Suburban Yamadori, Boxwood

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, buxus, collecting, suburban, yamadori

One of the many perks of membership in a bonsai organization is that one of the club members may learn about unwanted shrubs that can be collected, and share the opportunity. The suburbs are a fantastic collection area with many old shrubs and hedgerows, and homeowners who are regularly making changes. In this case, the homeowner had recently moved into a home with many boxwood bushes throughout the yard. Chuck shared the availability with the club, and today he and I went to dig two large specimens.

That pile of branches is what we removed to make digging, moving, and future styling easier. 

I claimed a big single trunk tree for myself. The second bush had multiple trunks, but we soon discovered it was two plants placed too close together. We separated the two and they will go to other club members who expressed interest. 

I brought mine home and plopped it back into the ground to recover and gradually be pruned back. 

Look at that mass of leaves! It’s still 4 feet tall plus. Here’s a different angle. 

Remember that pile of branches? Now you know where a bunch of them came from!

You can see this is going to be a long term project. Over the next couple of years I expect back budding down the trunk and I will gradually remove the foliage that is furthest from that lovely trunk. I mean… look at that thing!

Isn’t she lovely?! Thanks for all your help, Chuck! I’d dig trees with you any day. 

NVBS Spring Show

Tags

Bonsai, exhibit, Merrifield Garden Center, NVBS

The Northern Virginia Bonsai Society has the spring show on display this weekend at the Fairfax location of Merrifield Garden Center. 

I love that members of the society can show any tree. It’s a great opportunity to see what friends are working on, including works in progress. The chance to see trees in training is also a great way to share the process and art form with the visiting public. 

I entered two trees — for all their flaws — the ficus and boxwood below. 

There were many other (more) fine examples. I couldn’t get great shots of them all, but please enjoy the images below. And if you can stop by to see it in person, so much the better. 

Kicking the Habit

Tags

Bonsai, ficus, repot, tropical, wire

I’m trying to quit tropicals. They were for me, and are for many, a great way into bonsai, but I just don’t have appropriate indoor space for very many tropicals to overwinter. 

Trying to quit really means I am just trying not to get any more. I have seven ficus (of a few different varieties) and don’t want more than that. This also means resisting the urge to root any large cuttings. Because ficus are so easy to propagate, this is sometimes challenging to resist. 

Ok, I’ve said my piece, now let me get onto today’s tree. 

I started this tree from a cutting all the way back in the beginning of my bonsai journey, over 20 years ago. It’s been on that rock for years, and I just put into this new pot which fits it much better than the oversized blue pot it has been in. 

Now for some wire. 

I look forward to when the weather is warmer and I can put this outside to enjoy our summer humidity. 

Group Wiring

Tags

Bonsai, juniper, NVBS, wiring

It was great to spend the morning at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens with a few folks from NVBS: Xuan, Nick, and Sundar. A few of the bonsai there needed some attention. A bit of wiring and a couple of repots on a few small trees were completed quickly and we all turned our attention to this Juniper. 

We wired the whole thing. At times it was almost comical when all four of us were wiring different parts, but it made for quick work. 

Xuan was our expert of the morning, and with his guidance a new front was selected and the branches set into position. 

I look forward to watching this tree develop further. 

Pest: Pine Tortoise Scale

Tags

Bonsai, pest, pine, scale

I collected a few Virginia Pine specimens a couple of weeks ago. The stress of transplanting can make plants more susceptible to pests and disease, so it was no big surprise to discover a pine tortoise scale infestation on one of them. 

Can you see them, above? How about below?

You can see where they get the name. This cluster of sap suckers looks like several tiny turtles stacked onto the same section of branch. 

So what to do? On a small tree in a pot, you remove them by hand. These are fat little guys who have gorged on pine sap, so I prefer to where gloves to limit the amount of bug guts on my fingers. When they are hard to reach or they are wedged between needles, I use an old toothbrush to brush them off. 

I figure I removed 80 to 100 from this plant (some of the carnage shown above on a wet paper towel) and then I treated with a systemic pesticide to take care of any I missed and any future attacks. 

Air Layer

Tags

air layer, Bonsai, how to, propogation

I found a big Japanese Holly growing wild by the reservoir near my home. It’s surrounded by brambles on a steep hill — not in an easy-to-reach spot.

I had removed some branches before taking the photo above, but even before it had that long extension through the middle. I decided to air layer the top this year with plans to dig the rest next spring.

