Czech Yamadori

Strange spring, quite nice summer and a bit cold autumn with great colours even on this small sloe... Current height: 15 cm approx More information in  here

One of my first wild pears collected in 2012?  And the first one that has a potential to be styled in the shape of pears that I so intimately know from the place where I spent the first years of my life. 2013 The pear does look reasonably good in this position.  Nevertheless the problem sits under the soil - an elbowed piece of the trunk... Autumn colours_ pears do have a great autumn dress 2017 Mid sommer_results of the air layer started in spring. I have decided not to separate the new tree this year.  Instead,  I have added a new layer of sphagnum moss and substrate to protect the sensitive new roots from the coming winter.  The last January was quite cold well below the average temps of the season.  Some of my freshly airlayered trees suffered some die back of roost.  Maybe it was not due to the frost,  but as I do no know the reason I need to take care of all the possible factors.   ...

The trees grown from seeds have a number of advantages.  But clearly there are some challenges as well:    - how to build the curves in a right proportion - how to cultivate the branches in the exact positions you would like to have - where to plant/store all the little bastards if you have limited space already occupied by the bigger brothers and sisters   just to name a few of them. The space is really a problem for me.   Because of the limit I cannot have enough seedlings to make a reasonable group from which I can select just a few most promising prebonsai for further cultivation.   Well, I need to find out how to deal with that.    Out of five seedlings in the ground  I have selected  three and placed them into pots.   This is one of them back in 2016. As you can see  I have planned to build a new leader using a threadgrafted branch.      2017 T...

If I do not defoliate any specific tree in the course of the year, then the autumn leaf fall is the moment  I am eagerly waiting for.   How does the structure of the branches look like?   Is it on the way I have in my mind? But this is only the "quick acid test".  Quite often I need to make few photos to see how the tree looks in 2Ds.  It was pretty much the same with this cascade.  This cascading mahaleb has made quite a good progress since the last season.   And wearing the green coat it doesn't look too bad... Without the leaves... ?  Not too bad either.  But I do believe the tree deserves still something better. There are two important branches that simply don't look "right".  So let's try to make it better next season:) Previous article about this tree  here

The Indian summer here in Bohemia was  short and has arrived later than expected -  in the mid of Oct.   Forecast: a short spell of nice weather.  SO no time for hesitation.  Pyrus pyraster  Barberry Look at this beech.  The root on the left - see its size on the pic below with my leg as a measure. Whow. The shape of this tree must have been designed by a bunch of wild boars.

Another Yamadori Prunus mahaleb  that is getting close to its first bonsai pot...  The height of the tree is now nearly 35 cm - I think this is the right size.   The right top quarter is still missing some wood.  But luckily it is on the way in the most natural form. Yes, a new bud, I was longingly waiting for has appeared there and formed a branchlet.    FRONT LEFT BACK RIGHT Previous articles about this tree  here

Common pear with a poetic Czech name " Polnička" has been collected in 2014.   The link below can help you to trace the previous articles if you like it. While I fell in love with its alligator skin I could not deny there was a major flaw in the tachiagari/nebari whatever it means.   The results of spending the life in a slit of rocks... 2016 Decision made: An airlayer Result:Success 2017 Due to the hard winter ( very long spell of  nasty frost )  and/or problematic spring quite a number of roots have died off...   I guess the newly formed roots are probably less resistant to such problematic conditions.   But luckily the tree has recovered nicely and below you can find the actual status after the mid summer pruning. Quite heavy one if fact.  Sept.  Another tree with a burl on the trunk.  The other one is on one of my birches. Previous article about this tree  here

I have fallen in love with Quinces... Autumn 2016 I have collected some seeds.  Let them to be bitten by frost for a few nights and then placed them into the plastic box filled with sphagnum moss and stored them in the fridge. Feb 2017 Eager to have a kick start.   Seeds placed on the tray with cotton wool and added water.  Tray has been placed on the inner windowsill. March 2017 Yellowish stems with cotyledons.   We are on the way... Now it is time to test if the practice of removing the main root on such young plants works for me.  The  main root has been removed with a razor blade on some of the seedlings.  The cut has been done on the white thicken part of the stem. The stems were dipped into the rooting hormone and planted into a shallow container ( just three cm of substrate 7 seedlings in group ).   Just in case some of the seedlings were left untouched and planted in groups in the standard contai...

The Zorro has grown a little bit in last 2 years... Height excluding the excessive part of the sacrifice branch: 45 cm Width: 68 cm Weight: 25 kg Frankly, not so easy to move it around.  I am eagerly waiting for the leaf fall to see the structure of branching so I could see the fruits of our labor and to plan next steps. But there is still some time before it starts.  The majority of my mahalebs is hard workers, very keen to keep the green leaves -  meaning working on the photosynthesis -  as long as possible.  They will wait for the first frosty nights and then they will strip down within a couple of hours, mostly skipping the discoloration phase...  I guess this could be related to the harsh biotop they started their lives and spent a few decades there. Front.  Which one to select? You can find the previous story  here