Apr 22 2011

Hawthorn Airlayer Update

Last year I layered the top of this Hawthorn Case Study HERE

This is the parent plant today. A few flowers at the top. The apex is going to be removed to a lower branch.

This is the layer!! Growing strongly and surprised me with the abundance of flower. These will be removed shortly so as not to stress the tree .

I honestly think the flowers on Hawthorn are under rated. How nice are these?

Apr 22 2011

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday my Beech had about 4 green leaves showing. This was it today!!

Guess today’s heat worked its magic.

Apr 22 2011

Wildwoodbonsai Blog

Always on the look out for decent Bonsai Bloggers from around the world, I can happily plug this UK based one from Will Baddeley. Will is a previous winner of the UK New Talent Competition and is a regular on the IBC Forum. Some beautiful bonsai progression photos showing trees created from native material.

It is now on my bloggers list. Click on the Banner Below to visit. Enjoy.

Apr 21 2011

Cotoneaster Tweaking

Part of our day yesterday was was taken up by this Cotoneaster belonging to Stephen. When I was at his home the other day I said it could be a really nice tree with a little more work on the deadwood and and some wiring. We agreed at the time to give it a whirl the following day. Here is the tree on Monday at Stephens place.

It’s an urban yamadori tree and if memory serves me right, it was salvaged from a school grounds. A few ugly rots at the bottom need to be removed to reveal a better nebari underneath, This can’t be done in total just now. The deadwood at the top needed some work with a view to eventually joining it with the deadwood at the bottom left of the tree. Some adjustments to the foliage should also help pull the whole image together.

Here’s some of the work getting carried out.

This is the original front as the tree was potted but a view more from the left would show off the deadwood to better effect.

Apr 20 2011

Muckers Day Out

Mariusz came up from Dublin for the day and, after some time in my own garden, we popped over to Stephen’s place for a look around. We then moved on to ‘fun time’ Frankies with a quick look at Phil’s mountainside thereafter and then back to mine for food and wiring. A great wee day out and about in the glorious sunshine.

Here’s a few snaps of the day.

Mariusz, Phil and Stephen

"That one with chips please"

San Jose Juniper

Scots Pine

Yew

Chamaecyparis

Closer inspection

Apr 19 2011

Beech Buds

I’ve been watching and waiting patiently for my Beech to finally get around to opening. Today’s glorious weather must have helped. It is now showing the first signs of green leaves.

Apr 18 2011

Photo Session

Today I went to my mate Stephen’s house to take a few record photos of his trees. Here’s a few that looked particularly nice. A big thank you to Stephen who donated a few trees to my son Matthew who is showing an interest in bonsai. If you are reading this Jamie, between Stephen and myself, there’s a few trees in this for you too 🙂

This was the set up for the photos.

And this is where I talked Stephen into posing with his Deshojo for scale purposes. You would think he’d look happier with a tree like that beside him 🙂

Apr 17 2011

Sequoia Sempervirens

I had a notion years ago of making a Sequoia Bonsai. Mad do I here you say? Probably. I got my hands on a small one and decided that to have any chance, it needed to be big. I popped it into open ground for 8 years and forgot all about it. About two years ago we had to clear the ground and there it was in all it’s glory, throwing down a challenge. I put it into a big black pot and put it in the corner for 2 years.

Yesterday I decided it was do or die time. I always had the notion of trying to style it similar to how they grow in nature, a tall formal upright with sweeping branches. It was a mass of branches and all I wanted to do to get things rolling was, thin it out, and place primary branches.

Here’s the tree before I started.

After a little thinning out.

And after placement of primary branches.

I know that I’m looking at years and years of hardship in trying to get this rapid grower to behave the way I want it too. I always like to have a few weird ones in the collection. I think this qualifies.

Here are a few that I looked at online for ideas.

Apr 17 2011

Little Nasties

A quick inspection of a few trees has brought these issues to my attention.

First up are woolly aphids on a Scots Pine. Only on one pine at the moment but I have given it a spray. I think this is the earliest I have ever had them on any tree in my garden.

A few trees were showing signs of mildew. A crab Apple and a Wild Pear.

All have now been treated. I keep a few spray bottles of insecticide and fungicide at hand for some spot spraying. On the bright side, I checked all my Maples and there wasn’t a black fly/aphid in sight 🙂

Apr 16 2011

Elm Forest Update

Here’s an update on the Elm Forest Planting shown here Cork Bark Elm Group

I lifted out of the poly tunnel yesterday for an inspection and tidy up. It’s been growing rapidly in the tunnel and many unwanted shoots have appeared.

I gave it a weeding and trim. A few branches got a light wiring to place them in the right position. If it continues to grow like this it’ll fill out before the end of the year!! Here’s the result of yesterdays work.