A few Trees in the Sun. I usually take photos in the garage but sometimes it nice to get a little natural light on the tree.
Japanese Larch
Shohin Hawthorn
Another Hawthorn
Fuji Cherry Finished Flowering
Tag Archives: larch
10 Days Later..
I took a few photos of the collected trees in the Poly Tunnel and compared them to the same shots from 10 days ago when they were placed in the tunnel. A nice shade of green appearing.
14th March
24th March
Potting Up
On our return from the collecting trip we made a start to the potting up. Well, Phil and I did 🙂 Stephen starts late and finishes early!! He kept talking about needing some sleep, you’d think he had worked all night before coming out collecting 🙂
This was my garage before Phil and I started. I wanted to cry, totally knackered after the weekend away and a full day humping tress down a mountain!!
We started with the Spruce. They were potted into Sphagnum moss specially imported from Willowbog for the job 🙂
We worked until we were seeing double and called it a night. Stephen came back the following day and we finished off the remaining Larch. This is what greeted us in the garage, only 12 Larch left. Not a lot of photos taken here as it was a hassle taking gloves on and off!
The tunnel was emptied out to make room for the new arrivals and we managed to fill it.
It was good to see trees out again after their Winter protection, albeit rather haphazardly dumped onto benches!!
I’ll keep you posted with how these trees progress or die 🙂 I think we should be successful with most. One very nice Spruce had little root and we expect it to die but you never know!!
Tuesday’s Collecting Trip
Managed to squeeze in a collecting trip with Phil and Stephen on Tuesday. We had planned to spread the collecting out over a few years on this site but the land owner moved the goal posts and we only had one day to get what we wanted! This meant lifting way more trees than we had planned for.
Phil and I set out early, Stephen was joining us after he finished work. A few swans followed us West, I thought birds flew south!!
Phil strides out into the site on the hunt for decent Larch.
First one of the day.
We were delighted that the trees could be lifted in few few minutes. They had rooted into the top layer of moss and no tap roots were going into the poor peat soil below. A quick circle with the spade and out they popped.
We then had a closer look at a few of the Spruce and were delighted to find massive trunks. These were trees that had been cut just above soil surface many years ago but a few had remaining low branches that have developed into squat powerful trees. We thought they would be a nightmare to collect but had this first one out in 10 minutes.
We moved on to this even better one. Probably the pick of the bunch. I had looked at this one a few months ago and couldn’t get my hands around the base. It’s as thick as my thigh. The obvious top leader was removed leaving a nicely tapered trunk.
Part of the view. A cloudy but mild windless day, perfect for collecting. Stephen, Bonsai Baker, eventually turned up once the hard work was done and we had enough lifted to fill his car already. We moved on a little further and collected a few more Spruce with lighter trunks.
We humped the booty down to the main Larch area. Dopey and Happy whistling while they work, the other 5 dwarfs will be along shortly behind them 🙂
We them moved to another area with larch and collected what we thought we could handle and fit in the trailer!
Stephen checks out another one, you can see the shari on the trunks caused by the wild goats that roam the mountains here.
Another Spruce.
We get the trees back down to the car and get the trailer loaded up. Phil gulps down his usual Red Bull and Stephen is either eating a Mars Bar or chewing a wasp!! The stone is actually suiseki size 🙂
We had spotted a very nice Lodgepole Pine and went to investigate.
When we cleared the top moss off we found out that the roots disappeared into the rock. The chances of collecting this and getting it to survive are slim to none. We covered it back up and left it for others to enjoy.
Packed up we moved on. Room forHappy in the trailer 🙂
We found another site for Larch lower down. Still Japanese Larch but much redder bark
Phil found another Pine but alas, it was also rooted through rock.
He then spotted a Spruce and got down for a closer look. So tempted to deliver a size 11 boot to the target presented!!
We even managed to spot the herd of wild goats that had helped us with the shari 🙂
Some nice mature forest too.
