Ulmus parvifolia development

In june 2013 I aquired this chinese elm at the international Bonsai- and Kusamono exhibition. It was the first prepared raw bonsai material I have bought. 

The tree had several long, untapered shoots which, from today's perspective, I should have cut back hard after the aquirement. However, I let it establish at its new home and let it grow freely for the rest of the season,

after I bought the tree in the summer of 2013

summer 2013

The first major "stylings" were done in the early spring of 2014. I decided to cut all but one branch that emerged at the top of the tree to form an apex. The branches that emerged at the trunk were also cut back. The tree was allowed to grow for the whole season except some cutback of the branches to improve ramification. 

The top could grow unchecked to significantly thicken the transition from the main trunk to the leader and close the wounds that emerged after I cut back a few branches at the top.

Even though I was quite please with the looks of the tree then, I would have cut back the branches stronger as they appeared untapered and too long. Also the potting position would have to be changed.

summer 2014

summer 2014

This year, I finally repotted the tree and planted it into a much more fitting position. The nebari turned out to be quite ok with only a slight inverse taper at one side of the tree. I was a bit conservative with the root cutback as this was my first repotting of the tree and it was my first major aquirement. 

A new leader at the top was selected and is allowed to grow unchecked this season. I cut back several branches harder in the spring to create a better taper.

The main goal will be the creation of a nice and believable transition in the trunkline at the top, but the branches will also be allowed to grow strong to promote considerable thickening and also create character in the trunk.

July 2015

The ultimate Yamadori digging tool

I think everyone who does yamadori or dug up a tree in a garden has broken at least one folding shovel or even spade in the process. Almost all of the commercially available products are cheap, weak and just not reliable.

Thankfully, last year I discovered the "special forces shovel" made by Cold Steel and aquired one after a bit of research. As many reviews confirm, this shovel IS extremely tough and versatile at the same time. This 50 cm long, 750 g light tool can be thrown, used to hack (e.g. through roots), to defend and to dig. The spade blade comes super sharp and can easily be resharpened if needed. A sheat is also available and considered useful. The hardwood handle makes this digging spade very robust. It is hardly likely to break even when massive force is applied when lifting a tree. It fits nicely into larger backpacks and accompanied with a good pair of garden pruners, a folding saw and possibly a mason's hammer and crowbar in rocky terrain, these are all the tools you need to dig most trees up to medium size.

Accent plant: Sagina subulata

Last weekend I planted this irish moss that i got from a garden center into a Takahama pot that was standing around without use for over a year. The white flowers will hopefully create a nice image together with the dark, earthy colors of the accent pot.

Accent plant: Fern

Recently, I bought this accent pot from carlos hebeisen- takahama at arcobonsai and planted a fern into it.

New aquirement: Prunus Mahaleb

Last weekend i bought this Prunus Mahaleb at Arcobonsai from Laos Garden. I will let the tree grow unchecked for now and cut back the shoots to somewhat 2-3 leaves in a few weeks time. The big Jin has to be refined and the big cut at the right stem has to be worked on as well.

The tree as offered on the webpage of Laos Garden

This pictures have to be 1-3 years old and taken before its first major styling

how the tree looks now

Random pots

In this post i want to show most of my bonsai pots that i bought or created myself. I started with bonsai pottery in the winter of last year and will continue to get better in this craft with every new bonsai pot or accent pot.

one of my first pots created under professional guidance

I was happy how the glaze turned out; however, I should have glazed the rim too

nice accent pot from carlos hebeisen - takahama

oval pot from Isabelia bonsai museum

 

interesting glaze and could look nice when a suitable plant sits inside

rectangle pot by josef mairhofer; will be planted with a hawthorn this spring

I tried to replicate the accent pot shown above by myself and think I succeeded

on this pot I tried to create texture with the help of some chicken wire

I added a rim and punctured holes with a drill bit in this one, which turned out quite nice

the bottom of the above pot; i prefer to add plenty of drainage holes as well as small holes for wire

this is my potter signature in close detail

Accent plant: Sempervivum

Since the weather is really nice at the moment, i created this nice accent. I planted some hen and chicks into this wood-fired pot from Isabelia, which i bought last year in Arco.

DIY Bonsai tool box

Recently I made a box which holds my most used tools. It is based on a case that was laying around for quite some time. I glued in two pieces of foam from the hardware store with the hot-melt gun, then cut and ripped out parts of the foam according to the size of the tools. The finish was achieved with black spray paint.

Prunus Mume

I bought this prunus mume in may 2014 at arcobonsai. In the summer of that year, the tree did not show vigorous growth; however, the full bloom at the moment is stunning.

After the bloom, the mume will be cut back hard to 1-2 leave buds, because branches with only flower buds are likely to die off. The tree will then be repotted.

Pomegranate seedling development

Last year I started to grow some Punica granatum from seed. The germination rate was, as expected, very high. They were transplanted after about 2 months and then allowed to grow free. Some of them were transplanted again at the end of summer (picture 1), others stayed in their pots (picture 2).

This spring, all Pomegranates will be repotted and cut back.

Cotoneaster graveyard yamadori

In the late spring of 2013 this neglected Cotoneaster horizontalis was taken from a graveyard. Because it had been growing there for decades, it could only be dugged out with a massive loss of roots.

However, as Cotoneaster is known to be quite robust, it recovered well; large dead parts were removed last year.

This spring it will be transplanted to its training pot and the long, straight stems reduced significantly. Updates will follow...