Bodhisattva Bonsai

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. :)

Spring is coming - Work to do

2011-01-30T21:26:00.001-05:00

After the incredible winter we have had with 3 snow events (1 was the biggest in some 16 years), and very cold stretches where we didn't break freezing for many days straight - I was inwardly very happy with my decision to winterize my trees more properly this year. So far everything looks to be surviving really well. (Lessons learned) I placed all my potted deciduous and many of my evergreen/conifer plants under cover. A few conifers were left out that were in large garden pots or deep potted cascades - they fare better in the cold in pots, but still care should be given if it is in a shallow pot or a small specimen (shohin) sized bonsai. Just had a small stretch of really warm weather over the weekend, so decided to make use of it (spring is coming, even if it gets cold again it won't be long now).

No pictures to share yet but a good bit of work was done this weekend and over the past few weeks/days 'inside' as well. I don't plan to do this for too many years - but I have in my mind the idea that I'm going to create 'crops' of different species for my play years down the road, by starting many different species of trees each year from seed or cutting. A decade or more - isn't too hard to fathom to wait when you're in your 30's. To think that in my 40's I will have so many different tree species to play with - is exciting and also a huge part of my 'learning' the art of bonsai care and growing. It's not so far fetched to dream of and plan for; I'm still 'young' (especially in the bonsai community - no jab intended), and am really at the age that patience 'is' becoming a virtue I can appreciate. I will share pictures later this season, but last year I began a crop of lace-leaf trident maple and japanese maple (mostly bloodgood) trees, and a few tulip poplar, and sweet gum maple (2 local varieties). Everything is looking really good; about 100 trident maple saplings, 30 jap maple saplings, numerous sweetgum and tulip poplar yearlings that I transplanted from the back yard and beyond - not grown from seed. In a few weeks I will 'turn the crop' and space the year-lings out better ( a few will move to pots, to 'stunk' them somewhat and prepare for a forest setting I have in mind). I've made use of additional space on the side of the house and have 'rotated' some of my larger privet and azalea pre-bonsai that are still growing in the ground to allow space for more 'seedlings' that will go in this year in the back. I filtered a few privets out (the 'eye' is getting better to zone in on good material). I see the privet still as my 'testbed' to work on forms, and how to care for a specific species all at once. I do have some interesting privet trees coming, so we'll see how it goes. What I learn from the privet now will translate into all the less hardy but 'normal' species used for bonsai that I'm working on growing 'crops' of now. The privet yamadori I am working on really do have promise - I don't think anyone has seen privet quite like this before as bonsai (I think they only 'grow' like this in the hot south - more like trees then bushes which is their general 'form' when found used as hedges, etc). Pictures coming this spring of a few - and of alot of other projects that have had minor updates the past few weeks.

Quite a lot of species this year I'm beginning from seeds. Hoping my lessons learned last year paid off this year. I have more trident maple (excited about this after the success of last year), and japanese maple coming, crepe myrtle, coton-easter, crabapple, cleveland pear, cherry, mugo pine, japanese pine, dawn redwood, sequoia, spruce, japanese white birch, english elm... Yes alot of stuff.. Will see what I have the best of luck with, and will focus on these for the next few years worth of 'new' crops. Will probably start new crops like this into my early 40's, then focus totally on all the material I will have in the ground all over my back yard and in pots, from that point on. My hope is to grow enough different material now, to work on for the rest of my life and to trade for things I 'don't' have later on that I decide I want to add to my collection. The upside to this; I will 'know' intimately what I'm working on, it's habits, it's history since birth (hah). The downside - unless I do well in my growing techniques, I will not have as much 'weatherized' trees, but more 'clean' trees. (Believe me I plan to cut to stumps, all these beautiful maples I am looking at now). That's a hard one to explain unless you already do bonsai - that gets into 'styles' and 'forms', things left to people better at it than me to explain. (Walter Pall has for years and is currently extending his thoughts on how cultures effect styling of bonsai - and how time/generations also effects these styles, amid culture effected trees as well. (Or maybe that's just my take on what he thinks, from what I've read and seen recorded recently during Noelanders).

