Bodhisattva Bonsai

Old Juniper gets a major styling

2013-09-15T19:43:00.001-04:00

This Juniper is closing in on 40 years old, and has gone through a great deal of changes since it came into my hands as pre-bonsai material about 4 years ago. Found a great deal of deadwood on the tree to turn into Jin and Shari work this go-around. Cleaned it up; some more work to be done on it but this is it for the weekend. Will soon pay more attention to the pads and also to cleaning the trunk up a little better.

How it started; quite leggy and have not given it the attention it needs to piching..

Found a healthy live vein runing down the back, allowing for the exposure of some great deadwood down the front and worked it into the existing Jins.

Close up, still some carving to do and cleanup, nice living vein down the left here.

Parked the tree for now Fired the deadwood some, and a good deal of wiring and pinching all over.

Tropical Bonsai of 6+ years still doesn't have a species!

2013-06-19T22:39:00.000-04:00

This is literally the 2nd pre-bonsai material I ever bought back in 08, back when the passion was flying and the knowledge was.... Yah.. :)

I didn't even realize quite at the time that I'd picked out a tropical species. It almost didn't make it's first winter as I debated bringing it inside or not.. Finally I did and it happily survived, now getting routine escapes inside from October to March.

The species.. Well I have looked around and I think I've identified it once or twice, but never actually put a pic of it and the species in a blog post to help me remember.. Maybe now with Google+ someone can help me out in the community.. :)

I wired the branches this spring, and will be taking them off in Fall when it comes inside. will continue to wind the ranches down to give it this current 'drooping' effect. Normally, the branches all grow 'up' so this in itself is a bit of a test and possibly a strain on the tree. Will see how things go, my wife likes it at least.. :)

Smaller informal style Privet Bonsai - a bit dainty

2013-06-19T22:31:00.002-04:00

This little tree has nice movement to my eye, and will heal quickly the sore from the cut I made to give it that 'curve' motion. Another of my test subject privet bonsai that actually has some small potential.

These pics being almost 2 weeks old; I've had endless rain here the past 2 weeks, the growth showing now is about double what this pic shows. The tree is doing well in it's first pot after moving from a small 1/2 gal planter.

Another Privet Bonsai gets it's first pot

2013-06-19T22:25:00.002-04:00

I have used privet to test my bonsai knowledge over the years, and although not the best tree/bush for presentation, it has many attributes that make it a good species for learners; it grows like nuts (it's classified as a weed), roots like mad and puts out alot of growth for you to play with. Hardy, and springs bad furiously in springtime, usually holding a significant number of leaves through the winter. Best of all if you live in more humid areas, or namely the southeast US - it's likely in your back yard or along your fence line... :)

I'm working on alot of other species too, but my larger and more interesting privet are all up for pot moves right now, so they get some air time.. :)

Even though this is currently a 'side' I think this will become it's front next re-potting or pot change it has.

This is a pot that I made from one of my pot creation sessions a few years ago. I dig the crackle pops in the glaze that was used. (I have it around here somewhere)

Rose of Sharon Bonsai getting used to new pot

2013-06-19T22:15:00.003-04:00

This rhododendron 'Rose of Sharon' is pretty interesting.. They exhibit large lovely purple flowers in the late summer into fall. This one last season started to show flowers which I promptly clipped so as not to direct any energy into them. Recently moved into this as it's first bonsai pot from a 2 gallon planter pot, I've let it grow out a bit as it gets itself rooted and happy.

Next spring.. Time for a haircut, and I think next Summer/Fall a flower show if I do things right.

Looking a bit wild - but getting well rooted and stable for it's haircut next Spring.

Example of the leaves dwarfing due to living in a pot; the leaf I am holding is from another tree of the same species that grows outside my house as a decorative flowering bush (this tree started as a sapling that survived a mowing, and then caught my attention....) :D

This pot is another of my friend Aaron's creations. 3 legs that appear as tree trunks that wind around it with thick branches into the darker green of the rim as it's leaves.

