Jun 10 2014

Welcome Home Old Pal

Peter Snart kindly delivered my Root Over Rock Trident Maple back to me a few weeks back. It had been over at Willowbog Bonsai for the BSA Exhibition. This is it as I got it back. A little over grown but in fine health as you’d expect 😉

I had to address the overgrown shoots that had now overly thickened some of the outer canopy. The only way I could do this was by defoliation and then thinning out of the fat areas. This was it after defoliation.

and again after thinning out, you can see I’ve also removed the moss, I want to be able to keep an eye on the watering better and the moss was obscuring my view of this and also taking some of the water for itself.

In hindsight I have missed an opportunity 😦 I should have left the bottom few branches untouched to allow them to fatten further to get a better balance in the tree. Ah well…

May 26 2013

Field Grown #1 Cydonia oblonga?

A few of my field grown trees. Early days but they are starting to shape up. If I had it all to do again I would make a better job of the field grown material. Like most things in this hobby, once you have it sussed, it’s already too late 😀

First up an unknown species of tree, I have been calling it a Celtis for years but after a little help over on Wee Trees Bonsai Forum recently Alain K produced leaves from a tree in his garden that were identicial. It was a pear tree that had been grafted onto Cydonia oblonga, the common Quince . I have two of them and have had them both for sale for yonks, but no one wants a tree when they don’t know what it is! I am therefore going to make the best of this one and keep it for myself. (other one still for sale if anyone’s interested :201thumbup: )

I has grown really strongly this year in the poly tunnel and I lifted it out to do some pruning.

As I started trimming I quickly noticed a lot of Caterpillars on the inner leaves where they couldn’t be seen. I have never done a full defoliation on this tree but decided to go ahead and do one now. A safe way of removing the pests and also allowing me to adjust the branch structure and do a little wiring. This is it after defoliation.

and after a little wiring. Aiming for a natural looking image.

Jul 29 2012

Defoliation Bounce Back

These two have flushed out again after defoliation.

Rescue Maple

Silver Birch

Jul 25 2012

Proof of Life #3

By now you are thinking that I actually have no bonsai of my own and my garden is full of other peoples trees! You might be right!!

This one is for Valerie. Her Arakawa Maple was in desperate need of major pruning and a major repot at the Willowbog workshop back in May. As the tree was already in full leaf, we opted to defoliate, prune and repot all in one go. I decided to keep it for the Summer for some special aftercare. This is it now. I think you should be happy with this Valerie 🙂

Jul 10 2012

Mame Ivy Defoliation

I defoliated my little Ivy and did a minor adjustment to the lower branch.

Jul 5 2012

Shohin Maple

My shohin Maple leafing out after defoliation.

Dec 10 2011

Trident in December

This is my Trident pictured during the week. As you can see, it has been reluctant to drop its leaves. The few that are missing is more down to gale force winds than Autumn/Winter. This tree has been outside since March.

I usually defoliate this tree every year but next year I’m planning on a different technique to compare results. I’ll keep you posted.

Sep 5 2011

Longer Leaves on Fuji

I had posted earlier in the year about my Fuji Cherry. HERE and HERE.

I had experimented with it this year by defoliating. I wanted to see how a cherry would react to this in it’s growth and if the Autumn colour would be better. It also helped me de-wire as I couldn’t see the wire among the dense foliage.

After it came back into full leaf I thought that the leaves were slightly longer than before. Not bigger, just more pointed. It was until I took another Fuji of the same variety into holiday care that I noticed the difference. Both are ‘Kojo-no-mai’.

The top leaf shown here is a normal shape, the one below is my one after defoliation.

Some Autumn colour is starting to creep in but it still looks fresh. Guess I’ll have to wait and see how it goes.

Aug 8 2011

Chuhin Maple

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

Jul 6 2011

Tale of two trees

These are two Celtis I have. I think that’s what they are I’m not sure see here

This first one was repotted this Spring and was placed in the poly tunnel. I didn’t defoliate as I want to thicken the branches and chop back.

Spring 2011

April 2011

and now

The other one wasn’t repotted and had been outside on a bench. For some reason this one got mildew and I had to defoliate. I thought being outside with good air circulation would have been a less likely spot to get mildew, but what do I know.