Oct 29 2013

The Weekend in Photos

Well, another busy workshop weekend done and dusted.

Peter braved the Irish sea yet again to bring his own special brand of bonsai education to our shores. I personally found both days very enjoyable. A massive thank you to my long suffering bonsai wife Allison who puts up with this malarkey 3 times a year. Not easy having bonsai folk two days solid at our home, they are a likable bunch, mostly 😉 but I always look forward to Monday night and putting my feet up.

A big thank you to Peter Snart who has now completed year 3 of the school with us. I’m pretty sure that most members of the club don’t quite realise the effort that’s involved in making the weekend work. Thank you Peter.

Here are some of snaps of out twos days.

Oct 4 2013

Video

Another one from PW’s workshop

Oct 2 2013

Video

Peter Warren Workshop Video – My Juniper

Sep 29 2013

Video

Peter Warren Workshop – Phil’s Juniper Video

Sep 22 2013

Weekend Rewind For Mario

I said back in part one that I would give Mario an update on his trees from the weekend, so here goes.

The main tree discussed and worked on was his Juniper. A big issue was the amount of juvenile foliage but I’m assured that’s not my fault. You’ll just have to wait for the video covering this from the Saturday workshop 🙂

This is his Shohin Japanese White Pine before the workshop

Not a lot of major work needed but Peter did some removal of branches here and there and worked though the bud selection for next year.

This might be a slightly better front.

Gives you an idea of what was coming off.

Just for reference this was it back in July 2011.

The satsuki also got a tidy up with a slight trim. Not much required after the major pruning back in June. Before and after below.

Also had a look at the black pine but I have no photos.

Sep 21 2013

Weekend Rewind Part 5

I suppose Monday isn’t technically the weekend, but Peter was still with me that morning and was kind enough to look at a few tree.

Sadly I was that intent on listening and learning I didn’t photograph everything but I did get a few.

This Hawthorn was discussed on the blog last year and Peter told me to wait until he was back over to get a look at it.

I laughed when I saw this photo as it makes Peter look a touch indecisive but I can assure you the opposite was true.

We played about with a few optioned on how much to shorten the branch by using cloth to cover up.

Checking for Chuhin 🙂

And about the only photo with me in it after a whole weekend! Peter lifted my camera for the snip.

After pruning unnecessary branches and shortening of the cascade.

A few other trees were looked at and talked through which I found very beneficial and then it was time to head for the airport. Thanks again Peter.

Sep 20 2013

Weekend Rewind Part 4

We had a few other trees knocking about at the workshop on Sunday, there for various reasons. It’s always good to take advantage of Peter’s eye for design and talk through a few options on a few trees. This large San Jose Juniper was there to be studied with a view to grafting Itoagawa foliage onto it in the future. An interesting discussion about the various options and technique involved.

Phil also brought along his Pine from the January Ryan Neil workshop for a few photos to show progression. Wire had to come off after only six months as it was biting in alot! Not bad for a tree that was sawed halfway through in two places. See here for the video.

A few more of Phil’s trees there for advice and work.

A change of front for Sharon’s Deshojo Maple.

A small alternation on Sharon’s Korean Hornbeam.

Lastly I put the Peter to work on one of the most important tasks of the day. 🙂

Sep 19 2013

Weekend Rewind Part 3

Sunday saw the start of the last group workshop, this time at a little less frantic pace with only 4 taking part by design. Stephen was still wiring, I think he spent the night in the garage after finishing his Indian 😉

As usual we started with a talk through of the main trees. I was going to be working on a root over rock Itoagawa Juniper. Sharon was joining us for the day and was also working with a Chinese Juniper and Phil was back with his one from Saturday and another shohin one too. Peter therefore spent some time talking through Juniper care.

A rare sighting of Stephen not wiring, needless to say he was doing his next favourite thing, drinking coffee.

Sharon happy at her work.

Phil’s finished Juniper

He then moved on to the shohin one. Again Peter and him couldn’t agree on how many branches to remove.