Privet Bonsai loses a trunk, seems happier

2013-06-19T22:04:00.001-04:00

Finally back with a few things to share, I'll start with this Privet Bonsai that I've featured a few times over recent years as it's been a 'test' tree for many learning bonsai activities for me (learning how to transfer into a bonsai pot, pot fertilizing, carving and natural aging, wiring ) Now into the final stages of refining branches, and a final pot selection on the horizon (something a little more shallow to show off the nice trunk the tree has).

As you'll see if you just go back a few posts in my blog, this used to be a dual trunk tree. I literally came home one day to find the entire 2nd trunk with all withered leave in a days time. No suffering from lack of water or from too much - it just decided to go on it's way.. Well I cleaned it out and trimmed out the roots that had fed it. I could find nothing outstandingly wrong (no bugs, no dry roots and no old clays as I'd bare-rooted this tree long ago..). Sometimes.. Nature happens and that is ok and part of what we celebrate with Bonsai. :)

So here are a few pictures of it now. The trunk hollow is a bit bright as I did just apply lime to help protect the wood some and help give it that aged look. 2-3 weeks in the elements and it will look much more naturally blended.

Bit more trimming of the upper branches, and will pull things down a bit more next season. A few guy wires are already in place.

The back where the other trunk was - carved away and left for now. I plan to drill into it and connect this end with the main trunk opening to allow for a view through, and to help with water drainage out of the hollow.

View up the hollow.

Trimming aggressive growth to fill out the back side, and laying the foundation for future ramification.

This neat brick pot was made one evening a few years ago (08 or 09) during a pot creation evening with my best friend Aaron. It's thick, and was made to resemble a aged brick wall where many bricks had fallen out of the cement holding them in. I call it my 'aggressive starter pot'. It will receive a new renter soon as this tree moves into something a little more shallow next springtime.

Still here - Holiday update

2012-12-22T00:54:00.001-05:00

As many of my fellow friends of the bonsai hobby (lifestyle for those of us with too much material!) know; sometimes there are spans of times where a lot is happening and there are endless things to share.. Then there are times where your trees are taking a bit of a rest; growing out, getting healthy, getting thicker, healing from pot transfers - and the likes.

This spring promises to be a neck reddening time for me. I have so much material ready for re-potting, so many things ready to go from planters into their first bonsai pot; so many things to transplant from the ground that I've been nursing from seed for the past 3-4 years - into their first planter pots.

It's going to be passion re-ignition all over again. :)

Happy Holidays to everyone; travel safe, hug your families tight, and I'll see you in a few months!

Jason

Privet Bonsai Spring Maintenance

2011-05-14T22:09:00.000-04:00

Haven't had much time to work on bonsai, however this Privet deserved a visit from the scissors. Going to clean up alot of the free growth, and partially defoliate to reduce leaf size to spur further back-branching and ramification of the crown/apex.

Before work begins, looking a bit wild.

Trimming and defoliation complete.

View of the hollow I'm working on over time to carve into the main trunk.

San Jose juniper bonsai - big steps forward

2011-04-24T00:49:00.000-04:00

This is a San Jose Juniper; it's nursery stock tree that I've trained since last summer. This is her first major working since initial reduction and making a few branch decisions; it looks to be going the way of windswept, the branches all have natural movement from left to right. Difficult to find a path for this one, time will tell (alot of time!) if I'm going the right way or not.

The tree's initial history can be found here.

Here's where things are after a few hours work today.

As always, poor man's measuring stick (lighter). If you view the tree's history above first - you can see the large amount of new growth it's showing this spring.

Some carving to do at the bottom. I want to save the branch on the right and turn it into a large jin to resemble a 3rd trunk that has 'failed' in the tree's past.

There we go, a little Dremel action. The dremel is a new toy I got for Christmas, I have a few wood carving bits for it - enough for me to learn the basics then figure out what other bits or tools I may need.

Closer view. Not completely finished, but it's still 'damp'. I'd like nature to dry things out and do some of the weathering on her own. It's a good start for me, I think.

So.. Time to get some motion into these large branches. Time to bring things closer in!

