Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Japanese Cherry: Winter Carving!
This old Japanese Cherry belongs to an old friend who had to relocate to the West Coast for work, so I am the designated 'bonsai nanny'.
The tree had previously had some carving done, and several major branches removed. I decided to clean all this up, and get some preservative on it.
Deciduous look better when the carving results in holes, partly-hollowed trunks, etc. Jins sticking out do not look as good on deciduous as on coniferous, and they will not last nearly as long in the weather.
Spent about 6 hours getting rid of the lobbed-off limb on the upper left, and the gray partly-carved main branch at top center of the tree. The resulting hollowed areas will be left to over-winter, and some more preservative will be applied in the spring of 2K11.
Additional work is also needed on the branches. A structure is started, but it will take perhaps 5-7 years to build it out to a foliage mass that is appropriate for this beautiful tree.
That foliage mass will also support wonderful flowers in the spring!
Flex
Deciduous look better when the carving results in holes, partly-hollowed trunks, etc. Jins sticking out do not look as good on deciduous as on coniferous, and they will not last nearly as long in the weather.
Spent about 6 hours getting rid of the lobbed-off limb on the upper left, and the gray partly-carved main branch at top center of the tree. The resulting hollowed areas will be left to over-winter, and some more preservative will be applied in the spring of 2K11.
That foliage mass will also support wonderful flowers in the spring!
Flex
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
About Time
Sorry it took me so long to publish photos from the party. I got swamped with some other things and then I was debating on if I should get people's permission. Anyway,
here we go, Photos from a great party. Thank you again Karen and Mike. I think a very nice time was had by all.
here we go, Photos from a great party. Thank you again Karen and Mike. I think a very nice time was had by all.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Walter Pall at Natures Way
Walter Pall was back at Jim Doyles' Dec. 3-4-5. Several BSSJ folks took advantage and joined in the workshop. Walter discussed all trees brought by attendees, and made some very good recommendations for styling, carving, potting, etc.
Jim Doyle is an expert on Maples, and discussed several "killer" Maples he has been growing.
Here he is sharing comments on this old Rocky Mountain Juniper.
This Rocky Mountain Juniper was collected several years ago, and has been growing nicely at Natures Way. Walter discussed how the foliage could be made more compact, so the beautiful deadwood would be more visible.
Walter discussed removal of scraggly branches on this wonderfully twisted Ponderosa Pine.this one is well over 800 years, and you can see the beautiful twisting deadwood & live vein.
Walter was in middle of explaining one point when one of Jim's dogs wandered into the area. One workshop attendee had a pastry, laying on the bench behind his back, while he listened to Walter. The dog spied the goodie, and you can see the result.
Walter almost burst out laughing, and we who saw it howled!
We worked on this old Spruce, collected up in the Rockies. It is well over 1000 years old, and is loaded with beautiful deadwood.
Walter was in middle of explaining one point when one of Jim's dogs wandered into the area. One workshop attendee had a pastry, laying on the bench behind his back, while he listened to Walter. The dog spied the goodie, and you can see the result.
Walter almost burst out laughing, and we who saw it howled!
We worked on this old Spruce, collected up in the Rockies. It is well over 1000 years old, and is loaded with beautiful deadwood.Walter will be back in Spring 2K11. I have received a number of valuable bits of information from Walter, which have improved my understanding of bonsai, and of my trees.
I highly recommend attendance at Walter's workshops. He is a wealth of knowledge!
Flex
Friday, November 19, 2010
November Meeting
Sorry for the delay. We had an excellent November Meeting at Clover Garden Center on Nov. 10th. Doc Stone brought a beautiful Korean Hornbeam with spectaular fall foliage color which I did not get a good photo of...better luck next year.
The key to the meeting was Flex Houvig's very thorough presentation about winter care for bonsai. Flex gave a very professional presentation covering just about all of the aspects of caring for your trees in winter and I don't think he missed a point. Great questions and answers afterwards too. Here are the photos I took of the presentation.
See you at the Holiday Party folks!!!
Monday, November 1, 2010
New Yew
Thought I would post these photos of a Yew (Taxus) I am working on. I bought it 5 years ago for $10.00 and planted it in my backyard and dug it out this Sept. Just beginning to cut away all of the foliage and clean up. Starting Saturday, I will wire. It won't be repotted until Spring 2012
Thursday, October 21, 2010
October 13th Meeting
Here are some photos we took at the last meeting, Wednesday, October 13th. Alec gave an excellent presentation on Moss and its affects on bonsai, its pluses and minuses, etc. This was a very informative and amusing presentation.
I've also included some of the trees which were on display at our first, informal show. Photos were taken with the painting background and we have to do a better job but here they are. All in all, not bad. But we can make them all better.
I've also included some of the trees which were on display at our first, informal show. Photos were taken with the painting background and we have to do a better job but here they are. All in all, not bad. But we can make them all better.
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