Feb 22 2019

Pauls Place

Tuesday was a first session with a new customer. Paul has been doing bonsai for a while but has decided to up him game. I spent the day helping him with a few projects and some repotting. Paul’s garden is pretty special too. Here’s some photos of the day.

Feb 21 2019

Day With Derek

Monday saw me with Derek sorting a few trees out. Repotting and a little wiring on the agenda.

First up was a maple that had been recovering for a ew years in a box. Now we’ll on the up again we transferred it into a pot. Derek had a few options but most were too small.

We opted to use a round Gordon Duffet pot he had lying around😂 I only wish it were mine. The other gives the tree a little space in which to continue its development

This was the tree back in the late 80s

Next up was a pine, species unknown. He collected the seed from the Botanical Gardens in Dublin many years ago. The tree got a reworking having had some initial work done by myself a few years ago at a club workshop.

The tree was repotted into a Magic Ceramic pot that Derek picked up last year. We even found a nice widening buttress buried in the box. It’s got a longer needle but back buds well and seems to reduce well.

Another repot was this larch which had been a taller tree last year before being reduced to the bottom branch. Pushing hard for a shohin image but it’s on the larger side. It went into another Magic Ceramics pot.

A Chinese Juniper landscape was next. I doubt this tree had been repotted properly in the last 20 years but now under Derek’s care it was time for a freshen up.

Error

This video doesn’t exist

A busy day with Derek but productive and great craic as usual.

Feb 20 2019

Out Clubbing

I only wish I was young enough to go actual clubbing! This time it was a study group session with Leinster Bonsai Club in Dublin on Sunday.

We looked at repotting Theory, how, when and why we repot and what substrates to use. We then got hands on with a few trees to cover the practical side. A big thank to the LBC for supporting my endeavours in this the 5th of 6 sessions.

Feb 15 2019

Hornbeam Reset

A little hornbeam brought to me this week for a reset. Branch structure cleaned up and wired.

Feb 11 2019

Trophy Trees

Here’s a selection of photos from the Trophy.

Feb 11 2019

There’s Always One

This was the most used phrase on this trip away with friends 🙂 Folk getting lost, falling asleep, trying to open their hotel room with a credit card, Getting threw out of the demo for eating mustard dripping hotdogs in the front row, breaking a pot on a trader stand, trying to bluff their way into the priority boarding queue for their flight, the list was endless. But what a great few days we had on the road at the Trophy.

Here’s a few general pics of our travels. Photos of trees in exhibition to follow shortly.

Feb 7 2019

It’s Time

The Trophy has arrived. Well, almost, I start travelling early tomorrow to spend Friday and Saturday at the Trophy. I’m normally only there for a few hours in and out on the same day. However this year seven of us are heading over together and meeting up with a few other travelling Irish when we get there. Looking forward to seeing old friends and quality trees. Hope to see some of you there.

Feb 6 2019

Accents Emerging

I love this time of year, watching each plant and tree waking up. These two are showing signs. A Mukdemia Rossi and Muscari.

Sep 7 2018

Mirai: Slice of Heaven

I’m sharing a link to Mirai’s latest blog post which shows how the property came into existence. But I wanted to add my own thoughts on this if I may.

Having been to Mirai, I mention that from time to time around here 🙂 , I can say that it’s not a property, it’s one of those special places that you come across that is good for the soul. I’ve found a few over the years, many not bonsai related, such as Crater Lake in Oregon, Hornhead in Donegal, Kinbane Head in Antrim, Tookalup Lookout in Western Australia, among the Redwoods in Kings Canyon National Park in California to name a few. But I’ve been to a few bonsai related ones too. Willowbog Bonsai in the North of England has a special feel to it that I always enjoy. Peter Warren’s garden in London and Michael Hagedorn’s place in Portland both have a great vibe about them as well, but Mirai for me is as special as they come. I truly can’t wait to get back.

Click on the image below to read the blogpost.