I air layered the top off this cork bark elm back in May 2011 and it was removed in August 2011.
This is what I wanted to do with the stump.
This is the new buds appearing in September 2011
This is what it looks like now in just under a year.
And after another trim.
I lifted this little willow out of the grit tray for trimming. I think a better pot next year might be in order 🙂
Before a light trim.
and after with the other side selected as a better front.
Looks like it could only manage one flower in this little pot.
I saved this cedar from the chop back in 2008. It was growing as a tall tree in the middle of a lawn. The owner wanted it removed as it was ruining the lines created by his lawnmower! There was 4 of them but this was the only survivor from collection. They had strimmer damage and very poor roots.
I wasn’t sure if it would even make a tree and to be honest the jury is still out on that point!! It is very straight and resembles a fence post. I don’t have the photos from the first shaping back in 2009. It was just branch selection and some primary branch wiring done to drop the branches.
A short time later I wanted to practice my carving and decided this would make a good practice piece. I wasn’t too worried about it and I thought that carving might add interest to the trunk and take away from the straightness.
You can see that I need the practice!! I then wired the tree to replace the branches at the right angles. This all took place over a 4 month period.
I wasn’t overly happy with the result. I considered lowering the height of the tree and perhaps creating a jinned apex like the virtual below. However, I wanted two tall trees that would eventually sit either side of a gate into the bonsai section of my garden. I have another one of a similar size and style and decided to keep it the full height. This meant keeping the cheat of an apex.
This is another virtual done back in2010
Yesterday I brought it into the garage and started to tidy up the weeds in the pot and and remove old needles. Before I knew it the wire was out again! Lots of growth in the last year with enough extension that I could hopefully improve the image. Branches have sprung up and needed to be brought back down again.
Me for scale.
After four hours this was the best I could come up with. I had to take it slow and steady with my dodgy shoulder but I got there in the end. I was able to use foliage to hide the bad apex.
Still a lot I’m not happy with but perhaps some day it’ll be worth all the effort. I do have a soft spot for that lovely blue foliage 🙂
My surprise and delight when I checked in for a look at a new post on Nekotoban ‘Bonsai Days’ blog to find this birthday display just for me 🙂
Thank you so much Yumiko 😀
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.
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 !
This dwarf alliuim was gifted to me this year. Not in an accent pot for now as I’m growing it on with the intention of splitting it. It’s just come into flower which are very nice indeed.
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.
Thought I’d share this here for all those UK based enthusiasts. In fact, that’s rather restrictive, feel free to attend from wherever you are!
I have cut and pasted the below info from the Facebook page recently set up. I have clicked the ‘Maybe’ button for attendance but I’ll have to wait until closer to the time before I know if I can attend. Seeing who is doing the organising, I can assure you that this will be a quality event.
On behalf of the organising team, I am pleased to announce that an exciting national UK Shohin Bonsai show dedicated to smaller bonsai, will be held on Sunday, March 24th 2013. This exciting national event is being organised by Mark & Ritta Cooper and Bob Bailey, with the support of the Bristol Bonsai Society, the British Shohin Association, and the Federation of British Bonsai Societies.
This will be the only UK national exhibition dedicated to Shohin bonsai in 2013 and will be a “must visit event” for all Shohin Bonsai enthusiasts.
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