That's the plan, anyway. Bonsai until I'm in my grave, or blind, or nuts from dementia - but bonsai till whatever end awaits me. :)

See you in a few more weeks - beginning of March the trees will begin to be 'photogenic'.

Warren Hill workshop - and my project tree

2010-10-24T09:57:00.001-04:00

Well the day finally came and went - looking forward to the next workshop. I attended Warren Hill's bonsai workshop at Plant City Bonsai last Saturday the 16th. Truly a learning event for an amateur as myself - being my first ever bonsai event - I feel spoiled! Great bunch of students/bonsai artists were on hand attending and also many assistants helping Mr. Hill during the session that are friends of or work with Steve Cratty (Plant City owner).

The sessions were held in Plant City's greenhouse, so it was plenty warm for an early crisp Fall morning. Here Warren Hill is talking to us about the art of Bonsai, answering questions, and then beginning a quick review of each person's project tree - helping give species types, care for each, potting soil and proper pot ideas for each individual and their tree.

Mr. Hill was a pleasure to listen to and learn from - I wish he'd had more time to speak about his Zen thoughts while working on Bonsai - it struck me that this plays greatly into his personal bonsai designs (mine as well) however that would be straying from the bonsai art itself - strictly speaking, so I understand why he seemed to cordon himself from going into that aspect deeper. I may have to plan a trip to south Tennessee and his bonsai studio/classrooms one day.. Check out Master Warren Hill's webpage yourself for more info about his origins, and bonsai works and classes he offers.

Here is one student's forest creation of Trident Maple's that essentially Master Hill wired in and created himself - in-between the 2 sessions held that day while lunch was being served by Steve and Sandi. This is going to be a keeper. There was a lot of work involved that Libby took care of - de-leafing, de-potting and root cleaning - not to mention finding a big enough pot to get it in (Steve had to un-pot one of his own bonsai to present this beautiful pot for the forest use!). This seemed to be the most powerful creation I saw that day.

So this is my project tree. I purchased it from Plant City back in July as a late birthday present to myself - and got to learn it's habits for a few months before the bonsai class. I cleaned it up some underneath and had it prepped for work. It is a very thick and nicely aged Juniper - procumbens nana. It's old enough that it has mostly old scaled growth, and not much 'immature' normal juniper needle growth on it. Beautiful material! It's not evident here, but this tree is easily 35+ years old already, with a girth the size of a modern plastic soda bottle through the main trunk.

This, is immediately after getting home from the class, and remembering to take another picture!! I should have had my camera out more but there was so much going on and I got so involved in working on my tree and getting input from Master Hill and the other bonsai assistants (thank you Dave!) that I hardly thought about photos.

Here it is currently, I'm going to put lime sulphur on the jins today and in a few days take another final 'Fall' photo of the tree. I absolutely love it, The tree has so much movement and grace, and this was it's first 'working' it had ever received really!

A few more photos from different sides.

There's still a lot to do with it - but for now after so much reduction, both branch and root, I thought this was a good stopping point. A bonsai is not created overnight, but rather it's a continual work in progress. Yes trees 'do' eventually reach their peak, where all you are doing is tending to removing new growth and maintaining, but that is many years away for me for this tree - or any that I own currently. I have alot of 'fun time' ahead of me in Bonsai.

Next photos I take will have better pictures of the pot it is in, and some way of showing it's girth/over all size a bit better.

Good find - now what?

2010-10-07T09:27:00.000-04:00

Found a species and a bush that I don't normally see here in the southeast, but I see and hear about all the time from West Coast bonsai'ers. San Jose Juniper! Take a look at what I started with and also where I am now - not sure where to take it from here (either way, alot of bigger branches will need to be bent). I'm thinking I may take this to the Warren Hill bonsai class I'm attending later this month at Plant City Bonsai - to see what sort of ideas others could give me.

