Aug 19 2011

Remiss of Me……

It has been remiss of me not to have included the European Bonsai Forum among my widgets on the right of this page. This has now been rectified.

Another forum??!! There are many basic bonsai forums out there covering all sorts. Having looked at most I stick generally to Wee Trees, Internet Bonsai Club , Bonsai Study Group. And even Ausbonsai! However European Bonsai is more targeted at Native bonsai were I have an interest. For me, this is a good thing.

As with all newish forums, it needs time to build but if you pop over there for a look, make sure you post something. It’s a small group so no lurking either, get a few replied up there too 😀

Click on the image below to pay it a visit and sign up.

Aug 19 2011

My Bonsai – Mame Collection

Today’s addition to the My Bonsai Tab is a few of my smallest trees. This includes Juniper, Rowan, Cotoneaster and Ivy. Some I’ve had for many years and some are new. I do have others in training but are not much to look at for now. I’ll add them as they progress.

HERE is the page link, or just click on the image below to view.

I have recently added a few of my better mame trees to a tufa rock planting. As it comes together, I hope to do a Case Study page about it.

Aug 16 2011

Sick Note

I have two more trees to pop into my poly tunnel. A mate brought these on Friday night and I offered to look after them for a while.

The Chinese Elm had nearly died during the Spring due to Frost damage. I had revived it and given it back a lush green colour. It went from poly tunnel to his back garden were a few months seems to have turned it red! No new growth is visible and the red is probably down to a change in environment. We decided that a return to the tunnel for the Winter was the best course of action.

The original post about this tree can be viewed here. ELM RECOVERY

He also brought 2 Japanese Maples. One was in a bad way and had lost several main branches. I was unsure of the cause. I guessed at a drying out but was worried about it being a viral thing so I advised him to pop it into a bigger pot of pure grit and take it home.

The other maple was a little deshojo that again appeared to have been dried out or had a total loss of leaves due to wind burn. It was now pushing out a new flush off tiny leaves behind the dried out branches. I offered to pop it into the tunnel for protection from the elements and to keep an eye on how it progressed in the next month or two.

Aug 15 2011

Lavender Bonsai!

Who ever heard of bonsai made from lavender? Never crossed my mind either until Mario left me his collection to care for while he’s working abroad. He has created a lavender bonsai from an old pot plant, deadwood and all!

Before I went to Florida it was in good shape. When I returned, it was covered with extension shoots and flower heads!! This is the tree before I trimmed it back into shape today.

and this is it after a trim.

Of all his trees in my care, this is the one I’m least looking forward to caring for! Over Wintering could be a challenge and, as a garden shrub, they are not long lived. I would say this crosses over to bonsai as well.

I did a google search for lavender bonsai and only found 2 trees that are exactly the same species as this one. Too be honest this one was way better than the other 2 as well 🙂

On inspection, I wasn’t too sure about the lower hanging branch or the health of the first branch on the right either. I think these virtuals might be an option some time in the future.

Don’t panic Mario, I won’t being doing this off my own bat mate 😀

Aug 14 2011

Updated Blog Bundle

As my Blog feeds Bundle has proved popular, I have updated it on the bloggers page and have added a link below. I now have 151 blogs listed from all over the world.

Click on the image below for the link. Enjoy.

Aug 13 2011

Juniper Maintenance

I had a few mates around last night for some bonsai craic in my garage.

Before we got started on everyone else’s trees, I lifted in this Juniper of a pinching. It has grown really well this year after a repot and is quick to get out of shape if not maintained.

We had a little session towards the end of the night were 4 of us sat around a tree and talked through it’s good and bad points. This was really productive and enjoyed by everyone, beginners and experienced alike. It was amazing when Stan, new to bonsai, suggested a new front for this tree and I actually had to admit that it was a great option. God I love bonsai 🙂

This is it before.

and after pinching…

Aug 8 2011

Chuhin Maple

This is my Chuhin sized Maple in leaf again after defoliation.

Aug 4 2011

Stephen’s Trident

Back in the bad Winter of 09/10 Stephen’s Trident got a really bad freezing and lost practically every root. The whole apex of the tree died and for many months it just slowly died back along the trunk. It had an emergency repot in Spring 2010 to assess if there was any live roots. We couldn’t see any to be honest! It was potted into a wooden box with pure grit mix. In September 2010 it produced a few leaves on lower heavy branches. Any dead branched were then removed.

This year having sat happily in my green house it came into leaf and produced a few new strong shoots from the trunk. Those in the right places were left and the rest removed. After 4 weeks away I came home to find the Trident looking like this!

Extension of 20 inches + 🙂 This was the old front of the tree which is no longer viable as the apex is gone and most of this trunk is now deadwood.

This will be the new front of the tree.

The tree is currently putting energy into growth that will not be used within the future design, therefore this was removed and a few placement wires added to direct new shoots. This is the tree now.

Considering that this tree was all but dead in Spring 2010, Stephen is happy with the progress.

Aug 1 2011

Summer Growth – Trident Maples

Before I left I defoliated my big Trident Maple as seen below.

This is it now four weeks later, I even had to shorten a few shoots.

My other smaller Trident had been defoliated earlier in the year and had been in full leaf again before I left. On my return it had extended some what.

Again both of these trees had been repotted this Spring and this shows just how strong a tree they can be even in my climate!!

Aug 1 2011

Summer Growth – Escallonia

I managed to trim a few trees yesterday, shortening in that growth that occurred in my absence. I’ll share a few pics of them here for your viewing.

This Escallonia had some major extension causing many of the inner leaves to drop. You would almost think that it had dried out, but that wasn’t the case.