Wabi-sabi

I completed the repotting and root maintenance on my maples for this year. A bit early - but i suspect they will wake up early this year. They are having their third repot and and potting up to their final pot sizes. All of them at least a year late for their new pots - but poverty and the ongoing recession put and end to any new pot purchases over the last 2 years.

Luckily they were in well shaped pots - with no internal lip - and a nice taper on the walls - so they popped out easily. This is the root system of my Deshojo - they are in nice(ish) condition - but heavily compacted. A little bit dark and a tiny bit stinky.

 

A little help from the cat to get the positioning in the pot right. The position was adjusted for favourable wabi-sabi before soil was packed in.

 

The roots were combed out and any crossing ones removed. A little shaking and poking to settle the soil in and it was time for watering. The roots on the bottom were trimmed in tightly so there was no spring in the base. This maple is a random Acer Palmatum i got from M&S. Its thickening nicely and has a wonderful autumn colour - a deep wine red. The soil is old Akadama from before the Fukushima disaster so there is no danger of radiation. Its got a lot of Fuji grit in it as well - 2 scoops to 4 of Akadama i think - it looked right.

The soil mix and potting method is exactly as the Japanese nurseries do it. Their centuries of experience with this species gives us valuable knowledge. I have varied the particle size a little - the palmatum random getting the larger particles. The drainage layer is biosorb though. The rest is 1.5 to 5mm akadama with 25% fuji grit. plus minus.

I do wire the big maples into their pots as the wind can easily knock them over. These wires will also anchor the guy wires for the training rigging later in the year.

I gave them a really deep watering to get all the dust out and make them at home. Cat is assisting as usual. Note I am barefoot watering the plants on the lawn in January.

The soil level is well below the rim so that it will be easy to water - even after some growth and the usual moss invasion. This pot also has a nice taper and no internal lip - so when its time comes it will come out easily.

Here is the Deshojo's new pot. The ever present cat was assisting as usual. Really liking my new pots this year. I found a terrific vendor on Amazon with a really nice selection - and amazing fulfilment.

I'll pose some nice pictures of them in their new homes in the following weeks.

various things

Its been a strange winter so far. Only a few frosts - and no sign of snow at all. Several of the bonsai still had leaves out - and the hawthorns still aren't completely bare. Given how mild it is I've left some of the maples out on the lawn and not don't a great deal to protect much else either.

I've been fortunate this year and got some nice new pots for Christmas. Couldn't afford all the new ones I wanted last year - so the maples have had to stay on an extra season. Their roots got a bit messy and they grew strangely - but no long term harm.

Please excuse the crap photo - This is to illustrate the improved ramification on this maple. Its really come along very nicely this summer. I've taken it all back to 1 node and done a lot of wiring. All the work last year with weights on the younger branches has set them in position nicely so there wasn't much need for heavy wiring - just some tweaks on the newer growth.

Part of the upcoming summer program is improve the lower growth on this maple as the shape isn't great like this. A bit too much like a snow cone right now - I want to get a few big low branches happening. There's going to be almost daily pinching of buds during the peak season.

I didn't feel like working outside so I took it in and stood it on my desk. The picture is of it standing on the cats perch. No hanging out in the dojo with the sensei catching flies here.

I've got a nice 38cm pot for this one to be planted into over the next weeks. Really looking forward to getting the roots cleaned up and sorted out.

Next up is the major pine work. A lot of rafia and wiring to be done over the next week.

Those damned yamato sunball things still persist - no sign of decay yet. Ive bought some new korean seedcakes to test out. They look better - just need to see if they work. Wish someone would import cheap bio-gold again.

Edit -

Measure it - its 95cm tall from the ground and the base of the trunk is 5cm thick. So i have to watch the height carefully as its getting on a bit.

Peppermints

Some of my nursery material is coming along nicely - this is the end of their second year. The hawthorns are still in their first pots and the roots looking for space. Next year I'm going to grow one of them in the ground and see how it goes. The trunks are plumping up nicely already. All the nursery material is on tap water and cheap fertiliser. They also get any of the left overs from the hydroponics. No science - I just empty a bucket load onto them.

 

The trunk chop on the oak is almost grown over and integrated. Over time this looks like it will subside into a nice even taper. 


 




The Beech's are coming along nicely too. During midsummer when they were laying down next years buds they were watered and fertilised mercilessly to ensure a giant season next year. I'm thinking of trunk chopping these over the winter.

They seem to be bulking up faster than the hawthorns. They are all over an inch at the base - with this one being closer to 2.

Had I known that I could grow cheap hedgerow nursery trees to 2 inch trunks in 2 years I would have started many years ago.

Notice the peppermints.

My hydroponic pomegranates are coming well now. They have put on about 25cm this year. I want to get that again for a few years before i think about style. 


I've got some Canna terra flores for the indoor fruiting and flowering plants.

I think I will have to bring in the Scots pines during the winter for another round of maintenance as they are firing buds out all over. 

I think I have good buds at every point that I want - so the smaller Scots are going to look very good late next year.

I got some Raffia for doing some heavy work on the pines.


The pines are now on weekly Canna - I'll keep a slow feed ( bi-monthly) going to them during the winter. The dormant plants in soil will get a gentle monthly feed.


I've been trying some new fertilisers again - Yamato sunball. I'm very confused about this - they are like rock hard peppermints - been sitting on the soil surface for a month now with no sign of doing anything. Must be doing something wrong. I was hoping for something that behaved like biogold.

pine color

Here is the big Scot's pine early on in the season. Mid April. It has a very nice even flush of new candles on it. Surprised me a little as it had just been repotted.