So you can see what I started with - pretty healthy tree - what you can't see until you move some branches, is the very nice trunk that it has.

Lots of possibilities to my eye - It needed a trimming bad, but I left enough branches for selection down the road. Any insight from other bonsai artists would be appreciated. There are alot of techniques I will need to use on this tree to get it where I'd like it that I really need to practice first before I apply to this one. (Raffa/wire bending of big branches, and some Jin carving here and there). Really excited about this considering the age/girth/price I paid for the material.

Would love to hear your ideas about where to take it at this point.

My Shohin Boxwood

2010-09-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

Beautiful material from Plant City Bonsai that I picked up recently. It's very small compared to what I normally play with, but I'm rather pleased with the instant 'bonsai' appeal this has created.

As you can see with it sitting in the palm of my hand, roots and all after removing from it's starter pot - tiny!

I also picked this little pot up at Plant City, by a local artist I will have to track down her name. I really admire her mame pots, I will be purchasing more of them my next visit for sure. Here it is from one possible 'front' view.

And here from another 'front' view. From this direction it gives the impression of a much wider base, I think this is it. I will let the tree get settled into the pot and recover from it's root trim, and probably let winter go by and spring begin before I start really working on it. I want to keep it right at the height it's at, but just reduce and ramify the branch structure a bit more, and try to layer it to have more of a 'cloud' effect, not round but 'puffs' of leaf pads here and there.

2 Angels and 1 little tree

2010-09-05T09:25:00.000-04:00

With all new toys or gadgets, comes some testing and breaking in. From a 2mp original iPhone camera to a 8mp htc incredible camera - I think my blog pics are going to look a 'little' better. I can even make movies to throw on Youtube and link to.

Isabelle (4 1/2), Maggie (6 1/2), little Japanese Boxwood in the center. (If I don't add the halves, they get upset!) My little Angels! My wife and I are very blessed - owed a karmic debt; what have you, they are the brightest little spirits in the world to me.

Which makes for a more interesting front view? Currently in my mind it's the left photo - what do you think?

More cheesing girl photos. :)

Have a safe Labor Day weekend everyone!

Cascade Juniper #2

2010-08-15T16:06:00.001-04:00

I've had this strong juniper bush since last year- began to work on reducing it then stopped abruptly early in the year. Well I came back to it a few weeks ago, here are the pictures.

Beginning point

Really decent nursery tree, actually. You could hardly see the black pot when I first bought it, what you see now is what I left on the tree, with about 6 months of fall, winter, and spring growth plumped back on.

Now time for some fun styling!

(Yes, better photo settings are in mind next time; white sheets, better lighting - this was all I could quickly put underneath the tree to allow it to stretch while I wired!) This took a few hours of non-stop clipping, pinching, and wiring.

The top, now has direction and a few options. the far back branch will eventually be reduced, letting it grow wild a bit to thicken the main branch out some.

Most, of the cascading branch.

The bottom portion of the cascading branch.

This was a fun and truly rewarding learning experience. My 2nd cascade tree; time to let it grow back, begin pinching and begin ramification of the pads. Continue to work the top, and thicken some of the top lower branches.

Cascade Juniper #1 revisited

2010-08-15T15:48:00.000-04:00

Here is the earliest photo I can find that shows the tree already somewhat styled, and in it's first (and current) pot. This is a really nice, solid North Korean clay pot that I found while on one of our yearly vacations at The Outer Banks in North Carolina.

As you can see - not much direction yet. To me though at the time it was great - my first cascade wiring at that.

Here it was before I styled it further:

Now it's just an overgrown juniper in a pot! Time to get to work..

Now, it looks like a tree with some potential..

Now it has a real cascading branch, albeit small - it's evident now.

Also has a real apex started, and a jin of a previously large branch that was just going nowhere. It's yellow as I just applied the lime sulphur, I was anxious to get a photo and didn't even wait for it to dry and start to turn white.