Dec 22 2012

Larch Group For Sale

I brought this Group of 3 larch in for a trim back yesterday. I had planned to split the group perhaps create a bigger scene, but trying to source extra trees with the same quality of bark and ramification has proved a chore. I have therefore decided to sell the group over the next few months. I have had my fun with it but want to give my time to other trees and projects. The 3 larch all came from the wild in Scotland and have great quality bark. The rock element in this landscape was collected from Lough Corrib and has great character. The pot is Walsall Ceramics.

Before trim

This was it with Autumn colour last Autumn.

Last Winter

Back in 1997 when I first put it together.

Back in 2000 when I tried it on slate for a while.

Close up of the Corrib Rock element.

If anyone is interested in buying this, just drop me an email bonsaieejit@gmail.com.

Dec 2 2012

Friday Night Lights

Had a few mates around on Friday night to play with trees. Ben here found it hard to comprehend the light requirements 🙂

And the penny drops 🙂 Phil gives his salute to the greater bonsai community as per usual.

Michael was first to arrive with a Larch for wiring.

After Michael and I diligently wired the tree, Phil arrived late and jumped in to do the styling. It’s OK , I’ll fix it for Michael another day 😉

Ben brought a clump of Lonicera collected from a garden. We worked through in and removed a few unwanted trunks and left what will be the basis of it’s future image.

Remaining stumps will be carved away.

John McP brought a Spruce that he tells me has been neglected for a number of years. John’s new to the club but has been dabbling with bonsai for a few years on his own.

The tree has a few issues, leggy branches, bar branches and a few empty areas that will need work. However, this is a great tree for John to learn from. We only wanted to do a little branch selection on the night and get John wiring. We only wired the primary branches to drop them down and create an future, older image for the tree. The green was thinned out and will be left until next year as we try and promote some better inner structure to work with.

Ian B brought along a Scots Pine that he has grown from seed. Ian must be about 150 years old as the bark on this little fellow is very nice indeed. I didn’t get a before shot sadly. After everyone else had left, Ian and I worked through this tree and got it wired. We removed about 50% of the foliage. There were a few options with this one. Ian opted to keep the hanging primary branch. There remains a nice literati option for the future if required.

An enjoyable evening.

Sep 24 2012

Deforestation

I’ve had these 3 Japanese Larch as a group for many year. Each tree is actually very nice on it’s own. I’ve got to the stage now were I have lost interest in the group. Rather than sell it, I’m going to take it apart and pot up the trees individually. At some point in the future, providing I can get similar quality larch, I may put it back together as a bigger group. As you can see, I have also allowed these free growth this year to give me a few extra options once they are potted up separately.

These are a few photos taken over the years showing this tree develope. Earliest is 1997. I think I have moved on to the extent that it doesn’t ‘float my boat’ any more. I still look back at these photos with fond memories.

Sep 23 2012

Free Growth Larch

This is a Larch that I have had for quite a few years SEE HERE.

I opted to allow it free growth this year to give me extra branch structure to work with during a total restyling planned for this Autumn.

I’m really looking forward to wiring this tree. I think that’s a first 🙂

Jul 27 2012

Hardening Off

I decided yesterday to do a little shuffling of trees that had been collected in the Spring. Well, when I say me, I mean my two sons working under my direction.

Most where still in poly tunnels and I wanted to get them out to harden off a bit. The foliage as you can see here shows that most have responded well after collecting. There was a mixture of Scots Pine, Spruce and Larch.

I’m running rather low on space!! Had to add a few temporary benches to facilitate them.

All squeezed in! With trees visiting on holiday care it’s a tight fit!

Jul 22 2012

Rose Show

I had the pleasure of judging the bonsai entries at the Rose Show in Belfast yesterday. I small local flower show held as part of the bigger Rose Week event at Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park.

The bonsai aspect was small, our club supports the Rose Society by always getting a few entries in to fill the space and add interest for the public. As far as bonsai go, it’s not what we aspire too in our own displays with the usual low tables and cramped space. For that reason and the poor photos that resulted from inside a marquee, I’ll not bombard you with poor quality photos. I will however share some photos taken from within the park itself showing both the roses and some nice trees.

First, photos from inside the flower show marquee during judging. The rest from within the park Rose Gardens and Japanese Garden. When I show the Rose name it’s because is a highly perfumes variety that my wife is determined to add to our garden.

Jun 2 2012

Happy Snapping

We had a bit of a photo session the other week. Hugh can down to my garage with a better camera and some lighting. The plan was to photograph some trees with a view to submitting them for selection in the Best of British Exhibition next year. You never know a few might be selected but we had good fun anyway taking the shots.

These are some of the trees we shot. Some mine, some Josh’s, some Phil’s and some Stephen’s. Bar the shohin, all show front and back.

Apr 10 2012

Hans European Larch

I’m quite into my Larch at the moment and Hans Van Meer shared this on Youtube a few days ago. It shows a short video 360 of his very tasty European larch named ‘XL’ 🙂

I was interested in the two deadwood areas on the tree and if he was considering joining these together at some point. I asked him about this on the IBC Thread and he was kind enough to give this comprehensive reply.

Yes joining the top Jin with the deadwood section lower on the trunk is a work in progress. The tree is doing it all by it’s self! This might take a lot longer than doing it artificial by hand but it will look much better in the end! The bark is amazingly thick on this tree, in some places more than a centimeter, and is make up out of many layers of bark. By allowing that section of the tree to die back by it’s self, this thick bark will crack naturally and will eventually fall off, leaving a rough and natural looking edge between the deadwood and live bark! I could never get that edge to look that natural and beautiful if I would do it myself by hand or with powertools! So pattieance is the name of the game again!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hans Bonsai Website

Hans Personal Blog