Yes. That’s a hole.
Tag: bonsai
Bonsai adjacent
I have a friend who is a potter and I have been the recipient of several gifts from her. She made 3 bonsai pots for me and had given me a small, rectangular decorative pot that used the same glaze even before that. I have been keeping moss in the little pot.
There is even a name for my pot of moss in the bonsai world. It is “shitakusa.” Shitakusa are little accent plants that are displayed along side bonsai.
Another side item is “suiseki.” These are stones that are particularly interesting. I’m pretty sure that’s where Terry Pratchett got the idea for the bonsai mountains tended to by Lu Tze, the History Monk. The National Arboretum in Washington, DC has a lovely display of suiseki in their bonsai exhibition. I do not have any suiseki.
The wisteria died
It put out some green and, then, just quit. I kind of think that what did grow was using food supplies that were still in the stem that I cut. And, once that got used up, it was all over. It didn’t put out any new roots.
Everything else is doing well.
Myrtle blooms
If I got the parent plant from a nursery, but this is a shoot, does that make it semi-yamadori?
I haven’t worked the trunks yet, aside from a little chop to keep it from being ridiculously top heavy, letting it get over the transplanting. But, the bloom makes feel pretty good about it.
The nursery stock it came from is ‘Tuscarora’.
#4
I was wandering around, yesterday, and spotted a ‘Pink Storm’ quince with some great trunk action. I’m looking forward to working on it.
So far, so good
I have been worried about the cedar. The aluminum wire from Michael’s that I used to wire it into the post wasn’t sturdy enough to hold it in firmly when there was a severe windstorm last Fall. But, I was afraid to mess with it much because the roots had already been cut and replanted twice. I was concerned that the roots were too traumatized to tolerate me fiddling with them, then.
It hasn’t looked particularly healthy this winter. I just kept hoping it wasn’t dead and losing its green very slowly. And trying to remember what it looked like in previous winters.
After the workshop in February and some continuous warm days, I decided to get in there and see what was going on. There were healthy roots. (Yay!)
So, I hacked them. I trimmed them up. I worked on the taproot with my new knob cutter so I could seat it better. And I wired it in with copper wire I had picked up from Lowe’s. It was the smallest gauge they had at 10mm, iirc, and still a little bigger than I would have liked. It was hard to bend it. But, that tree isn’t going anywhere unless the whole pot does.
It does have a little bit of a lean. I expect I’ll address that with wire, later.
I noticed that it has developed cedar rust, too. Fortunately, Chuck already has some organic fungicide and I’m going to get it tended to tomorrow.
The Japanese maples are leafing out nicely.
And the juniper is doing beautifully. I’ll give it another month before I look at it for shaping.
Making a forest
Saturday, I took a day off from work to go the the Bonsai Learning Center in Mooresville, NC to do a workshop that would help me create a Sharp’s Japanese Maple Forest. (The guys doing the workshop prefer the word “forest” to “grove.” I think that when it’s only 3 trees, “grove” is more accurate.
As you do, we denuded the roots and cut them back, using the nob cutter to keep the large outer roots as intact as possible while flattening the bottom. I feels really scary to cut out that much of the big roots. But, they all have good secondary roots and good feeder roots.
I used a plastic pot so we were able to simply drill the necessary holes for my tie downs. A couple of my classmates wanted to start with nicer pots so theirs needed extra work. Brad and Brian used different stuff but, ultimately, had the same idea.
They recommend aluminum wiring for the branches and say to make sure to rewrap gently as they start growing. If the bark grows into the wire, it will cause scars that will never grow over. So, rewiring may need to be done 2 or 3 times in a growing season. I can use copper wire to anchor them without any problem.
There is a layer of grated sphagnum moss on top of the bonsai medium to help keep everything moist.
Pinching back the branches will help keep them from getting too long and leggy. I just need to keep an eye on them to remove the growth tips when they start to leaf out.
They need to be maintained for a couple of years as they grow a nice root mat with the roots of all 3 trees intertwined. Then, I can lift them all up in a piece for maintenance. And to move them into a more attractive pot.
Cedar in a pot
I can’t get a decent picture outside because NC is too green right now. And the bonsai guy at Campbell’s Greenhouses in Charlotte fussed at me a little for working my tree when it isn’t dormant yet.
But, I already started and it had to be finished.
The 10″ pot I got in Asheville was too small. I let the cedar get bigger than that pot could handle. So, since I was going to be in Charlotte, I went shopping there for a larger size. This one is 18″.
I will wait until Spring to do anything with the branches. Probably Spring of 2020 to give it some time to get over the most recent abuse.
I’m thinking that I’ll use the 10″ pot for the established maple in January and collect maple seedlings in potting soil next year to combine with it in a couple of years.
Cedar and a grove
I’ve decided I want a grove. Well. I always knew I love them. I’ve simply decided that I might not kill them since the juniper is doing well.
I got a 10″ pot, thinking I would put the grove in it.
But, I believe I need to grow those trees a little. We get a ridiculous number of maple sprouts every Spring. And, if I will go ahead and start the cedar in the new pot, I can collect maples in that large pot to get them ready for the grove.
The maple I’ve been cultivating has gotten to be a nice size for a good primary tree.
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
I bought 0-10-10 fertilizer from Home Depot. Happily for me, they will let you order and pay online and then ship it to your local store for pick up. No charge for shipping. And my fertilizer was MUCH less costly that way. A quart was $13 from Amazon and $6 from Home Depot. Worse, the bonsai guys were selling 8 ounces for $9.75. I’m glad I waited to get it.
I made a gallon, today and will start feeding the roots of my little tree tomorrow.
Also, I pinched out the top of the maple I have in a pot. It’s about 2 feet tall and absolutely straight. I hope that will inspire it to make some side branches. If it kills it, I have lost nothing and learned something.
The cedar looks healthy. I intend to leave it in its pot on the deck all winter. It did well there last year.
The juniper and maple will be set down into mulch on the south side of the house the week before Thanksgiving.
I am the Audience 