Phil decides to try a Le Mans Start for the trip home and some potting up 🙂
We even found a new site for Hawthorn! Different land owner but worth further investigation I think!!
I post photos from the potting up tomorrow.
Garage Night Tree #6
Ian B brought this Japanese Larch along on Friday past for a little thinning out and advice.
I felt that the image looked a little wrong as the tree seemed to lean back too far and gave the impression that it was unstable.
I suggested that tilting to the right would be a good option now. We only had to loosen the tie wires and shift slightly in the pot. This is the new position.
and this is it after we adjusted it.
Before and after side by side.
Garage Night Tree/s #3
Graham brought this Larch Forest to the garage night yesterday. It’s made up of young larch seedling and was put together by Graham a few years ago. It’s planted on a slate slab. This was the first time I had seen this planting as Graham had been hiding it in his back garden until now.
The photo doesn’t do it justice as the slab actual zig-zags a bit and adds interest to the composition. He had lost a few trees from the back and we discussed if they should be replaced. I liked it as is but felt that the tree to the far right might be better added to the rear behind the main tree. A few others where adjusted and shortened. This was the result.
Still a few tweeks to be made here and there but I think he’s made a fantastic job out of this using what was very young and cheap material. The slate was from the base of an old pool table. Here is Graham with the forest for scale.
Slab Larch Virtual
Following on from my last post about Roy’s Larch group and the comments made, here is a slab virtual that retains the rock element.
and with part of the rock removed for better lines.
The original pot virtual.
and the original
side by side…
Larch Forest Pot Virtual
Roy C brought this Larch forest to the club meeting on Friday. Roy has been creating bonsai for many years on his own, learning from books and his own experiences. About a year ago he heard about the NIBS and made contact through the Website. He has a bit of a drive to make it to the meetings but when he gets there, he always has something interesting to see.
This forest was created from young Larch seedlings that had self seeded into the guttering on a shed roof at his farm! When he put this group together, he added the white limestone as it reminded him of his local landscape. I quite like this sentimental idea but in it’s current form, the white rock over powers the image and the rocks are a little too angular.
We chatted about the group at the meeting and I made a few suggestions that in my opinion would make for a better image.
Firstly I felt that the stones should go. The rock to the left look as if they are holding the trees in the pot and are very distracting.
Secondly I felt that the height of the soil mass should then be reduced. It sits very high in the pot in its current design. This may be more sustainable in a wider pot.
Thirdly, a change to a larger, shallower oval pot would greatly improve the image. The current rectangle is too deep and inappropriate for a group.
Lastly, I felt that a few of the trees should have their height adjusted to give a more overall triangular over view. This could be enhanced by adding a further small tree or two at the edges.
I took a photo and said I would play about with a virtual to see if helped explain my views. Here is what I came up with.
A smaller tree could still be added to the right hand side during repotting. If Roy still wanted to include some white stone, a well weathered piece with a more worn appearance could be added in the space to the right as well. It would need to be low lying, mostly buried, just visible on the soil surface. Two trees to the right have been shortened as well.
With a few more years of ramification and a little wiring here and there, I think this will be a very nice little group indeed. Moss would be nice but the sparrows on the farm do major damage, but the less said about the sparrows and Roy, the better 😉
Club Night January 2012
Had a good night at the club meeting last night. We had asked for members to bring Larch and we had a great turn out. As usual for January, numbers attending were up. Must be the post Christmas effect.
A few pics from proceedings.
Birch root over rock belonging to Hugh.
Roy’s Raulii
Phil pointing out how many more trees are needed in the forest planting.
First styling for Roy’s Larch.
Davy’s little shohin Yew
Larch Night @ The Club
I’m heading to an NIBS meeting tonight were we will be looking at some of the members Larch Bonsai. Our meetings are always workshop based and this year we have decided to theme a few of them on a specific species to allow for better learning. First meeting of the new year and I must admit, I’m rather looking forward to it.
I’m taking along this Larch group. It needs some thinning out where branch tips have become too congested with buds.
Bonsai Eejit 