Despite success in the past with air layers started in May, members of my bonsai club assure me you can start air layers as early as February, so I gathered my tools to get started.

In addition to a sharp knife (not shown), I brought pre-soak sphagnum moss, a couple of pruning tools to remove any branches in the way, a newspaper bag, wire and cutters to hold the bag in place, rooting hormone, a soft brush, 1/3 of a roll of cling wrap (cut with a utility knife), and some aluminum foil.

I like to cut away a section of bark and cambium 1 1/2 to 2 times longer than the width of the branch being layered. This branch is about an inch and a quarter thick.

Then I scrape the white sap wood with the knife to make sure all hints of the green cambium are removed and make a fresh, clean cut at the top. The new roots will grow from that top cut edge.

Here are the next steps in case you’d like to try this yourself.

• Cut the plastic bag into a large rectangle, wrap it around the branch, and secure it with wire below the cut.
• Brush rooting hormone onto the top cut. I also took a strip of wet moss brushed with more hormone and wrapped it directly against the cut edge.
• Stuff the bag with wet sphagnum moss and close it with wire above the cut.
• Next I use that short roll of cling wrap to tighten down the bag of moss by wrapping it thouroughly like you would with an Ace bandage.
• Once the bundle it tightly secured in place, wrap it with a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side out, to reflect the suns heat and create a dark environment for the roots to grow. The foil is just squeezed into place and can easily be removed and replaced to check progress.

I will check on this periodically through the growing season and add water if needed.

Look for an update in the fall.

San Jose Juniper

Tags

Bonsai, juniper, repot, san jose, styling

I’ve had this San Jose Juniper for nearly a year now. I acquired it as bonsai material (as opposed to home and garden nursery stock) and did some initial branch positioning late last summer. It’s strong and healthy, and in need of a better soil mix so I will get it out of this nursery pot and into something more fitting. 

There were a couple of design adjustments I decided to make now as well. It didn’t take long after that first wiring for the wire to start biting in, so it was removed in the fall and some of the branches have crept upwards since then. Most adjustments can wait, but I did decide to go ahead and re-wire the apex and upper left branch to get them back down where they belong. 

I also removed the lowest branch on the left, as I have been planning to do, and used guy wires to pull two back branches into that space. This may seem like a lot of moving at the same time as a repot, but at only 13 or 14 inches tall, this tree’s branches are quite flexible and shiuld be able to recover well. 

Here it is after the work today. 

First steps, big dreams

This arborvitae was dug up and discarded at the curb when I found it in 2015. I brought it home and put it in the ground, mostly because I didn’t have a big enough pot or enough soil on hand. 

In this photo, it is 48 inches, my tallest tree by far, but it was seven feet tall when I found it. During the 2016 growing season I periodically removed branches to reduce it with hopes that I was keeping it sufficiently strong by not removing too many at once. I was encouraged that it responded by back budding even from the thicker trunks. 

Today, I lifted it, put it in this plastic training tray, and did some initial styling. This variety wants to grow straight up, so I wired down the long branches you see close to the base to allow light to get to the trunk without removing more leaves than I had to. I am hoping to encourage back budding and allow the plant to fill in before trying to shorten or remove any of these.

If all goes well it could become a triple trunk arrangement that suggests a huge, redwood-like forest with lots of deadwood. Maybe something like this:

Vicary Privet

Tags

Bonsai, in training, privet, repot

Spent some time today removing trees from their winter storage places, and found this Vicary Privet with swelling buds (along with evergreen leaves).

I collected this privet in 2015 and made the sloppy cuts you see. It was placed too deep in a large nursery pot that didn’t allow me to get a good look at the trunk structure. Today, I moved it to this training box and trimmed it down (12-16 inches) to what you see here. This should allow me access to make some decisions, some cleaner cuts, and perhaps even do some carving this year. 

It will be a long term project, but the large base offers some great potential. 

Autumn Olive Early Riser

This past weekend I checked the trees on my winter storage shelves to find a couple of Autumn Olive, Elaeagnus umbellata, pushing new leaves… It was February 12!

We have had a mild winter here in Virginia, and I don’t think these guys need much in the way of chilling hours. 

This little shohin size tree is one I have played with since 2012 in an effort to get to know the growth habits of the species. I had it in an earthenware pot, so no surprise (or big deal) that I found the pot had broken. It’s due for root pruning as well, so I decided to do the work now before the leaves came in even further.  

Here it is with a new pot, a new planting angle, and just a bit of trimming.