Tuesday, June 30, 2009

spruce refined and happy

I start to be happy with this one too. It is getting ready to be exhibited now.

European spruce, Picea abies, 70 cm high. around 100 years old, pot Chinese, collected in Austria in 1995

The second image is a virtual. I my want to go back and try to accomplish this on the real thing.


one more literati Scots pine refined

Now I start to be really happy about this one.

Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, 100 cm high. around 100 years old, collected in Sweden in 2001, pot by Derek Aspinall








Monday, June 29, 2009

ezo spruce # 1

Ezos spurce, Picea jezoensis, about 100 years old, collected in japan a long time ago, 60 cm high, pot by Ian Bailly.
first and second image: May 2005, David did the first styling
third image: July 2007
rest: June 2006

The new growth was cut back with scissors, the crown edited slightly. Now this tree looks very mature. The wire will go off after four (!) years and then we will see whether the branches behave or not. if not, we will have to wire again. This one should be show-ready soon though.

Again many possible forts. Pick your favorite.










Scots pine refurbished

Thsi one does not even have a number. It is under 'offers' meaning for sale or trade.

Scots pine # 5

Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, collected in Austria in 2002, around 100 years old, 100 cm high.

firts image: April 2007
second image: October 2007
third image: July 2008
fourth image: Junly 2008
rest: June 2009

By now the pine looks much more mature. The sacrifice branch which was kept s insurance was cut off and jinned. The old needles were plucked, the crown slightly edited. This will be very good in a couple of years. The wire will have to go off in a couple of weeks. It starts to bite in.

A naturalistic bonsai must have many good fronts. A bunjin is a certain type of naturalistic style anyway and also must have many good sides. Pick your front.














Sunday, June 28, 2009

results of feeding regime on mugo and Scots pine

This is a branch h of a mugo pine. This tree went through my aggressive feeding and watering regime throughout last year and developed many back buds. When the new buds have opened I cut the tip of the branch to develop strong growth close to the trunk. This process will be repeated for a few years.



In April I got a new Scots pine which was collected in Scandinavia tree years ago. It was planted into a plastic container and then more or less left alone since then. The tree was not watered too often and it seems it was never fed. This is outstanding material but it has to be quite healthy before styling can commence. Otherwise the tree will drop many branches and possibly stop to cooperate altogether.
So I realized that the substrate was fine but I had to water and feed aggressively. i fe several times with lots of nitrogen. And the results after only eight weeks are staggering.

This is how the whole tree looked six weeks ago. This is the typical growth pattern of trees in wilderness which are starving and in addition don't get too much water. This is good for developing good bonsai material over decades. But when the tree is going to become a bonsai you want a very healthy and vigorous tree before you start styling.




Here one can clearly see how much more healthy the new growth is than last year's. The bud had male flowers. I just let them grow. Now in addition to the terminal bud it grows additional buds right at the start of the new growth.




After the first bud for next year appears eh tree finds that things are going very well for him and brings out a second bud next to it. There will be up to ten new buds at the end of summer. This is the kind of problem one whats to have. I will then have to remove a few.



This is another Scots pine which I have since many years. Cones are a sure sign that the tree feels very healthy.

larch develpopment

Larches bring new growth in about beginning of April in my region. Then after two weeks they will have the long shoots on many places. These I cut off four weeks later at the top and leave them at the bottom to strengthen the lower region of the tree. If the tree is very healthy (with my feeding and watering the are!) it will have a second flush of long shoots by end of June. This I leave on for three weeks or so and then cut it at the top and leave it at the bottom again. Then, at about the beginning of September or much later I will cut back everything. Only then will my larches look good again. But this is how they are developed well.


bonsai fruit in June

European hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna



Austrian black pine, Pinus nigra austriaca




Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris


Sloe, black thorn, Prunus spinosa



Wild cherry, Prunus spec.



Wild honeysuckle, Lonicea xylostemum




Field maple, Acer campestre