A few hours later.

Little more of a turn to the left - I think I like this as the front a bit better. Will have to reduce the right trunk jin a little to accommodate the new front, since it crosses the trunk from this new angle. Time to let this tree rest until Fall, then do a little adjusting of wire; remove some add more, etc. Next season if all goes well I will continue working on the 'top' which right now is pretty vacant! Not too worried about moving this into a pot yet - not until I"m happy with the design, and get a decent apex on there and the pads a bit more appropriate for the size of the tree.

Tree Story: This tree's protective bigger sister succumbed to the strong howling winds of a cliff side where they both perch. Now with the winds hitting this tree directly through the crumbling remains of it's once protective neighbor, the branches bend, or break away in the tree's struggle not to join it's sibling.

Anyhow, that's the story and I'm sticking to it.. :)

Juniper Blaauw prebonsai material strikes a pose

2011-04-12T22:42:00.002-04:00

This little nursery tree has been with me approx 2 1/2 years, slowly getting worked here and there until I felt it was time to move into a 'training' pot that I specifically created for it some time back. It's a good 8-10 years from being presentable in any fashion however I like it's deadwood areas and trunk movement - again another 'training' tree for me of a juniper species, with deadwood to play with.. If the green survives and can pad out as I've wired, it could in the future be an interesting tree to view.

'The Log' training pot I made in 2009 for this tree. Things have come a long way on all fronts (pottery and bonsai skills, as well as application of said abilities, thank goodness).

Signed it and threw in a 'bonsai' in Japanese on the left. Plenty of drainage on this one all the way down the center.

Lots of new growth, the living veins on both sides of the deadwood are quite healthy. Species is 'Juniperus chinensis blaauw' sometimes called 'blue juniper' due to it's tint of blue, which becomes very obvious during the cold months,

The trunk looks rough, it will get cleaned up some soon. Poor tree is begging for some good soil (here it comes, 40% crushed lava rock, 40% fired clay particle, 20% sharp builder sand).

Reduced, repotted, deadwood cleaned up slightly just so I can identify it better (carving still to really be done). Still looking for the front.

Another angle before work begins. Hmmm.. Still not showing a good front - but I think I know where it is now after a few spins.

After thinning and wiring, I believe this is the front; with a slight turn to the right from here..

This will become the back. Now I'm starting to see 'someone' in this pose the tree is striking, can you guess who it is yet? :)

Close-up of the 'front', you can see the deadwood decently on the trunk here after a slight clean-up. Now that I have my front, I will carve into this side some to help with the taper and to blend better into the living veins, at the end of this season.

Had thought about going literati if I took the top off, it's still an option I suppose. Here's a view w/o the top to get an idea. I would bend the bottom right branch back 'up' some and get it slightly back above the main trunk chop line.

Another angle. Once the guy wired branch becomes stable, I will add a bit more movement in the bottom to follow the lines of the trunk. I sort of like this angle, gives the tree a sort of 'Travolta' pose going on.. :)

Another direction w/o the top if I went literati style down the road. Travolta w/o his left hand? Maybe I should keep the top and form it like this if nothing but for the discussion the pose could bring? :)

I think this is the front for now. A view if I left the top off and went literati.

Yep, time to set it aside in the shade for a month or so to allow the roots to take off, then out into full sun for the summer. I think this tree has earned it's name, 'Travolta' for sure take a look here to see the pose in action!

Privet enters into a new future as Bonsai

2011-04-10T21:27:00.000-04:00

This Privet soon-to-be-bonsai has been collected for about 14 months. Right after collection I moved it into my garden in the ground, with a large flat brick underneath the root ball. It's a single trunk, will be 'informal' style tree. The many privet I have collected, I use as training trees before I move into more common (and less hardy in comparison) trees. However some of the Privet - are pretty interesting in their own right (down the road more likely).

Here you can see it has a pretty decently flat root base as is. Time to bare root all this famous 'Georgia Red Clay' and good soil I used around the root ball when I first collected.

