Czech Yamadori

Nearly missed to share a pic of my old friend Spidee.  She is a bit shy, not very fond of going public...  Isn't she lovely? Hornbeam_shohin Height: 17 cm Enough is enough...  Finally,  I have decided to tackle the anchoring tail (circled )  and to grow more surface roots.  But first I need to make sure that the current FRONT is still the most appropriate one.   The longer I look at it the more doubts are crossing my mind...

If you can manufacture with water, then you cannot loose...    This was  a learning that I have got from an old retail practitioner  who made most of his carrier and fortune during the so called socialist era of the country I live. Clearly I wasn't the only one to learn this wisdom.  Definitely not here in CZ.   Water, water and water.   We buy added water with fish, meat, processed food,  salads, bakery products and probably many more others.  Last spring I decided to build a portable smoking chamber to make a home made products I was familiar with as a kid who lived in a small village.  Home smoked hams ( meat from home fattened pigs,  smoked rabbits,  meat saussages... During the years I have lost the original taste of it. The only thing I have remembered was the happiness I have felt observing the preparatory work and tasting the finished products.  No worries that the freshly bought ham from a superstore...

The tree is slowly recovering from the problems in 2016.   Still it doesn't look the way that would  give my soul and mind peace.   I think that the best I can do here is just to place the pure beast in the sun in a place well hidden from my impatient fingers and leave it there for a season. At least. Spring 2017 Despite all my mismanagement the tree has flowered nicely.  At least on the remaining branches :( Winter 2017 I have pruned the new growth on the top in a hope to enforce some back budding in this area.  I hope the pure beast will cope with that... The threadgrafted branch started in 2016  has been left untouched. ( you can see it in the middle of the trunk )  It seems it is going to take nevertheless  I will leave it connected to the feeder for another season. Just to be sure.   The sacrifice branches on the bottom section of the trunk are still there to add some badly needed horsepower to the roots....

Cornelian cherries are one of the most attractive deciduous trees for bonsai.   Not easy in terms of development ( I should really take some deshi time at Maros's ) and they will always look a bit rough.   But in any other aspect they are just great.  At least for me.    ( Well, one should not take this too seriously. As my wood guru said: "If there is not the timber  I love,  then I love the one that is available here".  ) The wood of  Cornelian cherries is extremely hard. Dense and Hard.  Difficult to carve but very resistant to the rot.  It means the deadwood is a quite natural feature.   The flowers are quite special.  First the flower buds are formed into small but distinctive balls that makes this tree look through the rest of the season different from any other species in our region.    The buds are formed in the summer and they are really very keen to show their unpretending be...

How much dead wood is too much???   Well,  if I look on some specimen of Prunus mume I know there are no limits for that.   So lets go and see what the tree will look like in another 5 years from now.  I certainly hope for more visible progress... 😎 2017 Finally,  I have separated the stronger of the two threadgrafts.  The other one doesn't look like it is ready to go without the feeder.  Let see how it goes next season... CURRENT FRONT FRONT_OPTION LEFT RIGHT 2012

Typical Chaenomeles has a shrubby look and this is reflected in a vast majority of bonsai made from this plant.  As the life is not always straightforward,  there are exceptions from any rule.  No surprise there are as an exception also flowering quinces with trunks.  Sometimes the trunk is just made from a taproot that is gradually exposed to the life above the ground.   And this was the case with this plant.  2013 Driving on a highway,  I have spotted some red flowering shrubs on the sideways.   Flowering quinces scattered on the rocky earthwork surrounding the highway.  Roots squeezed between the rocks, no chance to collect without preparation.  I have selected one plant, removed rocks around the thick root and replace them with nice soil.   Then,  during the summer weeks I have stopped there now and then bringing some water.    Spring 2014 Collection.   First few rakes into the ...

I have made the first air layer attempt  in spring 2016.   Just a single growing season after the collection.   The result?  Well, not a complete failure. But something quite close to it. If interested to get more details, please visit the initial article  here .  Air layer 2016_result 2017   Attempt #2 Winter 2017 Result?  A bunch of new roots encircling the trunk.  So, this is much better.   I will keep the original roots in place till the next spring.    The main task for now is to protect all the new tender roots against the frost.  Very often there is a hard frost in January without any snowbed.  Too harsh for young seedlings or as I believe for young roots formed by the air layer.    In fact,  there is a lot of information HOW to make the air layer.  But not so much on the aftercare.  How to sustain/improve/prune  the newly formed roots to get a hea...

Yes, it is a Blackthorn.  Not a Yamadori in its true sense but  definitely one of  the biggest I have ever seen as a potensai.  Little John. I have been circling around this blackthorn for a number of years.  Perhaps more than 10?    In fact,  this was the first blackthorn of this size I have managed to find at a location suitable for collection.   Then I  found and collected another one of similar size,  but with better character.  So this one has stayed on the radar nevertheless I have not set any date for the collection.  The situation  changed some time ago.  Me stupid have "drowned" the poor beast.  Still feeling guilty.  Guilty and stupid.  I hate loosing trees... Collected 2016 Winter look_December 2017.  Minutes before my Makita, Dremel, pliers, chisels and saws came into action. First round of  carving finished.  I guess this is enough fo...

BURLS Birch Ash More details in the OFFER page

I have left the wood plates at the time when they were resting to get rid of the major part of its natural moisture.   ( the first part  here  ) Once the process is completed you can enter the stage of a real craft. Sanding Down from grit 80/100 to 220.  No jumps over the individual grit sizes to avoid scratches. Carving the groove Few blisters is the lesser cost of this work.   The chisels can do much more harm if they enter any soft tissue... Carving the edges... ...to get rid of some excess material and/or to fine tune parts of the outer sides... Staining or painting Once you have finished the carving of the edges you can paint them.  Also you can stain or paint the surface to enhance the structure of the wood. OK, that is for the craft part.  Now we need to change the hat to become a chemist. Penetration First of all I must highlight the fact that this part can get extremely nasty if  safety rules a...

I am moving more and more from Homo sociologicus  to Homo collecticus. Yamadori  to start with. But in recent months I have enlarged the radius of my objects of interests to pieces of deadwood and stones.   Sometimes quite heavy load for my back to carry. Addiction of any sort is dangerous... Having a lot of nice rocks it has not taken too much time to get to the point where I have started thinking about connecting the rocks with the wood.  Live wood in this case. Root Over Rock.  Or ROR  if you like. As it is with any other new project you need A QUICK WIN.   Something that gives you confidence and boosts your determination to scramble up on a higher level.  A Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea looks OK for this purpose. Autumn 2017. How we did get there.... Shopping list Spring 2017:     Seedling with a reasonable lengthy roots,  a piece of rock, sphagnum moss, plastic tape and shade cloth. ...

In the early 90' we have bought some boxwood  to plant a hedge in our front garden.   Some of the surplus shrubs have been planted in the backyard in case they will be needed later on.   At the time I have started with bonsai I have been searching the yard for any possible candidate and one or the boxwood has attracted my attention. Reversed taper and  problematic straight branches were  not a problem for my heart under fire and eager hands... Clearly,  the brain had nothing to say at that time. 2013 The reversed taper is not a big problem now.  The branch with accute angle attracts too much attention 2015 A lot of space for birds to fly through the crown... Nevertheless the foliage has covered the problematic branch. Getting the shape. 2017 I guess we are +/- there.  It needs a bit of pruning to fine tune the pads,  but this will wait till the spring. Height: 45 cm