Another day with trees in Dublin, this time with John is his beautiful garden.
Some pics.
Tag Archives: photography
One to One with Derek
A few snaps from today’s one to one with Derek in Dublin.
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Garden Changes
Two weeks ago I started the process of removing the grass from my back garden. More space for display and additional drainage due to seasonal flooding were my aims.
This was the starting point.
First step was getting a micro digger in.
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Next up was 16 tonne of stone, some decorative some for drainage.
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Then it was time to start adding trees. I opted to use temporary bench legs while I figure out the layout that suits me best. I’ll replace them when I’m 100% on the spacing etc. I’ve also a few monkey poles to add and some underplanting. I’m also looking for a nice piece of bog oak to use as a sculpture/feature. I’m still looking.
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That’s the front part of the garden nearly complete. Next up is the back with a new Polytunnel.
Hosta Parade
I think I have another addiction 🙈
rock is
Fencepost Cedar
Well that’s what I call it. I’ve played with this tree for years watching it progress slowly. It adds a bit of colour in the display and despite all its faults I still like to stop and look it it, even though it’s usually to figure out what I’d like to change 😂
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some older shots of it over the years. Back when I made a Horlivka of the carving 😀
This was it in 2016
Iris Accent
Bud-Ten Bunratty
From small acorns mighty oaks grow….
It was an absolute pleasure to be be involved with Ray Egan at Bud Garden Centre in Bunratty and watch the first (and not the last) Bud-ten exhibition come together.
Bud Garden Centre in the Shadow of Bunratty Castle
Ray is one of guys who works hard in the background to push bonsai forward in Ireland and do it in the right way. From a chat last year over a few beers when he talked about hosting a Japanese Gardening Weekend at Bud including bonsai, to what just transpired last weekend, it’s been a rollercoaster.
Ray hard at work
Bud is nestled away in a corner opposite the historic Bunratty Castle and although small, offers plants missing from most garden centres. Ray hosts monthly meetings for the Munster Bonsai Club of which he’s a founding member.
Ray asked if I’d help pull the bonsai side of things together and as things progressed I ended up down the rabbit hole 🙂
Ray invited me to judge the exhibition so he could award deserving trees and help encourage exhibitors to push the standard of their display. The exhibits are from various people at a wide range of levels but Ray encouraged many of his fellow club mates to exhibit for the first time for the experience. Here’s the exhibition and the winning trees.
Japanese White Pine Best in Show -Michael Guerin
Higa Siama Japanese Maple Best Broadleaf in Show – Michael Guerin
Shohin Rack Best Display in Show -Stephen and Vanessa Dodds, Ben Follis, Ray Egan
Best Shohin -Itiogawa Juniper Stephen Dodds
Best Accent – Dodecatheon Paul Lynam
Best Native Elm -Steven Short
Best Conifer Japanese White Pine- Mark Cashman
Best Tree Pot Combo K. Hornbeam on left in Beko pot – Dermot Woods
Best Mame Musk Maple on left – Kris Stoker
And a few other photos of exhibits
The accents from the show.
WE had some fun social evenings with bonsai enthusiasts from all three clubs in Ireland getting together with our partners for food and drink.
Dangerous putting these girls together!
On the bank holiday Monday, after the exhibition had ended, I delivered a Kusamono workshop for 11 people and afterwards gave a talk on beginning bonsai for the public.
Friends old and new being brought together all weekend.
A massive that you to all those who made the weekend such a success, Visitors, exhibitors, helpers but most importantly to the man below, without Ray’s drive and commitment this simply wouldn’t have happened.
Deshojo Maple Airlayer
This maple was brought to me last April for work. It was weak and in examination of the base a full half of the trunk base was dead and rotting away.
I explained to the owner that things would get worse fast with the rotted wood coming away and creating an ugly base. It was obviously also having an impact on the general health of the tree. We opted to layer the tree just above the rotted base at the first point were a full 360 of live tissue could be cut into. We potted it into fine akadama topped off with a thin layer of moss to aid water retention.
Last week the tree came back to me for work and removal of the layer if successful.
Above you can see extension on the tree, even on the lower branches. A good sign.
We removed the pot and found a full 360 of radial roots in great shape. It looked like a hula dancers grass skirt. It had even rooted well above the rotted area where sap full would have been weak.
We worked the roots out to soften the edge and even removed some that had rooted above the callous line into the moss and that would have created an uneven nebari. The stump underneath was whittled away with knob cutters.
You can see on the stump of the old base that a full 180 degrees of the trunk was dead at the base.
We took some time to spread out the roots and potted the tree in a spare pot of mine that allowed more room front to back and a little more depth. I’m fairly confident that this tree will fill this pot in a single year.
The top got a light pruning. The low branches may annoy some but I actually like the image. Better this than a dead tree in a few years. We repotted the original stump out of interest to see the rootmass. The rotted portion just fell away and what roots were there were very poor indeed.
Blackthorn
I collected this little Prunus spinosa or Blackthorn back in Spring 2017. It look a while to get roots established with very little taking place in the first year. Last year it did well in the sphagnum miss it was potted in and I transferred it over into a proper mix this spring. It’s new pot is a little grand for it but was all I had on the shelf that would accommodate the roots safely. Stone Monkey pot by Andy Pearson. The tree is unsettled. No wiring or scissor work done. It’s just as nature made it.
Last Session in Leinster….
…..For now.
Sunday was my last of 6 booked sessions with the Leinster Bonsai Club in Dublin.
It’s been fun working with a group with a varied level of knowledge and ability and trying to pitch each session with just the right balance of theory vs Practical. In the last two years I’ve completed 12 sessions with them and enjoyed every one. I just hope they have too 😂
Plans seem to be afoot for continuing the relationship but spread out more evenly over the calendar year.
A massive thank you to Tom and Paul for all the organisational work and of course to those taking part during the last six months. Also thanks to Max who always grabs some photos during the sessions which I never remember. Here are the ones I stole from yesterday’s session. A tree critique that turned into a practical session 😀
Bonsai Eejit 