Posts

Shohin_Pyracantha coccinea

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This is the smaller sister of the  scarlet firethorn presented with the flowers posted here earlier this year.  I have tried to remove all the blossoms/fruits on this one - obviously overlooking few of them... Due to the fact that the population of blackbirds was heavily decimated by the infection outbreak last year and the hordes of magpies are still keeping it very small there is much more fruit on trees left untouched.   It still needs some work on the crown and surfce roots but slowly we are getting there.

Flowering quice_Harvest time?

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I do like the flowering qunice as a plant.  Very decorative bush to add something special to small gardens.  Easygoing  species decorated with beautiful flowers and nicely smelling  fruit. But that is not all, the fruits are  great to make a homemade jams... So not a big surprise we have a number of these plants sprinkled all over the garden.   And three of them  as a prebonsai.  John Silver is the largest of them now showing a single fruit off. Nicely smelling I should say. Any time I pass it in the morning I stop there and get a deep breath... You may find an earlier post related to this tree   here  The sacrifice branch at the bottom should stay there for another year or two to get more flare at the bottom.  The surface roots are still covered by the layer of soil and will be revealed during next repotting.  The terminal branch should follow the same time schedule. More or less.  Need to improve the transition between old and new wood... Just for the fun to have th

Betula verrucosa_Slanting birch_fertilising tubes

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I have been using  pieces of tubes to distribute  solid ferts ( biogold etc ) for a number of years.  It works better for me than the teabags.  Why?   Most of the time the teabags were far to dry to allow the fertiliser to dissolve properly ( to be fair - my climate and my way of watering - soaking in a tub ). Having some of my plants in an anorganic substrate I was thinking how to reduce the "contamination" of such substrates with remains of dissolved fert - a reason why the teabags are being used.   As a  matter of fact the solution was quite simple.   Well, one would need to invest some time&manual work to start with but once you have this done you can use it easily. And there is another great advantage.  I have started to use the 5 litre sprayer to get more fert to the plant if needed.  Just directing the flush of water to the inside of the tube.  It works, believe me... There is an article on the IBC about it. Just in case anybody is interested (see the link bel

Acer tataricum ssp ginnala_Ten years from the collection

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 Hard to believe that I have collected this tree in 2009.    Still trying to figure out what kind of pot should we use...   Looking at the color of leaves it definitely needs repoting in spring.    And I hope that the "invasion" of leaf-cutter bees will find another target.  But frankly I doubt it.  The small bee beast love it.  Maybe as much as I do.  Different reasons, though:)

Prunus spinosa_Curling_Autumn colours

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Blackthorns do not produce great autumn colours.  At least in my garden... But it seems this autumn could be a bit special.  For sure for this small one.  The blackthorn has been allowed to grow without any restriction this year - just to support the air layer.  I will keep the branches  as they are till there are any working leaves.  Then I will shorten them a bit somewhere around the beginning of Nov, I guess.  Ahh, nearly forgot about the long branch on the right side.   It was there just to help to improve the reverse taper.  The job has been done ( nearly ) but I feel like keeping it in place and adjust the rest of the tree accordingly. Height: 27 cm from the rim of the pot  (as  expected after the trimming ) Pot:  Training

Sabamiki_directing the growth of callus tissue to improve the appearance

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This was the damage done by a caterpillar to one of my birch.  The entire chunk of trunk has passed through the digestive tract of the beast .  The remains of the trunk looked a bit strange - too weak to hold the mass of foliage I have planned to build. August 2015 Luckily the birch was very keen to close this wound with a callus.  So I have decided to take an advantage of it and have tried to form an uro.   Using an adjusted piece of wood squeezed between both sides of  newly developed callus and fixed firmly to the trunk. October 2019 This is how it looks like from the front: And from the right side. Nearly 3 cm of new wood added forming nicely shaped Uro.   Surely not very often seen on a birch but very happy with it :)

Root stand_First try...

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A burl from birch,   a number of different tools, persistence.  And more than 20 hours of carving.  In early stages of my learning curve.  I hope the next one will be better.  Not sure about the time spent, though . With more elaborate curves... 49  x  24  x  4 cm 19,3  x  9,5  x  1,6''