I have the primary branch structure in place with some heavy wiring. I will need some raffia to finish this job. The deltas of good foliage are forming with every shorter tributaries. All the crossing and plain silly branch's are gone. I still have a great deal of pondering to do until i settle on the final shape. There will be a few Big cuts and maybe some of that ghastly jin.





After the spring candles the big pine went all yellow. I feared that I'd damaged some roots and that I would lose some branches.

I tried Heavy fertiliser every 10 days. It didn't die - but it didn't get a great deal better either.

Much improved now - still not the black green color of extreme vigor - but very good progress. Canna every 2 days and fish emulsion on the weekend. I'm amazed at how much higher the nutrient requirements are in fired clay.

As a result of this i don't have a nice flush of candles coming through now and there isn't much back budding to speak of - but there is always next year.

Then again - the buds are good and theres a bit of life left in this summer. Moar fertiliser!!!

Pomegranate's

I must deviate for a while from native trees to the tree that led me towards bonsai - the pomegranate. It is an excelent species for bonsai - but a bit out of fashion nowdays with all the junipers and pines.

I have had a few miniature pommegranates for several years. They are very dificult to cultivate and i thought i would share some solutions to thier health and vigor.

I have moved towards using fired clay based soils this year. The nutrient requirements in this medium have suprised me. They require far more than I had expected. Now that i have the big pines under control in this medium i turned my attention to some really sickly pomegranates in the same medium. weekly fertiliser wasnt having much impact at all.

In some older translated japanese bonsai books I have found a little advice about them. They advise deaper pots to suit the habit of the root system - and also note that they are heavy feeders. Any fruiting or flowering plant requires a lot of food during its productive season - my experience with the calamondon has taught me about this - and i also have a huge chilli harvest which uses vast quantities of feed to get its large yield.

A single overstrength dose of fertiliser every 10 days had almost no impact. Not on pines or citrus and certainly not on the pommegranates. The chillies and fruit now get fed every 2 days at normal strength. This wasnt enough for the pommegranate. I think part of this is due to the medium they are planted in - akadama is much more forgiving and seems to retain more nutrients.

I used Canna on the pines with good results. But its for vegetative growth and not flowers or fruit. It did revive the pomegranates and bring them back to reasonable health. The extra gogo im hoping will come from the Tomorite which has the better balance of nutrients for flowering plants. My chillies and tomotoes love the stuff - and the calamondon seems to be doing well on it too.


As i increased the frequency of fertilisation i became annoyed with the ammount of waste. For the calamondon i tollerate this as i only fertiliser every second day.

I use nutrients and equipment from the hydroponics industry. So i decided to grow the pomegranates on a home made ebb and flow hydroponic method. Simply I keep 5 litres of nutrient solution in a bucket. The pots are submerged into this solution twice a day or if the pot is very light from being dry.

This home made ebb and flow hydroponic setup had brought lush growth to the pommegrantes at last. I use the solution for about a week and then dump it on the beeches and hawthorns. So there is little waste of nutrient anymore.

Next year they will need a different soil to thrive - but for now they are well again.

Ebb and Flow
Pomegranate

Pines

Here is a picture of the Scots pine at the beginning of the year with its spring candles up.

I'm shortening the branches on the lower right as the opportunity arises.

Some of the foliage pads are forming.

See next post.

Pine progression

I'm still on the lower part of the learning curve for pines. But it seems that at least i am keeping them very healthy and full of vigor. Think Ive got a good grasp of the theory and some novel techniques of my own. But they do grow very slowly so its something you acquire over many years.

With this medium Scots pine that had been collected from the wild Ive had some challenges as there was growth at the end of some very long spindly branches. Its been repotted and is responding with loads of back budding - even onto old wood.





When the opportunity has arisen with some choice areas of budding Ive cut back to them.

Here are 3 choice buds all starting to grow as part of the second flush of growth.

Ive removed the top bud. This has allowed me to move the growth and ramification in closer to the trunk and improve the overall shape of the bonsai.

Now i have a well positioned horizontal fork nice and close in. Going to need 3 or 4 more of these.

Back budding on old wood. And its a long way back.










Here is one of the new candles from the second flush. Ideally next year i will get a tree full of these. This year started slowly while i got to grips with the feeding requirements in sterile growth medium. I now feed the pine trees 4 times a week. I am amazed at how much they can eat.

Oak

This oak is 60cm tall now from the surface of the soil. It began another strong flush of growth so Ive cut it right back. Some of the ramification deltas are now 3 deep and looking very nice. Ive left some of the Whopper early season giant leaves on to power it. Next year its going to look good if Ive got the node lenghts correctly suited to the foliage.


All the cuts are sealed. Ive got a nice selection of terminal buds which is going to improve the shape and further the ramification. Its been growing from the last 2 buds on each branch as a rule - so its a bit harder to control - but if you trim well its very effective.

The oak certain loves the fine akadama. I'm unsure about the biozorb so i may put this one back in coarse akadama for another 2 years.

The internal branches are all coming off from nice positions on the trunk. not too even. not too perfect. There has been a lot of wiring in there to keep it from becoming to unruly.

I suppose its a mistake to have begun the crown with 45 degree branches. It will do for now.



 






The Beech's have begun their second flush of growth for the year. I'm hoping for another 5 leaves. In some places i have 3 nodes already. So mid to late June around London seems to be when you get another burst from them.

I'm enjoying the beech's. They seem to put on weight faster than oaks - but retain their smaller leaves. I'm going to have to get at least one of them into a bigger container for next year. I'm also temped to chop one of them off quite low. Going to have to think a bit more about the results i would achieve with a trunk chop.