Feb 19 2015

Oak Air Layer Update

Thought I’d share this Oak Air layer update with you. I see many people on forums etc asking if it’s possible to layer an Oak with a lot of conflicting answers. This one was removed from the parent tree back in April 2012. At the weekend I decided to repot the tree properly for the first time.Here you can see that it’s done well in the interim.

After a combing out of the roots and removal of any of the moss used in the original layer.

Some work carried out on some large cuts.

The underside of the trunk gets some whittling as well.

And now potted up in it’s new pot. Some carving required to tidy it up but no rush.

Feb 16 2015

Escallonia Repot

Having taken a sneaky day off work I decided to do a little repotting. This Escallonia needed done as drainage was poor and I wanted to change the front and potting angle slightly.

Bit of a lip on the pot so out with the root saw.

A good mass of root but surprisingly not totally pot bound. Drainage issue must have been due to compacted fertiliser pellets breaking down into the top layer.

After a cut back and wash out. I did manage to get rid of the very last bit of garden soil.

Back into the Walsall Ceramics pot. I do want to change this at some point but am still looking for the ideal pot. A mix of Akadama and koyodama which proved successful last time.

Potted up and ready for a good watering.

The final image.

The slight front change and tilt below.

Next step will be the treatment of the deadwood. Tricky with the tree as the wood rots fast if wet , but also hard to get the right colouring as jin seal looks too harsh. You’ll see how I get on with this here of course.

Jan 15 2015

Sunday’s Collecting Trip

After an evening with Piotr our host on the Saturday night, we made an early start on the Sunday morning to visit two collecting sites. First off we wanted to collect some Larch for the NIBS, our own club, who have plans about a special inter-generational workshop next year. Here we our selecting some suitable trees for this.

We popped back to Piotrs home for a quick cuppa before some serious travelling to the second site. While we were there we had a look around some of Piotr’s trees in his garden. I think we can safely say he’s hooked on bonsai with a garden rapidly filling with trees.

We then headed along the West Coast to get to a site we hadn’t visited before. We had been told that it was a possible Pine collecting site. I’m not going to go into the location for obvious reasons but Piotr had done the ground work for us so we could just go and collect. He came along with us and it was great to have his help.

It was a bit of a drive and then a bit of a hike from the road but what we found was an excellent site for both Scots Pine and Lodgepole Pine. These trees were self seeded and growing in an exposed area which created some great shapes and bark. These are the best Pines that I’ve found in Ireland. Here are a few shots of some of them on site. A nice mix of sizes. Sorry for a few blurry photos but it was raining for a while.

Jan 14 2015

Saturday Workshop

I’ve been taking the easy option and reblogging Munster Bonsai Clubs posts about the weekend but I do have a few photos of my own that help capture the great day we had. I’ve been back to what has been a hectic few days in work and am still trying to recover from the serious travelling and work that the guys down there had us doing 😉 Anyway, here’s a few of my shots.

Jan 6 2015

Low Winter Sun

A few snaps from my walk on Sunday. A great day for a walk.

Detail on an old Railway Bridge

Hooded crow that was singing Black Betty Bam aLam 🙂

Jan 3 2015

Seijyuten 2014 Gallery

As usual these amazing photos come from the Nekotoban Blog. Make you you follow this Japanese blog with loads of exhibition photos from the more obscure shows.

Dec 17 2014

Kingdom of Mourne

Had the pleasure of working down in the Kingdom of Mourne last week. Some snow about on the peaks and some great scenery.

And also this old deciduous tree along the roadside near Castlewellan.

Dec 16 2014

Winter Image: Trident Maple

Dec 7 2014

Winter Image – Korean Hornbeam

My Korean Hornbeam was very slow to drop leaves this Autumn. This was it on the 15th November!

This was it this weekend just past it’s best colour.

After a clean up for Winter.

Dec 1 2014

Sunday’s Walk

A nice 8 mile walk in woods and then coastline. Always nice to see the seasons change.

Always a sucker for fungi

This Birch was clinging on to life. This whole side was deadwood but a live vein can be seen running up the other side.

Fungi forest

A mighty Oak

Low Winter sun

My constant companion on a walk, Maggie. Smudge is somewhat of a front runner and prone to run ahead to the nearest person at the waters edge willing to throw a stone for him. One of these days someone’s going to pinch him on me!