Bonsai! (Anyone else into torturing small trees?)

viv1969 said:
Chris, each one of those large leaves has 2 tiny leaf buds behind it....I just daren't do it! :LOL:
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Slash and burn Ruth, slash and burn :thumbs:
(Just mind the buds pull the leaf stem downwards gently, it'll come off easy enough :) )
 
Perhaps I should give it few days to settle in first? :nailbiting::nailbiting:
 
viv1969 said:
Perhaps I should give it few days to settle in first? :nailbiting::nailbiting:
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Actually if you have just re-potted them and been buggering about with the roots,
in all honesty, I'd leave them alone to grow wild for a season.
But if you want to try it, find a (one) "sacrificial" leaf and just strip that :)
 
Well who knew there was a secret tree torture society right here on TP?!?! :nailbiting:

...and no, I don't, though have considered it many times but I KNOW I would kill them fairly quickly!! We have bloody Ash saplings everywhere again though, maybe I should butcher one of those
 
Yv said:
Well who knew there was a secret tree torture society right here on TP?!?! :nailbiting:

...and no, I don't, though have considered it many times but I KNOW I would kill them fairly quickly!! We have bloody Ash saplings everywhere again though, maybe I should butcher one of those
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Oh hey Yvonne....My Lily still lives!!!
 
Cobra said:
Actually if you have just re-potted them and been buggering about with the roots,
in all honesty, I'd leave them alone to grow wild for a season.
But if you want to try it, find a (one) "sacrificial" leaf and just strip that :)
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hmmmmmm maybe :lol:
 
Yv said:
Well who knew there was a secret tree torture society right here on TP?!?! :nailbiting:
...and no, I don't, though have considered it many times but I KNOW I would kill them fairly quickly!! We have bloody Ash saplings everywhere again though, maybe I should butcher one of those
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Save me a couple next time I drop by please :)
In fact I'll dig 'em myself :thumbs:
 
Oooooh can I have an ash sprog too?? Puuuuurdy please?
 
viv1969 said:
Oh hey Yvonne....My Lily still lives!!!
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YAY!! :banana: well done you!

Cobra said:
Save me a couple next time I drop by please :)
In fact I'll dig 'em myself (y)
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Gardeners coming on tuesday to do a BIG tidy up [god I feel so posh saying I have gardener, but the poor garden needs more than my slash & burn techniques to help it this time] however if he does get rid of them all, don't worry, there will be more by the time you are next here, we spend the entire year fighting them back. Usually a few oaks too if you want some of those.

Btw, the threads are talking again!

View attachment 12827
 
Tell him to leave the most established ones,
or you'll set your pet snake on to him :D

And LOL at the threads are talking :D
 
viv1969 said:
Perhaps I should give it few days to settle in first? :nailbiting::nailbiting:
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I would never be in too much of a hurry to plant the tree in a small pot. I would plant the tree in the garden in open ground for at least two or three years to thicken the stem and be aiming to plant into a 'training' pot when the stem is thick enough.

It does take a bit of time (it soon goes!), but you will end up with sturdier/better trees that you will have been able to exercise more control over their styling when they are in the ground and you lessen the risk of drought whilst they become established.

By choosing hardy trees the only real danger in the winter is any water in the pot freezing and crushing the roots, otherwise hardy trees will live outside all year.
 
Cartus said:
I would never be in too much of a hurry to plant the tree in a small pot. I would plant the tree in the garden in open ground for at least two or three years to thicken the stem and be aiming to plant into a 'training' pot when the stem is thick enough.

It does take a bit of time (it soon goes!), but you will end up with sturdier/better trees that you will have been able to exercise more control over their styling when they are in the ground and you lessen the risk of drought whilst they become established.
By choosing hardy trees the only real danger in the winter is any water in the pot freezing and crushing the roots, otherwise hardy trees will live outside all year.
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Actually they are all excellent points :thumbs:
 
Thanks Tim. All good points. :-)
It's been years since I've Bonsai'd, but I'm hoping I do ok this time around too.
Believe it or not, both of those little 'uns have spent the last 2 years (almost) in the ground.
I think (I hope!), they'll do ok. :-)
 
Apart from the size of the leaves on the green one, those are really nice Ruth. I love the almost "calligraphic" style of them. And they should only improve with age.
 
Thank you Rob :-)
 
Good raw material for trees can be found supplied as hedging in Oct/November time, Beech and Larch can be bought bare root very cheaply and make great subjects for Bonsai. Years ago I had loads of trees but found they were so demanding in the summer needing watering daily, going away was difficult and I eventually drifted away from Bonsai (a bit like photography really) but have kept a Japanese Larch and a Scots Pine going.

Seeing Cobra's post has made me realise how much I miss my little trees!
 
Yv said:
@Cobra the cotoneaster, we have some large healthy specimens of those too. I think you might have to come and 'garden' here before we decide to move somewhere else :LOL:
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LOL I think I have all the cotoneasters I can eat.
(well that is if the air layering goes according to plan :))
But'll certainly come and have a rummage ;)
 
I might go for a walk in the woods today....see if I can find some beech and oak seedlings.
 
So another day, more subjects to torture
I bought these potential bonsai's from Ebay a couple of days ago.
(Acer Palmatum)
Scrawny looking kids aint they?
but at 10 for a fiver it had to be done :D
They will grow or else !

View attachment 13103

As for the established Maple,
The leave stripping certainly perked it up!
Its growing well despite the air-layering.

View attachment 13104

Once the air layed sibling has been liberated
(hopefully the cling film will soon be full of roots)
I'll then cut the parent about there,
and start work on that.

