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Welcome to my blog. My diary of my life in the Bonsai world.





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Thursday, 30 November 2017

Bonsai Thursday.

A follow up of my post from yesterday.
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When Dave arrived I was already putting wire on this Boulevard Cypress that I started last night.
This is the tree now after a restyle and the lime sulpher has dried.


This is before I did any work yesterday.


It is much more open now and should grow well next season.

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

Clean up.

I noticed today that this Boulevard Cypress was still covered in moss and there was a lot of algae on the trunk, Shari and Jin, so this evening I decided to make the most of being retired now and cleaned it up.

I started by giving the trunk a wash down with a little soapy water, then a spray with clean water,after covering the compost to stop it getting any more water into the pot.


The next job was to dewire and clip out any unwanted foliage.


Then nearly all the moss was removed and some new compost added to the top.


I left a little moss and some lichen that has grown naturally.


I then coated the Shari and Jin with lime sulpher.


I will leave the tree in the studio until tomorrow morning when Dave comes and maybe then do a rewire and restyle.

Still wet.

My trees have been under cover in the green house for ten days now and the compost is still wet. It just goes to show how wet they would have been if I had left them outside to fend for themselves.
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As it is they all seem to be doing well at the moment.

Monday, 27 November 2017

Natter night 27th November 2017.

A cold night which was made warmer with an unexpected visit from Robert Porch and Mick G from the Scottish land.
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Robert brought this Dragon Cascade pot for Boxie, jealous, you bet I was.


Andy P brought this Pine to be dewired.


Boxie was right in there helping once more.


Then Ken M arrived with this Juniper group.


Which he started to trim a little, watched closely by Mike, Mick and Mike, I know it gets confusing at times.


Then Robert got stuck into Ken's tree and clipped some more.


It now looks much more open, but still needs to be wired and shaped a bit.


Despite the cold outside we had a really good night with plenty information coming from Robert.
We also had a good laugh.

Sunday, 26 November 2017

Checking the trees.

It was another very frosty morning today, so I have been out to check my trees in the greenhouse, just to see they are ok.
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My trees have been inside for almost a week now, to prevent any more rain soaking them,I like to control the amount of water they get in winter.


You can see in the photos that they are still wet and they have not been watered since putting them inside last Monday. 


Still looking good.

Thursday, 23 November 2017

Bonsai Thursday.

Another wet morning so not a lot we could do, but Boxie did a bit more work on his Spruce.
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We just drank coffee and enjoyed ourselves.

Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Rain,Rain, Rain.

It looks like the forcasters were right about the weather we were due to have as it has been pouring down all morning.
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This is not the best photo but it does show a big puddle in the garden.
I think I was right to put all my trees under cover to prevent them getting waterlogged.


One of my Larch with the deadwood cleaned and coated with lime sulpher.



Monday, 20 November 2017

Natter night 20th November 2017.

Another night with no trees to be worked on, so I took advantage of this and dewired two of my trees.
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Both trees are Larch.


This one needs to have the Jin and Shari cleaned and coated with Lime Sulpher, which may well be done tomorrow.




All gone.

What and where to, you may ask?
My trees of course.


Most of them into this green house.


Looks quite full from outside.


I could squeeze one or two more in.



The overflow has gone into one of the other green houses.


After the rain we had last night and most of today, I have finished moving them, and boy were they heavy with water. It will probably take a week to dry, before they need any more.

A good job done.

The time has come.

After seeing the weather forcast for the next few days I think the time has come for my trees to go into the green houses for winter.Not because of the cold, but they are forcasting a lot of rain and wind and I do not like to have my trees standing in water for a long time.
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I like to control how much water the trees get at this time of year.



Sunday, 19 November 2017

Best of both.

Sunday morning and what a beautiful one it is, with an early morning frost, then the sun started to shine.


I think the trees really love this kind of weather as it is more natural for them. Even if the compost freezes it will not do any harm as long as it thaws out during the day. 
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A Shohin Hinoki standing on the frosty bench.


Shohin Chinese Juniper, in the shaddow of a Squamata Juniper.


Yet another day off to enjoy my Bonsai.

Saturday, 18 November 2017

Bonsai Saturday.

It looks like winter has set in, looking at the trees and most of them are now bare.
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Hawthorn group.


Larch, with just some foliage on the tips of the branches.


At least there is some colour on the Junipers.


Thursday, 16 November 2017

Bonsai Thursday.

Another good day with Dave and Boxie, putting the world right and drinking coffee.

The sun even managed to shine after an early morning downpour.


Winter is here, my Maple is almost bare now.


The evergreens still look quite good on the benches.



Watch out for the cold winds over the next couple of days.

Monday, 13 November 2017

Natter night 13th November 2017.

It is either the time of year when nobody works on their trees or it is getting to cold to leave home as it was another quiet night as reguards trees.
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With nothing else to do I removed the wire from this Berberis, which is starting to drop it's leaves and is a nice colour.


Then John G arrived with this nice Chinese juniper to get some idea's on styling.
Now all it needs is quite a lot of wire to be added and the branches put into place.

The selected front view.


The back view.


I also showed John how to clean up the bark, which he got started on.

Saturday, 11 November 2017

Birthday prezzie.

A really nice prezzie from my son for my birthday yesterday.


Not only my birthday, but I also retired as well.
So a lot more time to look after my Bonsai now.

Tuesday, 7 November 2017

Natter night 6th November 2017.

I finally got round to trimming my Boulevard Cypress tonight as there was no trees brought to work on.
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This is the back of the tree, which has been left to grow this season.


Boxie removed the wire from one of my Itoigawa junipers for me. Thanks Mike.


As the weather is getting much colder all of my trees are still out on the benches.
They will be put in their winter home when it starts to rain a lot, as is usual around here.


Boxie brought some pots for Andy P to have a look at for one of his trees.
I like the quotes on the base of two of them.
This one by John Naka.


This one by Marc Noelanders.