This gallery contains 87 photos.
As I sit here sorting through my photos from the weekend two things are clear to me. First, this was without doubt a top quality Shohin exhibition that any country in the West would be proud to be associated with. … Continue reading
I field grew this Sequoia for a number of years and last year I did a little basic styling to get the main branches placed. Here’s a previous post. I don’t know a lot bout the species but I’m fond of having novelty trees 🙂 I did a little looking about online and it soon became clear that they can make a rather nice bonsai. They appear to readily ramify. I decided that it was worth investing a little more time in this tree this year. It’s been in this pot for 3-4 years and it feels tight as a drum so the first step will a repot to establish exactly what I have here.
This is what I found in the pot. It’s been a strong grower. It was planted in a mix of moler and grit 50/50.
You will notice however that the top few inches appear empty and even a little at the bottom. I therefore had to investigate where exactly the nebari of this tree is. The base is swollen considerably, which is common with the species. It also sends out feckin hundreds of suckers!!
There was some serious growth in the middle though.
After removing the top 2 inches I eventually found a more suitable base level even though I had to remove a few heavy roots. This is it placed in a mica training pot. It will be given able time to recover and then some foliage refinement will be carried out. I also plan some carving at the base reaching up to mid tree. All a bit scrappy at the moment but this years new growth will make a massive difference.
I had the pleasure of working in Portaferry this morning and on the way home I took advantage of a sky clear of rain and stopped along the way to take a few photos. Photoshop and photomerge came in handy too but still doesn’t do the scenery around Strangford Lough justice.
Michael was with me last riday night but didn’t manage to get all the wiring done so he popped over on Saturday afternoon and after giving me a hand repotting a Sequoia, we finished the wiring and did a little shaping.
This is the tree before.
And afterwards
I repotted this one with a friend during a one to one session last week.
It had been in this pot for a long time and had been potted in peat by the previous owner. When we got it out of the pot the smell was grim, a stale rotting smell. The pot was also holding a lot of water. There had been no mesh over the drainage holes and we found holes leading up into the root mass and a few slugs gorging themselves.
This is it much later and into a smaller pot.
This one was interesting to do.
Before
After
… in the garage 🙂
Some friends came over last night to do a little tree work, mostly repotting, well, that’s not true, it was mostly banter and craic 😉
Not much in the way of good looking accents in February but this little one never fails to please.
I have a number of raw material Larch collected 2 years ago that I’m in the process of doing an initial styling. Hoping to give them some shape and a few months growth before adding to my sales page.
Before
After
Before
After
A few more to do as time permits.
Image
This little Coal Tit has become a regular visitor to my Living Room window where he is keen to find insects on the window frame. He announces himself with a tap tap with his beak 🙂 He perches on trees outside before launching himself toward the glass.
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