Czech Yamadori

Another mahaleb waiting patiently for its new container.  A lot of fast wood there.  Just have a look on the down hanging branch on the right... It would take another few years to get nice conicity and finer structure.  But for the time being - yes there is a tree.  At least if you present it with a low resolution and its getting dark...  The piece of deadwood stretched to the left seems to be too much.   Height: current  33 cm, expected +/-36

Last year I decided to move this semi cascade further on to the full one.   Still not there,  but at least the lowest branch has been extended a bit and now we will wait for next spring to change the planting angle.  Would be nice to have a new pot too, but frankly I doubt it.  I cannot see the one I have in mind around. In the meantime, I am trying to develop more side roots on the massive anchoring root  that goes across the rock.   Still not there. I guess this goes on my account as I cannot keep the place moist... Front And there is another thing that bothers me a bit.  And this is the 'strange' habit of  some species of the Prunus family.  They produce shoots just with berries with no leaves on them.  And unfortunately this results in the loss of the branch.   You can see that in the middle of the crown.  The branches with fruits will be lost by the autumn.  I need to find out how to ...

I am really a strange type of guy.   Most of bonsai folk would try to get a yew with as many twists and sections of deadwood as possible.  Just have a look around.   And my yew looks like a lamp post... Strange, isn't. Taxus baccata Height: 25 cm from the rim of the pot. I am somewhere at the beginning of building the right structure of branches with rosettes.  Not sure there is enough space in between layers to do something structured.  We will see... Many years ago I saw an  ancient gracious yew in the garden that belongs to the visually impaired  center where I was doing some community job.   I have not take any picture but the vision of it is deeply imprinted in my memory...

There are not many common plums  in the world of bonsai.  Why is that?  Happy to learn. I was always thinking about getting one,  but could not find any decent Yamadori.  As my clock are ticking faster and faster I was quite desperately looking for something  reasonably good.   ( reasonable =  anything I am able to get a hold ).   Based on this approach two reasonable specimens have landed on my place this spring.   Too early to share though - lets wait for next spring.  There is nothing wrong being a little superstitious isn't it. In the meantime,  I am happy to share  two pics.  A wild form  designed by the Nature and a picture of a plum from a garden.  That one looks very different from the rest of the common plums I have ever seen.  But believe me it is a common plum... This is a typical shape of common plum  And this one is from a garden.  Frankly,  I do not...

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