All clean, lots of good roots here. Time to reduce the root ball's height so it can fit into a pot snugly.

The pot. Training pot for sure, it will go into something smaller in the future. The soil. This mix is approx. 30% oil-dry (NAPA product, 100% fired earth), 20% coarse builder sand, 40% lava rock, and 10% organic sphagnum moss. (Need a little organic for Georgia's hot summers..)

Happily potted up, some wire through the drain holes to hold it in place. Time to take it inside and do a little more work.

I think this is the front that I will use for now.

Quite a trimming (generally safe for Privet, they grow like mad and I sealed all cuts well). Poor man's measuring stick (the lighter).

A pic from the rear, the nabari look decent from here as well. Could go either way, will see which side strikes best for the lead to a final apex.

Close-up of the nabari from the rear.

Close-up of the trunk/nabari from the current front.

From the ground up, it's 12 inches, 6.5 inches to the main trunk 'chop'. Approx 2.25 inches at base with 1.5 inches being main thickness of trunk to the 'chop' line.

Lots of fun with this project, I have many more privet to unearth in the near future. Maybe 1-2 more before this spring gets in full gear, many more next spring for certain.

Japanese Boxwood Bonsai gets needed springtime cleaning

2011-04-10T17:36:00.000-04:00

I've worked on this tree since purchasing as nursery stock almost 2 years ago. Pot created by my best friend Aaron, the legs are tree trunks that wind up into the top of the pot's rim.

A view before work begins. This little tree created lot of seeds over the fall/winter that I did not attend to and remove. It's time to pinch them all off and let the tree regain some vigor.

Here is a pile of the seeds I pinched off. Don't think I will let that happen this year, seems to really impact the tree's growth later in the season and it's awakening in springtime.

All the seeds are off, some leaves pinched here or there that were extremely large. This is a view from the tree's rear. However, it does have an appeal to me as possibly a new front view?

A view from the current front. What do you think, which view gives the best 'front' view??

Privet Double-Trunk Bonsai gets a little work

2011-04-10T17:27:00.001-04:00

Here is a Privet that I've been training into bonsai for about 2 years now since collection. A Privet with 2 trunks. I've hollowed out both trunks to give the impression of natural damage/age. Now it's time for some branch moving and a little pinching before full spring/summer growth kicks in.

Before work begins. Pot created by my best friend Aaron, the infamous 'brick' pot.

View of the larger trunk with some carving done. Fire applied to give appearance of natural causes and to 'age' the open deadwood. I use a paintbrush to blend in the ashes and brunt crust into the wood that I've then carved. This view shows a few branches that I'm going to move today.

A view from the rear, or, another possible 'front' view? Pinching done on most branches past 2 terminals. A few were left to grow to help thicken a few precise branches. Can see I've brought a few branches down on the left side now, and applied a little wire.

That's it for this go-around. In May this tree will get a heavy defoliation to reduce leaf size and aid ramification of this tree.

Tulip Poplar Bonsai Forest - Update

2011-04-02T16:43:00.000-04:00

Still need 3-5 more little saplings, almost there. This is sort of a test - Tulip Poplar generally don't make the best of bonsai due to the enormous leaf size. Not to mention the flowers once they mature which give the appearance of a tulip - hence the informal species name. However those can always be properly removed, the tree will still thrive and leaf yearly. They do reduce decently when potted however it's still a sizable leaf size, and would be hard to convince as a bonsai unless it was a very large specimen - or used in a forest setting! That's my idea - to make a Forest, and take advantage of a 'canopy' of the leaves and develop the lower branches with wiring to give them the effect of being a large forest of poplars.

Here are a few pics of the crop - all of these are survivors (except the 2 tiny ones) of the harsh winter here and are bursting with new buds. The 2 tiny ones I pulled up this year before the buds opened, these will be used on the edge of the forest and in the back to give depth.

A few things in the garden

2011-03-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

Just a few pictures from the garden - all pre-bonsai material and 'experimental' stages for me. I'm enjoying the learning process!

