Czech Yamadori

     Boxwood.  Surface roots improvement. Nicely spread and weathered surface roots are very important for the visual appraisal of  any tree. Directly via their visual impact and secondly,  they stimulate the thickening of the trunk, especially in the most wanted area - a trunk flare that looks so great if we have it.   There are a lot of techniques to improve the quality of surface roots.   This one I have called " wet feet" Spring 2016.   A plastic fence has been placed around the base of the trunk and the area between the trunk and the fence has been covered by about an inch thick layer of a sphagnum moss.  The fence has been anchored to the soil by a  bent wire. The top of the sphagnum has been sprinkled by a gravel to discourage the blackbirds from a deeper investigation.  Then the tree has been placed in the area of scattered light.  The moss has been kept ALL the time WET. Autumn 2016 The fenc...

The older you get the more difficult to find new friends? Why?  I make  new friends every single day... Just to name two new ones from this morning... Very special Araneus diadematus - Cross spider.  Nicknamed   Spidee. Very gentle middle aged lady. Very disctinctive and always smartly dressed.    Now what is special about her?   She has produced and control TWO orb webs in the same time.   Spidee has taken an advantage of dwelling under one of my benches attached to the fence.  So the first web is in the front part and the second one  at the other side of the bench.  Sitting in the middle between them she is in the control of both of them via two signal lines connected to one of her raised fore feet.   Never seen anything like that before.  I hope I will be able to make a picture of the webs  once there is a bit frosty morning... Green rose chafer.  Nicknamed Chafee.    Ceto...

  Revolution in bonsai design   In the existence of the mankind, there are certain milestones that have a dramatic and profound impact on our development.   The moment our predecessors have left the relative safety of the trees and  have invaded savannas, the industrial revolution in England, etc.   The discovery I have made is something possibly not THAT significant BUT I do believe that for the huge crowd of bonsai enthusiasts this will be the total game changer.  Something that will split our lives  into  two distinctive periods: BEFORE and AFTER.      Before I will explain the invention in more juicy details, please allow me to briefly describe the rationale behind.     I am sure that a vast majority of bonsai enthusiasts is familiar with the situation that you have to move a number of your trees around the garden or to have them in your  garage studios  for styling or basic maintenance, to bring you...

Air layer_P.mahaleb - Easy peasy?  No, I did everything wrong... In the autumn 2015 I have collected a small mahaleb with the aim to build  a small shohin.  The tree was far from to be perfect,  but I thought I could improve it by an air layer to get rid of the problematic roots just taking an advantage of the reasonable sized trunk. The structure of the branches was any better than the rootage.  But to put is simply there was something in the air on that day that forced me to collect a small mahaleb at any costs.  My mind has seen the tree in much better shape than my eyes. Normally I do not collect trees on the first day I found them.   I do make additional two or more visits to make the final decision. Not with this one...     In the spring 2016 the tree has produced some nice strong growth.   A good start I thought.  Maybe I could save one growing season by making the air layer now.   Great, lets do it.  Done. ...

Air layer_Pyrus communis It was a day that has started with a lot of expectations and hopes.  Yes, I have decided to separate the air layer on the pear.   The weather forecast was not very encouraging - the anticyclone  hanging above  the Europe and the temperatures outside looked much more like a hot July then  nice and mild Indian summer.  Luckily,  there was a short spell of reasonably warm days so I have decided: now or never ( meaning next spring ). First of all I have tried to remove the pond basket.   It has slipped out nicely without too much effort. (  Frankly I was concerned that the new roots will push through the holes in the bottom of the basket - but luckily that was not the case.  The most vigorous growth was nicely horizontal.   For sure it will be wiser to remove the complete bottom of the basket next time  rather than cutting off only an opening to fit the trunk ).   The root ball was quite compact. ...

Air layer_Acer campestre The "Babyka" ( local name of A.c. ) has a nice thick,  slightly curved base with the first signs of bark cracks.   A good prospect to become a reasonably nice bonsai. But what about the three thick surface roots?  No brainer just get rid of them.  Easy.  But it took me a good number of years to decide on action.   So we have lost at least three years.   Earlier this spring I have finally made my mind.  Air layer.   It was clear right from the first thought that the standard sphagnum wrap covered in plastic will not provide the result I aimed at. A reasonably flat root ball with a great number of new roots spreading radially all around the base... A ring of bark has been removed as close to the big roots as possible - I knew it will hamper their removal  in the later stages but I did not want to shorten the trunk.  Dusted with the rooting hormone.  Then I have cut approx 5 cm wide strip from t...

Prunus mahaleb No 10 Mahalebs, mahalebs and mahalebs. That is the way our backyard looks like.   No complain though.  Happy to have them.  In fact,  they are one of my most favourite trees.  Apart from sloes, purple red apple trees, pears,  oaks and should not forget hornbeams, birches and number of others. This mahaleb has been  with me for quite a long time.    The basic structure of primary branches has been built as well as the secondary and tertiary shots. Well AlmoST.  There is still missing a good part on the top right.   But it is on the way.   Now we need to get more delicate ramification and REDUCE the size of the  leaves.  Not an easy task for a relatively small tree.  By the way any guess how big this tree is? August 2016 Dead wood detail December 2014 45 cm?  No way. 35 cm?  No! 25 cm? Well nearly.  This little beast is 29 cm tall.