Czech Yamadori

 ...I mean the winter silhouette of the small Pyrus pyraster.      Airlayered yamadori. Height 38 cm Training pot

 Pears are  one of the best trees for bonsai in temperate zones.   And for me the P. pyraster ( European wild pear ) is really on the top.   Cracked bark, tiny fruit and small leaves with spectacular colours in the autumn.   That really makes them hard to match.   Yes, Prunus mahaleb or blackthorns  are great. Aged bark,  blossoms, tiny fruits - in all these characteristics they are similar.  But when it comes to the autumn color festivity - no match for pears.   Unfortunately, there are not many of them on the benches or even shows.   Is it because of the fear of the pear rust ( Gymnosporangium sabinae ) killing  pampered junipers ?  Difficulty to find /collect one?    The rust might be a problem for sure.   But I do not agree with the basic recommendation you may find - if you grow junipers do not grow pears ( and vice versa ).   OK, it may sound good, but what about trees grown by your neigbours?  The spores may spread hundred of meters from their place of origin by wind or insects.

 European wild pear is one of my favorite tree.   Aged bark, wild appearance, blossoms, tiny fruit and beautiful autumn colours make of it a great candidate for  Four Season Bonsai.   Collected in cental Bohemia in 2017, air layered in 2019.  Current height:  22 cm - the top shoot included, target  18-19 cm Width:  24 cm  Front Left side   Alligator skin nicely developed.  Nebari - nothing to see there (YET ), but it is on the way - just look closer. Another five years and it might be there...:)  After the late summer inspection. Wiring, adding new load of Biogold and then back under the plastic cover to keep moss in place.  The moss will be removed in late autumn just before the winter rest to have better control of soil moisture.

This small pear is a result of a successful air layer completed in 2019. The vitality of the plant was excellent so I have decided to speed up a little bit and to select structural branches and to carve a section of the trunk to get there some taper.   From now on it is again on the tree to do its part... Current front.  Due to the size restriction there is no chance to aim at natural looking pear tree. I mean a tall tree with relatively narrow crown.  At least that is the way pears look like in this country. The taper of the trunk seems to be OK.  Well,  on the cost of removal of a bit of flesh to be fair... Carved section ( current back ).   I hate to say that as my attempt is always to make 360° trees. AGE! Natural jin The height at the moment is just about 10 cm - up to the cut on the main trunk.  So there is still enough space to fill...

 Nov 2019 The way we were... The pear has been "extracted"  from a nearby small quarry in 2014.  Lower part of its trunk and roots were squashed in a crevice that has formed its shape.    Summer 2016   An air/ground layer  ready to be separated. October 2019 Current height: 48 cm.  Trunk diameter: 90 mm Nicely developed alligator skin November 2019 ... with the remains of this year carnival dress...

This pear  found a way to my garden a few years ago.   And only after another good number of years I was passing by it.  This was definitely NOT a love on a first sight.  And at the time I have decided to collect it there was a nasty surprise below the surface.   At a first sight plenty of small feeder roots.  But we know this could be deceptive.  You must be sure that they are part of your targeted plant.   So I have started to dig deeper and deeper to find the place where the first  feeder roots are connected to the primary root.   Bad luck the place was more than 50 cm deep below the soil level.  Gosh. Right.  At home, I have squeezed the long primary roots with collected feeders somehow into the large plastic pot and left it for a few years there. Spring 2019 - time to start with the airlayer Late summer 2019  - first check to see the result.  Yes, I have learned to be very patient.  ( not really:(  ) And this is how it looks... Before separation.  Just removed the bask