A row of mostly trident maples in 2gal pots - these all have a future in a large forest I'm planning for them. Further to the left is a American Elm, a large privet with a good nebari cut very low, and a 'rose of sharon' near the end. Near the bottom you can see plant markers - I'll show my seedling progress next week, but so far - doing really, really well. I planted numerous things - and am getting numerous results!

A close up of the left side of the left garden. Can see a few large privet trunks, a Maple forefront left, and still not sure quite what the heck it is in center but it's interesting, so I'm working on it until I can see the leaves better this year to identify.

This tree fooled me. I thought I'd brought home a really large Sweetgum Maple in the middle of winter, but this turns out to look like it's a paperbark birch instead. Which is exciting as it's doing really well, and is at the point where it should begin ex-foilating bark in the next few years! You can see numerous buds up and down on the wood - it's coming to life.

Right side of the garden, more 2gal pots with some Junipers far right, some jap maples center, and more tridents on the left. In the ground - are about 100 trident maples, a row of jap maples, a row of assorted local specimens (crepe myrtle, elm, birch), and some sweetgum maples far right. These, are my future trees to play with many years to come. Some will go into big 3-5gal pots, many will go into the ground in other places for 'wild' growth growing, and some will just be used as trees in the yard! (Tridents are beautiful, with

great colors in fall from yellow to orange to red!)

Azalea Yamadori coming to life

2011-03-19T13:29:00.000-04:00

Rather big Azalea that got reclassified as 'bonsai material' last year. I'm enjoying this tree and learning the patterns of Azaleas - if it keeps doing as well as it currently is, it might even turn into something decent one day, with some mindful attention to it's needs.

Needed a trim so I could review branches. Defoliation time, it won't be making flowers this year.

Left a few small leaves on however it's already budding all over and on old wood again this spring. Has some inverted taper in the base of the trunk, but that can be resolved with a little carving. Waiting to see where the vigor of the tree takes it, then I'll help it along. The exposed roots are just as it was originally in the ground - some are dead, some are alive. This will be part of the 'carving' process down the road.

Yamadori Success - Paperbark Birch

2011-03-13T18:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I took a stroll along the 'Little River' (Aptly named - except when it rains) that runs behind my home with my friend Aaron. We had in mind to walk along a trail that is maintained by the county beside the river because many trees are pushed over and left to fend for themselves when they clear the trail - which leaves many trees regrowing and recovering in unique shapes due to their shock survival of being run over!

We found a great example: a Paperbark Birch or 'Betula Papyrifera', of which there are many large specimens around the forests in this area of, but oddly not many that I've found growing while of this medium size or smaller, for bonsai really... This tree was literally 'run over' by county trucks that clear the trail, and shows deadwood and scarring down one side from this. Other then that, it also has nice movement in the Trunk, quite healthy after I checked the tree over - we decided it would come home with us.

Next time - I will take more pictures 'of' the tree excavation, I was short on battery at the time, but it was a long process. We came away with quite a good amount of feeder roots, as this tree had also grown in a sandy/rocky area along the riverbank/trail so I got 2 pluses for one out of this great tree.

Largest material I have at this time, great care will be given to maintain this tree and help it to grow used to container living.

Good girth with nice movement.

Can see the deadwood area from where it was run over and 'pushed' sideways on to the ground as we found it. Nice carving area later on.

Good shot of the ex-foliating bark, I helped it along a little to see if I could find any buds further back on old wood and...

I found quite a few, this one is even close to the deadwood area.

Many buds in this area near one of it's bends.

A few more on this side as well.

Quite a healthy tree, it will receive good nutrients and lots of them as I have it in 80% non-organic porous soil, with slight organic additive to stimulate fine, radial, root growth.

Windswept Juniper and Shohin Juniper get first working

2011-02-19T23:31:00.001-05:00

2 little specimens that I've had since last summer. Today was the right time to start on a few of the Junipers I am growing. I have a couple of other nice ones that will get some attention this week as well.

Here is where I started.

One possible front.

Another possible front. First time doing a windswept style, it will get a few branches moved around a bit more as I settle into which side is 'Front'.

