Getting Together between Hail Storms

If last weeks’ get together was on one of the hottest days of the year then yesterdays’ must be one of the coldest we’ve experienced, with hailstones the size of peas pounding our heads and our trees throughout the afternoon.

Having said that; between the showers there was some pleasant sunshine and we did manage to get some productive work done on Gerry’s trees. Most of the day was spent evaluating Gerry’s pre-bonsai stock Trees like the larch you see in the next picture, which were acquired a few years ago with the intention of growing them on to produce shohin trees.

We decided that many of the branches coming off the short trunk on this tree were a little thick for shohin, so this and a few others were cut back quite hard in the hope that they will send out a lot of finer branches by the end of this year.

I was taken by this little crab apple which is coming into flower at the moment. It has only been a month since it was re-potted.

Same tree 1 month ago after re-pot

Here are some pictures of the trees on Gerry’s benches. Most of these were put back in the poly-tunnel by late afternoon to protect them from the storms.

 

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Broom Style Kiyohime Maple

This broom style shohin kiyohime maple in a green pot by Heian Kosen is looking good at the moment. It was re-potted in the spring of last year just before a late cold spell, which set it back and caused the loss of a couple of branches. I’m pleased to say it’s recovering well and last years losses will not be noticed by the end of this season.

Big Larch (Update)

The large larch that I chopped back last year and re-styled over the winter is showing promise with its new spring growth. The post that covers the chop and re-styling can be found here.

This is a reminder how it looked at the beginning of the current work.

Get Together in the Sun

I had my friend Gerry in the garden today for our regular bonsai get together. It was the hottest day of the year so far and with the trees growing like wildfire there was plenty of maintenance needed.

This is Gerry’s shohin juniper rigida,  a very vigorous little tree, which was needing to be trimmed back into shape.

This is how it looked before todays’ work.

And this is how it looked after the work. We will probably re-plant this into a small round pot in the next week or 2.

This Chinese juniper also needed a trim

Thinned out to allow light into the interior. We are only at the start of the growing season here and this tree will put on a lot more growth before its over. It will need to be thinned again and fully re-wired towards the end of the season.

I even manage to wire a few of my own trees in the late afternoon.

This white pine was wired to open up the foliage a little.

This potentilla stump, collected from a friends garden and started as a bonsai last year, was wired for the first time today. Still a long way to go with this one but terrific potential in there.

All in all, a great day in great company with great weather too.

Shohin Yew (Update)

I’ve had this twisted old shohin yew for 2 years and it hasn’t put on any new growth in that time until now.

In the first year I had it, it didn’t look healthy at all and I was concerned about the condition of the original soil and the effect that might be having on the roots. At re-potting time in April of last year I noticed that the original soil was badly decomposed and and there was only live roots in the lower half of the original clay pot. I removed as much of the old soil as possible and replanted the tree in a coarse mix of akadama and kiryu in a slightly oversized rectangular pot by Zenigo. Throughout last year it was slow to respond but this year, I’m pleased to say, it is pushing out new buds all over the place.

I will let it grow throughout the spring and summer and give it its first major styling later in the year. Here are some pictures showing both sides of the tree, I haven’t decided which side will be the front, at the moment, hopefuly, that will become apparent when the tree gets its’ first styling.l

For comparison, this is how it looked 2 years ago.

Working on Air Layers

I have spent some time this week working on trees that were either air layered in the recent years or required to be air layered to improve he trunk line or the nebari.

I have had mixed success with this procedure in the past. Most of my failures were due to poor technique, a lack of experience or my own impatience. I have decided that this year I will attempt  a lot of air layers to improve my technique and increase my knowledge and experience on a wider range of species.

This little hawthorn, which didn’t have many roots when it was separated last year is looking very strong at the moment. Planting it deep in a clay training pot appears to have paid off with lots of new top growth. I will leave it in this pot for another year and take a look at the roots again next year. The post covering the separation can be viewed here .

The first to get my attention this year is this Japanese larch. When I was styling this tree over the winter, it struck me that the top could make a nice semi-cascade if the straight lower trunk could be removed. Larch are reputed to be difficult to air layer but not impossible. This is good material to experiment with. If I do nothing to this tree, it will probably never make a good bonsai but success with the air layer could improve its’ potential immensely.

In the next picture a ring of bark has been removed at the point where I would like the new roots to grow.

In the next picture, the wound is covered by a thick layer of sphagnum moss, which is held in place with bubble wrap and aluminium wire.

The next one to receive my attention was this little cotoneaster. It has similar problems to the larch. The lower trunk is very straight and has no taper. Air layering this tree could provide me with 2 better pieces of material to work on in the future.

And finally, for today, I thought I would give you an update on an air layer started last year and separated from the old rootstock today. It’s an Acer Shirasawanum Aurem. This is how it looked in the late summer of last year. It went into autumn colour very early and it was suggested that this might be related to the fact that it had air layering work done on it earlier in the year.

It had produced roots by last autumn but I decided to wait until this spring before separating it.

This is how the new roots are looking at the moment.

It was sawn off just below the new rootball and tied into a deep pot without further disturbance of the roots. The rootball was covered in a loose mix of clay particles, ezo grit and akadama.

I gave it a good watering and it will be kept in a shaded corner of the greenhouse until it’s in full leaf.

 

 

More Spring Growth on My Shohin Trees

Here are some photographs of a few more of my shohin trees, which are looking good at the moment with the new spring growth.

Deshojo Maple in a yellow Shibakatsu pot

Kiyohime Maple in a pot by Heian Kosen

Cotoneaster in a red pot by Eimei

Some Shohin Trees in Spring

Here are some recent pictures of the new spring growth in some of my shohin bonsai

2 hawthorns that were re-potted  a few weeks ago

This one was re-potted last year.

My shishigashira maple, always a joy at this time of year

This chojubai was severely root pruned in the 2 previous years yet it has started to flower earlier than ever this year

My buxus sempervirens grown from a cutting taken 14 years ago

Shohin larch in training for 2 years

And finally, a sneak peak at my improvised set up for taking these pictures in natural daylight between heavy showers.

Larches Coming to Life Again

My 3 chuhin larches, which were wired and re-styled at Christmas time, have re-awakened after their long winter slumber and are beginning to fill the greenhouse with the vibrant greens of spring. I prefer to keep them inside at this time as frosts can damage the soft new needles.

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 03/04/2016

It was a busy day yesterday at Wattston Bonsai for the April meeting of the Lanarkshire Bonsai Club. The weather was kind, which meant that a good number of members attended to catch up on the news, work on their trees and stock up on supplies for the new season. Here are some pictures from the day.

Maurice, the club’s representative at the Scottish Bonsai Association, getting ready for an announcement.

Totally focussed on their trees

Dougie advising Gavin on the styling of a Juniper with Murray looking on.

Stuart decided to work his hinoki outside in the afternoon sun

A few of the members trees

Stuart’s prunus kojo no mai in full bloom

Ian’s chuhin scots pine

A few new arrivals on the Dougie’s sales benches.

shohin white pine

Large cone shaped yama momiji with great future potential

Lovely large itoigawa juniper with amazing character

Nice multi trunked maple