Is that Stephen still wiring??!! 🙂

This is my Juniper from the workshop. We had an interesting discussion about design option for this tree. Should it flow over the rock or could it be tilted to go the other way. Here you can see what we opted for. The branch to the left will need to fill out and be a little longer. The apex was an issue as there isn’t a lot there to work with at the moment. We also had to work without removing too much foliage to ensure continued strong growth next year.

Before

Some roots were removed to try and emphasize the fact that the tree is on the rock and not beside it. The root crossing over was reduced by half by removing wood from the back. This will allow the tree to get used to reduced sap flow from that root and I will hopefully be able to remove it at the next repot.

Some of the deadwood was reduced as it was hiding the flow of the live vein. A large branch has also been removed from the front of the tree to show the strong movement.

Drum roll please, Stephen has finished wiring!

Phil demonstrating what wire Stephen was using in his own special way.

The Scottie before tweaking by Peter

and after

The proud daddy

Showing you Stephen’s wiring.

That’s enough for one post, I’ll share a few extra bits from the Sunday workshop tomorrow.

Sep 19 2013

Weekend Rewind Part 2

Saturday saw the first of two weekend workshops with Peter Warren. We started off with the traditional talk through of one tree from each workshop participant. Phil’s Itoagawa Juniper was one of the first to be discussed and here you see Peter removing a front branch to allow us to see the quality of the trunk on this tree.

These are a few of the trees being worked on.

Everybody into action. Once the wiring started you could almost hear the little brain wheels turning 🙂

Come on Ben look interested!!!

Phil having a hoke

Stephen wiring, a common theme for the whole weekend, he might actually still be out in my garage now wiring away 🙂

Stan in is usual spot at the back bench working on a San Jose Juniper.

Valerie working on her cascade Pine.

Ben B in action, and please note Stephen wiring in the background.

I got to work on some of Mario’s trees with Peter, a remote workshop between Dubai and Belfast! This is his little Itoagawa Juniper after wiring and at a new angle. More for Mario on his trees later in the week.

Peter dispensed a lot of wisdom regarding Junipers over the weekend, both scale foliage and needle foliage varieties. That is what workshops should really be about, gaining the knowledge to improve the trees over the next few years, not over working them in a workshop to achieve a nice photo at the end.

Phil’s Juniper at the end of day one but still to be further worked on during the Sunday workshop.

Valerie’s Pine now in need of a new smaller pot. Calling Mr Snart!!

Ben B’s Juniper, another pot on the horizon.

Stan’s Juniper, note foliage not over pinched or pruned for the health of the tree. Pruning this back now will slow the development of the tree and take twice as long. Problem branches removed and the rest placed, shari also extended.

The heavy bottom branch was split slightly from the truck to achieve the proper angle.

Ben F’s Squamata Juniper. This one was an eye opener for me as regards Peter’s approach. I have often seen these gutted and fine wired in a workshop to create an image, but we all know just how many branches can die after this and foliage that stops growing and goes brown within the year due to over pinching. Peter set the basic branch structure on this one but left far more foliage than I thought would be the case. He said that the foliage on this variety is far from ideal in is habit and a different approach is needed compared to a Chinese Juniper. As the young branches harden off in their new set position then further pruning can take place. This method will result in a quicker finished image but still have decent branch structure underneath. A lot of carving now required young Ben 🙂

Ben B also got some direction on his Scots Pine to give him some homework to carry out before our next garage night. Get wiring that man 🙂

Phil under instruction

Stephen was still wiring 😉

Oh, and Peter has a new best friend, my Maggie.

That was the Saturday, all that was left was some wine and Cider to drink and an Indian meal with good company.

Sep 16 2013

Fly Away Peter…

That’s Mr Warren away back home, and me back to work 😦

A great weekend of bonsai and lots of learning moments for me and I’m sure a lot of others in the club. I hope to get time over the next few days to share some of the photos and hopefully get a few videos put together for next week.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Peter for his investment in raising our level here in Northern Ireland. His experience in Japan really does bring a different perspective to Bonsai in the UK. I look forward to having him back here again next year, and fingers crossed, maybe for something a little different.