Nice little shohin juniper with great movement up the trunk.

A few more branches to move around as well on this one; almost there.

Shohin Boxwood and another Shohin Privet

2011-02-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

1st off is the privet - again one of my 'training' trees, working it into a typical broom style. The 2nd is a tiny Boxwood that I started work on last year. Both get defoliated and some direction (boxwood with cutting, privet with wiring).

Should be a quick tree to form; from here forward it's reduction and ramification, and some work on making a nabari appear. This is another training pot I made in 2008.

Found a better front for it, cleaned up downward branches, and thinned it out so it can 'breathe' better. The pot is by Sage Smith. Really like her work I'll be picking up more of her pots soon.

1-2 more weeks and it will be re-potting time for most of my bonsai species. I'm almost out of deciduous trees to work on, time to move into the junipers. I want to get most of my bonsai's reduction and basic wiring done before the growth season kicks in strong, which will also be when I strip off any wire that I put on now.

A few shohin privet bonsai of mine

2011-02-17T22:38:00.000-05:00

Just some things I'm toying with, that have helped me learn a few techniques. Before and after shots.

Shohin Privet - future bunjin shohin? (Is there such a thing? Does there 'have' to be for it 'to be'?)

Another angle, still not sure where 'front' is. The pot was made by my best friend Aaron, and fired here at home.

Bonsai artist's cheap 'measuring tool' after defoliating and some wiring.

Nothing special, except for this one branch on the side.. :)

Flipped the 'front' around, just going to see what I can do with it from here. Pot is one of the first I fired for bonsai in late 2008 I believe. A bit deep, decent for training shohin though.

Again nothing but a training 'tree' for me, simple pot I made a few years ago. A bit deep, decent for training shohin.

This one I'm curious about, can't really see here but it's roots, or nabari - are really decent. (Really loose soil allowing for a great deal of radial root growth).

This was the fun tree. At it's base, it appears as if the tree began to fall from some past event in it's life but only went so far - and then lived from there on. It's up to me to figure out what else to do as it's not that great further up.

Close-up of the trunk. Need a bit better lighting to really see, it's really interesting as it leads into some deadwood in the crease.

First use of raffia - ran a wire down the back for a 'spine' then wrapped with raffia that I soaked for 30 minutes prior. Slapped on 2 more wires, gave it a few good bends. Will see where it leads and wire further after I'm assured it's going to survive the beating I gave it.

All of these will go into more shallow/smaller pots this year as the work into ramification rather than accelerated growth begins.

Spring is really here now, lows in the 40's and high's in the low 70's. At least for now things are really starting to wake up. Alot of work ahead of me this weekend as it's time to 'turn the crops'!

Privet Bonsai gets a haircut

2011-02-14T22:20:00.001-05:00

This year I will be paying closer attention to this tree, giving it 1-2 defoliations and much pinching of new growth; This is a double trunk privet; Privet grows like mad and now it's time to get into the delicate work of it before it gets out of hand as spring approaches. Both trunks will eventually be hollowed somewhat to allot for water runoff and to give the tree some extra character. working out where to place all the branches - and have given it the beginning of it's apex.

Not much wiring, albeit a few branches were redirected down that I'm deciding to keep and build upon.

Before work - made it through the winter well.

Defoliated, left just a few tiny leaves here and there.

Brought a few branches down, cut back the 'too many apexes' syndrome it was looking to have. Will leave it as is for now, next defoliation (in May likely) will result in a few more branches removed, and placement of remaining, in preparation of summer growth.

Who knows, it may go from 2 trunks to 1 eventually, the 2nd has no motion in the trunk, but this could change with some carving and hollowing as I"m planning to try out on this tree.

Privet is a hardy plant, great for beginners like me to tool with and get my techniques down pat on!

Cascade Juniper #2 Update

2011-02-13T22:02:00.001-05:00

This is my 2nd (and more successful) cascade styled juniper that I'm working on. a picture from last year, then a few updates before/after today's work. Shortened it some actually to put more motion into it. Plan to move it into it's first pot very soon as the weather continues to warm.

