Czech Yamadori

Another growing season for this interesting flowering quince.  In the part one I have given quite lengthy comments on its collection so no need to repeat myself ( https://doriyama.blogspot.com/2017/12/flowering-quincetrunk-it.html ) 2017  winter Building the basic structure of primary branches & leader &  I should not forget the other "foot" that I have also started ( see below the youngest part of it  - yellowish new roots ).   Anyway, for the time being it is still called Long John Silver...   The bark is showing its age.  I know nothing to compare with some other species,  but this is Chaenomeles. 2018 Pics taken today ie 18. Dec.  Nice bright sunny spell.   John is still with remains of green leaves and a number of developing new leaf buds.  He obviously did not pay any attention to the season ( there were few nights with temps close to - 10°C )  Tough guy as much as his namesake....

What's that? Is it a Spring hammering ice on the river? Or perhaps a woodpecker marking his territory? NO. It is a bonsai enthusiast chopping down some of his elms to get  starters for new shohin sized trees. Little stump Michal Now I will keep both guys in the frost free attics in order to avoid possible frost bites. 

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

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...

Another tree that makes me happy this year.   Good development and promise for years to come. Maintenance 2017: A summer reduction from 60 cm to remove  the top section of the trunk with no taper. Defoliation on 10th August.  Fully leafed by the end of August.  I am curious  to compare with the other birches I have to see if there is any impact of a bit late defoliation on the timing of the leaves drop or they colour. Current height: 45 cm Target height:   55-60 cm Nevertheless... This tree will never make a typical lowland birch silhuette.  The trunk is a bit more stout than it should be and the structure of branches looks again hmm well different to put it that way.   You may find similar outline on slopes fully exposed to the south with restricted water availibility though... The way we were in 2009 More details about this tree in  here

Birch_Do I really know where I go?  After the collection the little birch has spent some time in the ground.  Just a tiny layer of soil sitting on the rock bed.   That was my way of building a flat nebari at that time.  After a couple of years the tree has been potted.  The little bit indistinct suspicion that the tree is  "out of proportion" appeared in the most naked form. I had to drop the idea of a graceful a bit formal upright format  and the main trunk has been removed. Well,  if I start to overhaul something than it is difficult to stop me. You know that kind of itching urge " what about to change it a little bit here and there?"     So we have ended up with a number of root and branch thread grafts.  You remember the tree with the carry on handle don't you... Jan 2016.   I have started to fulfill one of my New Year's resolutions - Use your bonsai tackle wisely... No...

Prunus mahaleb_The dancing snake The story about this mahaleb was my first post on this blog two years ago...  click here The story has ended with  plans for the next development of the tree: namely get more branches and more weathered look of the dead wood. So how do we stand...? Well, first of all I should stop sharing my plans for future cultivation steps.   It is a bit too binding for a guy with a strong inclination to procrastinate... November 2016 The pictures are a bit busy at the top due to the two threadgrafts.  Well, yes - another threadgrafts in place.  I wish I could cultivate new branches from the buds,  but most of my mahalebs are not budding from the lower part of the trunk. In this case not even from the middle section of it.  So the treadgraft was for me a clear option to build the tree to my liking (+/-) Possible FRONT no 1. Possible FRONT no 2 While it may look for some of the enthusiasts a bit aggressive - there ...

Apple tree  minitrunks from seeds_Shohin starters This is a bit of a fight.  A true yamadori hunter ( YES!  This is what I see looking in the morning in the mirror ) blogging about cultivation of trees from seeds?!?   Well, the world is not anymore as it used to be... A few years ago I bought two small apple trees from a DIY.  Despite or maybe just because of my horticulture skills, both of them are not here anymore.  Luckily I have managed to get some seeds before they had left me.  Planted into the cultivation box a number of the seeds has germinated next spring.  For the season and following winter I have left them in the box.  Next spring the five strongest young plants were root pruned and planted into the ground for next three years.   In the course  of the second season I have made the first wiring to get some movement to the trunks.   Easy to say but it was a bit of a struggle to decide what kind of shape I should gi...