Aug 9 2013

Mario’s Satsuki

One of the trees I’m minding for Mario while he spends his days kite surfing in Dubai is this little Satsuki Azalea. For me the tree had a few issues to begin with, namely:

the apex being as wide as the bottom branches

suffers from a floating apex

Missing a branch to the front which I feel is a little too open.

This was the tree back in June 2012

After discussing the tree with Peter Warren in October last year we adjusted a few of the upper branches with wire to try and stop that floating apex. However, it was the wrong time of year to hard prune the apex to try and narrow it. Therefore we could only do so much at that time. This was the tree in April of this year.

After flowering was finished in June I pruned the apex back quite hard in a few places to improve the overall shape. This is the tree now. Less of an appearance of a floating apex and a more overall triangular shape.

This adventurous shoot has appeared on the trunk at a point were I think it might benefit the tree if developed. I’ll let it grow and let Mario remove it if he disagrees 😉

This is one of the top branches that got a major pruning back to old wood. It took a few weeks but it is now starting to fill out nicely but in the right area.

Before and after side by side for comparison

Aug 8 2013

Maintenance – Elm & Birch

Two more, both a ways off being mature trees. First a cork bark elm. I normally only get Summer growth like this if they are kept in the poly tunnel.

and after

Birch

after

Aug 8 2013

More Wishful Thinking

This time I wish I had been along on the trip with Mr Monkey Mountain 🙂

Click on the image below to see what wonders he visited.

Aug 7 2013

Maintenance – Hornbeam & Hawthorn

Before, again all new growth post show on 21st July

After

Hawthorn before. The ramification on this one has doubled this year with numerous maintenance done this growing season.

and after

Aug 6 2013

Maintenance – Trident Maples

A few more before and after trimming

Aug 5 2013

Maintenance – Cotoneasters

In 20 years of bonsai I have never witnessed growth on my trees such as I have seen in the last two weeks. I spend some time on Sunday getting them back into shape.

These two Cotoneaster have been trimmed multiple times this year and this is the growth in just the last 2 weeks.

After trimming. You’ll noticed I missed a bit. I’m making a few changes to the image in that area and I’ve left extension to allow me to do a little wiring and improvement.

This was in a show 2 weeks ago!

And now.

Aug 3 2013

The Short Straw

Phil and Stephen were at my place today and one of our tasks was to pick out our trees from last years collected Larches. Yet again I got the short straw and last pick!

Ah well, made for an interesting session watching what other people pick as the best tree.

Stephen as usual drank all my coffee 😉

Phil was trying to count how many trees were on the benches and ran out of fingers 🙂

We also photographed a few trees, more on this in future posts.

This was the back garden as we started out and before the camera went away in the thunderstorm. Four trees each.

Aug 1 2013

Capel Manor Autumn Bonsai Show

It’s nearly that time again, a date for your diary for those in the UK who appreciate good bonsai.

and here are some photos from last years show to see what I mean.

Jul 31 2013

Josh’s Shohin Lonicera

I am still trying to get around to photographing Josh’s bonsai while they are with me . It’s just been so busy at work that blogging is having to take a back seat. I normally have posts scheduled ready to go but this last week has been hectic.

Anyway, here is one of Josh’s that I did take a few snaps of recently. Not great photos but they give the general idea of scale and quality.

Jul 28 2013

Walk Before the Storm

Had my usual Sunday walk with my friend Steven and the dogs this morning before the Storm hit. This afternoon brought heavy rain and a little flooding around the garden.

The walk was in Redburn Country Park in Belfast overlooking the harbour.