After last year's work in late mid August.

Today before work begins.

Wire off except for last bit that is giving the main branch a bend inwards. Rotated slightly to find it's new front.

Some pinching done, new bend at the bottom to give more depth and better motion.

Top a little more refined, direction to apex given for now.

Bottom given a little depth; firm direction for the rear to go.

It's time to breathe!

2011-02-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

Today, is the beginning of a weather trend here - finally spring is showing it's face. The extremely cold and unusually snowy winter appears to have spent itself, and spring is now coming a bit earlier. Temps are ranging from the low 60's F to high 30's F overnight. Buds are starting to show everywhere and burst in some instances - junipers are showing new growth eager for pinching.. It's time to come out of cover and see what lived with my new wintering techniques implemented.

I did well! Only lost 4 small pre-bonsai trees, and I realize why - not the best placing of trees undercover (they did not get enough water during the winter season). Other then this loss (nothing terrible at all) everything did extremely well and is showing it's health.

Here follows all my surviving items - all pre-bonsai, as I have nothing yet I would consider show worthy. You may see some of the potential and ideas I have for some of my trees, and the range of material I am playing with.

My big ole' 'precumbens nana' Juniper; you've seen plenty of him on my blog but here he is outside - a healthy survivor indeed.

My Japanese (Or English..) Boxwood, 2nd year in training.

Large double trunk Privet in another neat looking 'brick' styled pot by my best friend Aaron. Tree is doing very well; ready for de-leafing and a serious haircut.wiring.

Most everything out from cover, and on the table or in the sun again. Junipers on the left, deciduous on the right. (same on the ground as well in front).

A side table with my bigger items, left to right; Azalea, Privet in large clay in rear, 'rose of sharon' rhododendron species front center, smaller privet in long clay pot, and large trident maple rear right.

A larger nursery Juniper I am training for the distant future.

San Jose Juniper nursery material that I began work on last year. I finally have the idea in my mind for this tree; some serious branch bending, and will make it a windswept style.

Wild Cherry - it's mostly dead, but has strong suckers growing (you can see they are already as tall as the tree I brought back originally).. I've seen this done and shown on forums online; I plan to attempt to carve 'growth' channels and wind the living suckers up the dead stump, to take advantage of the really good looking bark and trunk that this tree had. If nothing else, I will learn some things from this tree.

The 'other' really large Azalea that I removed from my front yard last year and turned into hopeful bonsai material. This baby will give me some great air layers on both of the large branches left/right (Thick, aged bark that somewhat resembles pine, oddly).

And a few things not shown: pre-bonsai in the ground in a few areas, my 'tree farms' of trident maple, japanese maple and other things for the future.

Spring is here!

Juniper coming along

2011-02-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Slowly making changes through the winter to my Juniper I worked on last year at the Warren Hill bonsai session at Plant City Bonsai. I need to find a good (easy) art program to use to 'model' trees as I see some people doing. (This would be much better than me trying to learn to draw - Zero chance there, I confess.)

A few pics after the latest (and last major) branch removal, some minor wiring (deciding where to take the back branch before I begin detailed wiring, which it does need), and a guy wire here or there to position some branches where I'd like them to park for a while.

Then a close up of the Trunk, and a good view of the tree's rather nice character branches. They add to the flow/motion of the tree, and the one that moves to the back adds depth. Still work to do on the Jins, I'm still learning and looking up 'when' to do 'what' (or at least good guidelines). The health is the most important so it will be slow going on this one, maybe a rest throughout the next year to regain vigour after all the work it's had done the past few months.

I simply cannot wait for warmer weather, blooming, repotting.. Hands in the earth!

I'm in training

2011-02-05T15:35:00.001-05:00

Thank you to my wonderful wife for this thoughtful and excellent looking (on me) tee-shirt from this past Christmas.

'Bonsai Master in Training'

I wonder if the designer/printer modeled this after a real tree in someone's lucky collection, somewhere?

Good enough to replace the boring, serious looking picture of me on my profile. :)