Czech Yamadori

31.12.2003 Last day of 2003  and I am in a woodland looking for yamadori on a loamy slope of Central Bohemia.  Location facing south with scarce supply of water. Place where you can see dwarfed oaks, common junipers, and dogwoods.  I was searching through an undergrowth when I spotted a tree partially buried with fallen leaves and branchlets, but the visible part has some interesting deadwood. And if you are a yamadori hunter, you know what it means. The heartbeat rate goes up,  you go down on your knees, and your fingers start cleaning the area with eager expectation of what is under the cover.  Sometimes a disappointment or a hesitation and sometimes a sheer pleasure... 2015 2018 2025 Height 55 cm Pot: China

In the early years of my bonsai passion I have spent most of my weekends somewhere in woodlands  criss crossing selected areas with the hope to find the TREE of my life.  Most of the time I came back  empty handed just with a hope for the next days.   But HAPPY anyway.        The main challenge for me at that time was not about finding a tree but to select the one worth the collection in terms of the quality and potential success rate of collection.   Soon I have realised that leaving that only  on my heart is not the best way to follow.   Suppressing the burning desire to DIG for a while leaving it for next day, week, month or even year(s) proved it is the way forward for me. This was especially true for such special trees such as blackthorns as it is very rare to find  a tree with a character you look for.   You want it so desperately that you are tempted to lower the bar pretty low. Just have a ...

 Finally, it seems there is a nice bunch of flower buds this year ready to open...

Kifu sized blackthorns_26 cm.       

 A single trunk  specimen with a raised root that is fused with the main trunk well above the current soil level.   That  indicates that originally  most of the current trunk has been burried under the soil.   The tree is well over 30 years old - it has been planted as a 2-3 years seedling at the side of the D4 highway in central Bohemia.   Lot of refinement ahead but that is a joy with all these blossoms seasoning the journey in late winter/early spring.   

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

 X-Men?   The Hug Men?  Predator?     Forget it.   My brother in scissors Rasťo has come with the perfect name.   Frankly, I had to look for the meaning of Ent in the wiki but once I saw the picture  I was in love with it.    Perfect.   Thank you, Rasťo.   OK, back to the Ent. I  have made some corrections to lower parts last night.   It still needs some indian ink to blend nicely with the rest. And then few coats of resin to preserve it.    The crown  needs to add some wood.  Not too much though.   I do not like trees that have a lot of deadwood  combined with a flourishing crown full of branchlets.   But that is not a problem of the tree but rather of the person behind it... Prunus mahaleb_The Ent Height: 50 cm Pot: Training China          

 About 4-5 years ago I started pondering about getting some more native species to my collection.  Specifically cornus and eonymus.   It is easy to plan but knowing the growth habit of these species I knew it would require a large amount of luck while being on my knees thoroughly searching undergrowth.  For sure there are plenty of them all around my place.  The only problem they are in form of straight sticks... Anyway, here we are:  Euonymus europaeus in early winter colour boasting with few fruits that I left there for joy.      Origin: Ground layered yamadori Height:  17 cm Pot: Klika&Kuratkova.   A bit oversized one but it is the way I prefer

 What a strange name of a bonsai I thought the other day while reading some bonsai magazine featuring a stunning bonsai in early stages of blooming.     Few days later I have looked on one of my blackthorns and suddenly I have noticed that there are pearls all over it... Can you see them?      

 Another fairly small but massive mahaleb cherry with a lot of deadwood.    Height: 44 cm above the rim Pot: Hugo Studeník    

 The first few days of the new year are a bit lazy. So why not to take the advantage of it and share some other trees? The mahaleb Zorro is one of my largest trees.  Well, better to say heaviest ones.  It is not very large, in fact it is just about 50 cm in height and about 70 cm in width.  But the trunk is quite massive and the pot needs to be quite large to accomodate the long surface root.   The shape  is not very typical for deciduous tree but I do like it that way.  And that counts...   Still long way to go...   The "new part" clashes with the old one - just looking like a baby's arse.  Not to mention  a better taper and finer ramification... Hope to find some time later on to repot it and while there to change the planting angle. The left side is right now planted too deep. Height: 50 cm Width:  70 cm Pot: China  

 New Year's Day.    Outside temperature: +11 °C, cloudy with possible rain later in the day.   I plan to go out after the lunch to get some wood for my future projects such as bonsai tables etc.   It takes at least 4-5 years to have the timber ready for usage.  There are for sure much faster methods for drying but  first I have more than enough load on my hands right now and in next 2-3 years, second - drying chambers calculates in cubics - well above my projects and lastly - just being happy to let the Nature to do her job. It was quite sunny on the 31st Dec so I have taken few shots of some of my trees.  Not the best pics but their main purpose was to see the structures through the lens.   Good practice to follow. Here is the biggest birch in my collection.   +90 cm right now.   It is quite interesting to see how the hollow has been reduced over time.    2021 2015   Well, I should ...

Black wiper It was the dark lower section of the trunk that gave this tree its name. Lovely tree, in my eyes at least.    I know.  The thick elbow like branch in the middle is an eyesore. Even more it is just  a piece of a dead wood.  Dead wood on a birch? Are you serious?    And what about the transition between the old and new parts?  Yeah, it doesn´t look very nice rigth now.    BUT If you look on this lady from a reasonable distance, its getting dark and your eyes are not so sharp as they used to be ....    I guess you know  how this goes on...   I have heard this from one of our best actor Mr Jan Werich and I hope he would not mind if  I use it now and then.   Funny,  he crossed the river long time ago but he still there in our minds.  At least when it comes to my generation.   Autumn 2020 Summer 2020   Colour festival in November 2021 Who said: " Not worth t...