Cape Cod Digging Update

I decided to put the trees I dug up last year in the ground at our new house. This gave me a chance to show the root growth in one year, though only for 2 out of the 3 trees from last years post. The third tree was fine but was frozen into the ground when we sold our old house this winter, so it didn’t make the trip. 

The Japanese maple grew pretty well in the colander and deceloped a nice root pad. I actually decided to experiment a bit and put it in a colander, and then in the ground so that it would grow unrestricted but also keep the roots contained a bit. We will see how it works out. 

   
   

These pitch pines were planted in pure perlite last year and did pretty well. Back in the ground they go to grow. 

   

All mulched in. I also planted my sorry looking procumbens from last falls bonsainut forum contest since it had so much die back. I hope to update in the future on these. 

 

    

Korean Hornbeam Wiring

I trimmed a few runners and wired my Korean hornbeam a couple of weeks ago. I plan on making a twin trunk style tree. The smaller trunk is already dynamic and built, but last year I took the top off of the taller trunk to to rebuild it. I wired but did not trim the branches on the trunk I am trying to build in order to try and have it gain some girth. 

As originally purchased. 

 

As it was this spring. 

  

Top-down view. 

  

 
After trimming, then adding just a couple of wires. 

   
  

   

 

I think it’s headed down the right path and I hope that the dominant trunk grows some girth this year. It will be too big to be a shohin but will still be a small, compact tree. 

Spring Pictures

I thought I’d share a few spring pictures of my trees. I’m actually down to only 8 trees if you can believe it. I’m taking the quality over quantity approach. I still have some tropicals but they are still in winter storage. 

First up, the Japanese maple arakawa that wakes up with a vengeance every year. It needs a haircut and a direction. 

 

This Japanese maple forest always looks good in spring. It needs some work to be less top heavy still, hoping to get to it soon. 

  

My RMJ also looks happy and healthy and I might work on it this year. 

  

The itoigawa needs another haircut and styling this spring as well. 

  

My silver berry flowered again. Even on its sacrifice first branch. Might look into air layering the top this spring. 

   

 

My Japanese maple Bloodgood looks ok but not as vigorous as my other maples again. 

  

The Korean hornbeam needs a trim and some wire. It’s coming along nicely and there will be another post soon. 

  

This Chickasaw plum ended up flowering this year but I didn’t see it. I plan to give it a directional prime this spring. 

   

 

And that’s it! I don’t plan on adding trees to the collection but focusing on the ones that I have. Stay tuned more posts to come! 

Trees are here!

I picked up my trees from winter storage at NE Bonsai this weekend. Spring has officially started!  All trees looked very happy and vigorous which means they were in good health during the last season. I will get some individual photos up soon.  

   

Pines from Seed-spring is here?

Well I took a couple of the smaller things outside this week since it seemed like spring was finally going to start. It ended up snowing, twice, but the trees were hardy enough. On a bright note, my pines from seed appear to be starting candles which to me signals that spring is most definitely near!  

   

Year in Review 2014 – Japanese Maple Forest

This is the tree (or trees) that I have owned the longest. They are a pretty vigorous group and need cutbacks a few times a year. The plan is to shift the trees at repot and put the smaller one in the back. The top of the large tree was thinned out this fall, and may need more cutback in the future. There are a few sacrifices growing at the bases of the trees that will be let go for probably two more years. I also plan on layering one of the trees and adding a fourth, smaller tree to the composition in the future.

As purchased, summer 2011:

Growing well this summer:

The last few photos show a before and after from fall 2014:

I’m pretty pleased with the progress over the last few years. I look forward to working on our “family” tree in the future.

Year in Review 2014 – Silverberry

I have had this tree for about a year and it seems to grow pretty well during the season. It sends a lot of growth straight up, so in the future I’ll have to keep up with the pruning. Not quite sure with the final direction for this tree but I think a layer or chop is due in the future. For now, learning the species and keeping it healthy is a key objective.

As purchased November 2013:

Flowers this spring:

Final picture for the year:

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,800 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Year in Review 2014 – Japanese Bloodgood Maple

I’ve had this tree for two seasons now and it really has never been that happy. I hope that it continues to grow vigor over the next few years because I think it can be a good tree. There is some damage at the bottom of the trunk and the plan is to layer it above the damage. I may try to get to that next spring.

Leafing out after purchase two springs ago:

That summer it really started to sulk. It dropped quite a few branches and now the work begins to rebuild the tree.

Before and after cutback and final pictures of the year:

Hopefully it will gain health next year because quite a bit of work is needed to make the image nice. Layering, chopping and growing all need to happen.

Year in Review 2014 – Chickasaw Plum

Here is a pre-bonsai I purchased over the past winter. It is a Chickasaw Plum that was collected in Florida. The species sports white flowers in early spring but I will probably not let it flower for quite a few years.

Tree last winter:

After potting up from being shipped this spring:

Growing vigorously this spring:

A touch of fall color:

And a couple of end of year photos. Before and after a trim:

I let some of the branches to unchecked this year as I build taper to the apex. I think the general layout for the tree is there but we will see how things progress over the next few years.