back the first flush of growth.

And this is the tree now in March 2016 after a second wiring. Just need about 10 times the ramification to make a convincing tree image.

Mar 8 2016

Beech Repot

Have you ever had a tree and you just want a change? I have had this Beech since 1999 and for most of that time it’s been in this pot. I like the pot, I like the tree, especially in Winter image. However I just fancied a change.

I was changing another tree over into a new pot on the same day and decided to use the pot from that tree for the Beech. It’s an old Lancashire Pot I’ve had knocking around for years, a nice pot.

and here’s the Beech in it’s new home, for a few years anyway, until I get bored. When I was listening to Boon on one of the Bonsai Empire videos recently, he mentioned about experimenting with pots, making changes to see how things look and gaining experience in what pot suits what tree. I guess it stuck with me.

Feb 26 2016

Bonsai In Bunratty

If you are out on the West coast of Ireland and feeling isolated from all things bonsai, then maybe it’s worth making a trip to Bud Garden Centre in Bunratty. Ray, a member of Munster Bonsai Club is starting up regular sessions at the garden centre in an effort to promote bonsai and give a focal point for bonsai in the west. If you read this and are interested, please give him a shout via the number or email listed on the flyer below. Well done Ray for pushing on with bonsai in the West.