Czech Yamadori

I have collected this little tree in early spring 2018.   Transplanting newly collected trees in less than a year is not the best possible practice but that's me.   Besides this repoting is in line with my resolution to provide my trees with better living conditions.  One of the things I am planning to change this year is to replace most of the growing plastic/ceramic pots with wooden boxes.   Main drivers?  Better heat resistance, more stable conditions for roots and all the hard working creatures living in the soil there.  And for me - I can use guy wires without the need to drill holes into the pots.   And having more freedom with the positioning of guy wires in comparison with the other method = using the drainage/fixing holes. What are the next plans? - building some sort of sunscreens to protect selected trees - using more rain water - incresing the humidity in some places around the yard and balcony - ??? any other thou...

15th February and the column in the thermometer outside is doing its best to attack + 20ish  °C( on the sun).    Hard to believe there was more then 30 cm of new snow last Sunday...  Just have a look on this small mahaleb still with leaves.  I guess it has lost its deciduous set of genes... C'mon kid, this is zone 7 if you did not notice... Due to the quite warm spell the snow has disappeared by now and one may feel like taking ones trees from their winter shelter and let them enjoy the sun as much as one do.  The temptations are quite urging but we know the weather can change and we could have more hoarfrost in the March so I need to cool down a bit. As the weather forecast looks quite good I plant to make few Yamadori trips... And just for today I will share with you the pots I have collected this winter.  One of them made by Martin Asenbrenner and the rest by  Hugo Studeník.

Comparing pictures of this little cornelian cherry taken this winter with the ones from last year is like a direct slap in my face.  Well, there is a visible progress looking on the crown/branch structure of the smaller tree, I know. But my main target was to improve the transition between the old and new part of the main trunk.   In a hope to get there I have let the leader grow freely during the whole season.   Once I have cut it its length was well over one meter.   But the impact on the girth was hardly noticable.  Wondering what should I do differently this season... Maybe try to replace standard ferts with some kind of anabolics? OK, the plan is to cut the top section short and start with a new leader.    2017 Winter 2018  Winter

To find a blackthorn with a good potential in this country it does take time.  Or one must have been kissed by Fortuna.  Or to move to UK perhaps? Well, I think I am somewhere  in the middle between the first two ones.   Spending hours on my knees and being lucky to find the right spots. 2013  2018 Current height: 48 cm ( end of trunk ) The initial plan was to build  some kind of literati.  Nevertheless right now we are on the way to something close to a common plum  Prunus domestica ssp domestica.     At least in terms of the outline of the crown but not that busy inside.  We will see...

For years we have been searching the forest during the winter months to look for very special mushroom called penízovka in Czech.   It was only today when I searched wiki to find something more about it.    Wikipedia: Flammulina velutipes is a highly regarded mushroom especially in Japan where is called Enokitake or Enoki 榎茸, エノキダケ.

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 wa...

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.