View attachment 13105
 
Cobra said:
So another day, more subjects to torture
I bought these potential bonsai's from Ebay a couple of days ago.
(Acer Palmatum)
Scrawny looking kids aint they?
but at 10 for a fiver it had to be done :D
They will grow or else !
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They say talking to plants makes them grow....................................but in your case I would keep quiet
else you scare them to death :(
 
Gremlin said:

They say talking to plants makes them grow....................................but in your case I would keep quiet
else you scare them to death :(
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They have their orders, they WILL GROW
or die trying, this isn't a holiday camp you know
 
Cobra said:
They have their orders, they WILL GROW
or die trying, this isn't a holiday camp you know
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Well now you've given them the orders just water them and shut up, poor things don't want to be listening to your prattle when the need their rest
to grow :p
 
I still can't believe you're going to butcher that lovely maple Chris! :eek:
 
viv1969 said:
I still can't believe you're going to butcher that lovely maple Chris! :eek:
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What do you mean going to? :D
Its too tall, it needs cutting back ;)
 
Cobra said:
What do you mean going to? :D
Its too tall, it needs cutting back ;)
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It just needs a bonsai pot and training you heathen lol
 
Well if it all goes according to plan I will have 2 instead of 1 to plant out :)
 
4 weeks on, and time to check the kids.
And TBH it was as expected, slightly disappointing.
After something I read, I suspected that I may not have actually cut deep enough into the "wood" with the airlayer,
so, 4 weeks on, I decided to take a peak...
b****r all :(
In fact the the Cambium and bark had started to re-grow (as suspected above)


IMG_4685 by Cobra on Talk Photography

I should have cut into the sap wood, below the "dark lines" are where I needed to be.


IMG_4687 by Cobra on Talk Photography

So, with my trusty Leatherman multi-tool (other Multi tools are availabel :D)
I started to pare away, yet again.


IMG_4686 by Cobra on Talk Photography

Once again, I applied a "Hardwood" rooting hormone,
and this time I mixed the Spagnum moss with a
root boosting potting compound.


IMG_4688 by Cobra on Talk Photography

Also in Image one there appears to be a few fungal spores devolping.
I guess this is all down to the stupid amount of rain that we have had recently,
penetrating the clingfilm and cable ties.
This time I used far more clingfilm and sealed the ends with tape.
Hopefully that'll keep the water out.
And I'll just water as and when with a syringe.
Sits back, makes note in diary to check in another 4 weeks.


IMG_4689 by Cobra on Talk Photography.

While I was at it, the Maple that I airlayed a week ago, I re-did that one too.

I then turned my attention to a "laylandii" that I dug up recently as it was growing in the wrong place.
Not quite sure what to do with it I shoved it in a pot.
The couple of weeks that its been in the pot, it has grown far better, than the last several months in the ground.
Go Figure.

Guess what I did ? yep that got the air layer treatment too.

This one I tried something different.
I used the neck of a coke bottle (Other High sugar drinks are available :D),
cut into the soft wood and made a collar, which I packed with root boosting compost,
after painting on the hormone again.
Leaving a small drain hole at he bottom, and covering with gravel at the top, in an effort, to stop that from becoming water logged.


IMG_4690 by Cobra on Talk Photography

Here's the "collar" half way up the tree.
The reason for the collar is, so that the other trees would point and laugh.
This should encourage it to grow (root) quickly to save any more embarrassment
than is absolutely necessary.


IMG_4690a by Cobra on Talk Photography

And finally the lower half, brought in to bondage,
Just a few minor tweaks for now.
I'll leave it in peace to hopefully root, at the top (you can just see the red tape)


IMG_4690b by Cobra on Talk Photography
 
Well I guess looking at some of the examples posted I guess we do have a bonsai of sorts in the garden...but it's currently hiding half in the edge....do the eight miniature fruit trees we've just put in count :lol: none should grow over 3ft :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I don't see why not Matt,
Some bonsai's I've seen are 4 feet tall.
(Not that I personally would call them bonsai's though.
 
Well a few weeks back we took delivery of 8 miniature fruit trees to go in some of the pots on the patio, they're coming on really well :D

Though to be honest when I think of true bonsai I think of stuff like the

Dwarf_Japanese_Juniper,_1975-2007.jpg


But I know decades of work goes into that kind of specimen

Edit: Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonsai
 
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Pretty impressive Huh? :)
But I agree, that's the stuff that true bonsai's are made of.
 
Got to say Chris, your efforts would be better then mine if I tired, I kill most plants, so buying wouldn't work either
but it might for you ;)
 
That looks like a bristlecone pine.
It's beautiful.
 
By the way Chris, the backup leaves on my cherry haven't kicked in yet. :bat:
 
Gremlin said:
Got to say Chris, your efforts would be better then mine if I tired, I kill most plants, so buying wouldn't work either
but it might for you ;)
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LOL Buying is cheating :D
I'd rather torture them into shape :D

True specimens are bloody expensive anyway :)
 
viv1969 said:
By the way Chris, the backup leaves on my cherry haven't kicked in yet. :bat:
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It takes awhile give it a chance,
you should see small long shoots growing from the "base"
of the old ones.
They'll develop into leaves.
If they don't it means you left it too late :D
 
Small elongated shoots are there....just not doing much :(
 
viv1969 said:
Small elongated shoots are there....just not doing much :(
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All of a sudden they'll burst into life trust me I'm a Doctor :D
 
Cobra said:
LOL Buying is cheating :D
I'd rather torture them into shape :D

True specimens are bloody expensive anyway :)
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Bet I could still kill them ;):D
 
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