Czech Yamadori

One of the few trees collected in 2014.   Nicely built semi cascading trunk with upward growing branches.   The initial idea then was to reduce the length of upward going branches and build the crown from their remains.  The branches on the both sides have developed new shoots reasonably close to the main trunk so in that case there was not any problem to proceed with the reduction.  The branch in the middle has not produced any new shoots closer to the trunk.  There was just the one I have left after the collection. 2015 Closer inspection of the branch in the middle revealed a live vein that has crawled up to feed the shoots on the top.   One can feel it under the bark. The rest of that branch was dead.  And not even that.   Once I have started to remove the bark  I have realised that the dead part is much bigger than anticipated.   2018  So this is the starting point for the next season.  Hardly can wait to see how I am going to tackle this challenge...

Winter solstice with its longest night of the year has passed and from now on the nights will be shorter and shorter.   It is way too early to get out to sniff out the first gusts of spring, but we know it is on the way.    Just be patient, have some winter sports if you care and for sure enjoy the planning of next development of your trees.    Have a great time.     Thank you all who visit this site now and then.    A special THANKS to Luďek, Mark, Maros, Peter, Rasťo and Salvador for their effort letting  me know they have cared.   Prunus mahaleb_Fat belly 2015  2016 Spring 2017 Winter A bit blurry pic 2018 Winter Pruned in November.   Second round of carving focused on the jin on the back side.  

This little tree has been collected about the same time as the Zorro.  So, quite a long time ago.     But it was only in 2015  when I have decided to pick this little Ciderella and move it to the next stage... 2015 Development of lowest branches and the top leader to get some taper. 2017 The top leader has reached desired thickness and it will be shortened in the course of 2018 .   The lowest branches have been pruned back as well. 2018 The basic structure of the lowest branches is there.  Now I need to focus on development of branches in the top section.   I also plan to move the tree into a flat wooden container to work on surface roots.  

Apart from collecting some really big trees I am also building up the number of small trees.  There are basically two practical reasons for that.  First - weight,  second - it is faster to achieve reasonable results in case you are starting from seed or cuttings.  Starting from seed or cuttings? Yes.  It is definitely the best way to start small tree.  Well, I know, small trees collected  from  Nature may have a great character. But there are also a lot of challenges.  Is it worth the effort?  Don't know, leaving that open... Let's start with Yamadori.  The following little mahaleb could make a good representative of this category. So what do we have to start with? Problematic roots The only solution to fix this is the air/ground layer.   Keep fingers crossed to get nice even distribution of new roots that could be used to grow nice nebari. Got it?  Great, but it is only the first step.  Then, how long does it take to the point when new roots will get the similar charact

A word used by Czech writer Ota Pavel in one of his stories published in "How I came to know fish".  Meaning?  I know it and if you like to know it as well  - just try to figure it out... The Snake - a yamadori that is very special  for me. It is one of my first mahaleb yamadori.  And a love on the first sight. Having the Snake for a few years in a pot I have had a feeling that adding one or two branches to a lower section of the trunk will improve its existing outline.    ( Note: most of my mahalebs from this location really do not like to put new growth in the lower section of their trunks.  Just strong apical domination - so that's why I use threadgrafts.. ).  2017 The grafts did well for two years after separation but during this summer they both have dried out.   I guess problem with a live vein. Well, after more than three years the only thing that has left is the JIN on the left hand side of the trunk... 2018 Winter   Anyway, we are gr

 Any time I look on this mahaleb I can see a cock picking some goddies from the ground... Height: 25 cm Width : 45 cm Style: Semicascade on a rock I am considering a tilt to the right something like 15° to get a full cascade and to get rid of this cockisch feelings... Deadwood mastered by the unimitable Master - the Nature. How the hell she achieve such fine details   The main roots doesn't look very attractive and it provokes/teases me any time I am passing by.  I have tried to develop some side roots on the main anchoring one to make it a bit more interesting.  Still not very happy with it.  Need to play with some virtuals. Michal, can you hear me?  We badly need some rocking pot for this fella.  I know how busy you are right now so what about 2020?

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