Czech Yamadori

What's that? Is it a Spring hammering ice on the river? Or perhaps a woodpecker marking his territory? NO. It is a bonsai enthusiast chopping down some of his elms to get  starters for new shohin sized trees. Little stump Michal Now I will keep both guys in the frost free attics in order to avoid possible frost bites. 

It has become  kind of  a "tradition".  With a winter fighting tooth and nails with the first initial signs of spring in the air I have changed again  from a bonsai grower to a bonsai carrier.   The ones who keep their trees in  frost free zones  know quite well what I am talking about. With temperatures  that are in my frost free  storage  well in the red section of a thermometer for last couple of weeks  most of the trees stored there  show  first signs of a new life... Well,  luckily most of my trees are still sleeping well protected in their winter beds scattered all over our backyard.  Neverthless some of the trees those in my view a bit more vulnerable by harsh winter ( heavy bending, late summer airlayering, special cuttings etc ) are stored in the frost free area. That means only one single simple thing. I should move them out  every  day with  temperatures above zerro and bring them back for frosty nights.  With this damned high pressure system well seated abov

First yamadori of 2018 By far the largest one I have ever collected.  Single handed.  I have been circling  this tree for a good number of years.   Years of rejections, hopes and doubts: Too big.... Well, ok it is a little bit overgrown  but. .. No chance.... C'mon man! Forget it! A caveman sledge to get the beast home.   I guess there is more than 50 kg of wood and soil.  A carton of Glenmorangie 0,7 l as a measure.   I thought a bottle of beer is not a good match for this kind of tree:) Height: 120 cm.   Size of the box  75*65*30 cm. The tree will leave me in next few hours and will be heading for his new home... Unless I will change my mind?!

  With the temps in the red zones and the "March look" of the garden,  it is quite difficult to suppress the urging need to get out to collect yamadories or to start with some sort of bonsai activities.  In fact I have brought one of my birches to my workshop just to see how it looks. Within a minute I have found myself with a pruning shears ready to tackle to poor lady...   The temptation was really a great one,  but at the end the common sense has taken the upper hand.   Its January.  Who knows what surprises has the Mother Nature in her handbag ready for us... So lets assume it is a "normal" January.  ( OK, I know, that's really a crap, there is no more such a thing as a normal weather anymore. Anyway...)   Good time for skiing as far as I am concerned.   Well deserved rest time for the  majority of my trees.   A good time to revise  plans for the development of my trees in the upcoming growing season.  Last but not least:  a good time to please my mind

Nearly missed to share a pic of my old friend Spidee.  She is a bit shy, not very fond of going public...  Isn't she lovely? Hornbeam_shohin Height: 17 cm Enough is enough...  Finally,  I have decided to tackle the anchoring tail (circled )  and to grow more surface roots.  But first I need to make sure that the current FRONT is still the most appropriate one.   The longer I look at it the more doubts are crossing my mind...

If you can manufacture with water, then you cannot loose...    This was  a learning that I have got from an old retail practitioner  who made most of his carrier and fortune during the so called socialist era of the country I live. Clearly I wasn't the only one to learn this wisdom.  Definitely not here in CZ.   Water, water and water.   We buy added water with fish, meat, processed food,  salads, bakery products and probably many more others.  Last spring I decided to build a portable smoking chamber to make a home made products I was familiar with as a kid who lived in a small village.  Home smoked hams ( meat from home fattened pigs,  smoked rabbits,  meat saussages... During the years I have lost the original taste of it. The only thing I have remembered was the happiness I have felt observing the preparatory work and tasting the finished products.  No worries that the freshly bought ham from a superstore or local butcher will swim away if you leave it unattended for a whil

The tree is slowly recovering from the problems in 2016.   Still it doesn't look the way that would  give my soul and mind peace.   I think that the best I can do here is just to place the pure beast in the sun in a place well hidden from my impatient fingers and leave it there for a season. At least. Spring 2017 Despite all my mismanagement the tree has flowered nicely.  At least on the remaining branches :( Winter 2017 I have pruned the new growth on the top in a hope to enforce some back budding in this area.  I hope the pure beast will cope with that... The threadgrafted branch started in 2016  has been left untouched. ( you can see it in the middle of the trunk )  It seems it is going to take nevertheless  I will leave it connected to the feeder for another season. Just to be sure.   The sacrifice branches on the bottom section of the trunk are still there to add some badly needed horsepower to the roots. Previous article about this sloe  here