New pot for the juniper

I’m a little bit of a dingbat and I forgot to take a picture of the roots after I trimmed them.

It does have a nice healthy root ball. Mostly, I just rimmed the edges.

And I put it in the remaining pot of the trio Patti made for me.

A contrarian bonsai technique in ten pics — Adam’s Art and Bonsai Blog

I’ve been following this guy for a while. Reblogging to be able to find the post easily again when I need it.

I’ve posted something like this before, I think on Facebook, but I’m working on a clients tree and I figured I’ll share it to the blog, for posterity or something magnanimous sounding like that. Pic one:A nice pot, well made, good shape and glaze. Pic two: Attention was even given to the interior for good […]

via A contrarian bonsai technique in ten pics — Adam’s Art and Bonsai Blog

I have new pots

My friend Patti is a potter.  She made me some pots.  I suggested that she open an Etsy store.  She said she would think about it.  She wouldn’t be interested in taking commissions.  But, she thinks she would be willing to let people choose their glaze.

(Mouse over the picture for measurements.)

She didn’t realize that the small holes were for anchoring wires. Future pots will have more of them.

Offspring has requested that a eucalyptus go in one.  They don’t want to be responsible for it.  They just want to know it’s in my yard and care.

I have been thinking a crepe myrtle will go in one.

I don’t know about the third.  Maybe a quince.

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.

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.

Pots

I’m still reading.

I almost bought a Mugo Pine from the sale table at a garden center this Fall, but I figure they will be available again later this year and I’m just not sure what I want, yet. I do have the Eastern Red Cedar from my yard in the pot on my deck. Since it’s only a year old, I expect it will be a while before I actually do anything besides let it get some girth.

My friend Patti has taken up pottery in her retirement and she offered to make me a pot, or possibly potS, for my little trees.  I wasn’t finding an easy answer to “how big?” and asked on /Bonsai.  I was directed to http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATChoosing%20the%20Right%20Pot%20for%20your%20Bonsai.htm and found:

The general rule of thumb is that the pots depth should be equal to the diameter of the trunk just above soil level.
For oval or rectangular pots, the length of the pot should be 2/3 the height of the tree.
For round pots, the diameter of the pot should be 1/3 the height of the tree.
For trees with especially wide canopies a wider pot can be necessary and this can be compensated by using a slightly shallower pot.
As equally, a tree with a very thick trunk (in comparison with the height of the tree) may suit a slightly deeper but narrower pot.

It’s a start.