The Boxwood has Left its Wood Box

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, buxus, collect, pot, repot, yamadori

I am stoked about this old boxwood! I have shared it before (HERE and HERE) and have been doing my best to practice the restraint that is often this bonsai enthusiast’s downfall.

Boxwood in 2017, planted in sand for a year after collection.

This plant was dug from a suburban yard in 2017. At over four feet tall and wide, I had to cut a lot of branches just to haul it home. To make that work I chose to favor the first branch and bend for the future design. Despite the hard cuts, new growth emerged from the upper stump and in other adventitious locations as I gradually worked back the tree over the next couple of years.

It was planted into a large wooden box after a year of recovery in a sandy hole in the ground, and this is the box it has stayed in until this spring. At about 24 inches square and five and a half inches deep, this thing is super heavy! I do not like moving it.

In 2019 the old stump above the first bend was removed. As you might guess, the loss of all those limbs early on caused a significant part (nearly half) of the trunk to die off. I did some carving and removed the bark from the dead roots that were accessible from the surface.

Dead side of the trunk carved in 2019.

Last year was a great year for some strong extension growth that made me feel like the tree was ready for wiring and styling. I decided to first try to get it into a decent pot, but unsure of the state of the roots, I didn’t know if I would be able to reduce it sufficiently to get it into a ceramic container.

Before removing from the wooden box, spring 2021

I had an 18 inch square Anderson flat at the ready in case I decided to reduce the roots in stages, but what I was really hoping for is to get it into this 12 inch pot.

A 12 inch pot propped on the corner of the wooden box.

The one thing I knew I had going for me is that half of the trunk had died back. This meant all of the live roots were coming off one side and there was no need to fit dead roots into the container. And guess what… it worked!

Boxwood in first ceramic pot, spring 2021.

Is that sweet or what?!

I wish I could show you a fully styled tree, but I just couldn’t wait to share. I’m still trying to practice patience and do what’s best for the tree.

At the time of repotting, I did remove unwanted branches, but I am going to wait to wire and prune what remains until the fragile spring buds have had a chance to open up and harden off. I also need to do a little cleaning on newly exposed dead roots.

I am excited about the future of this tree and look forward to sharing the styling with you later this season.

Japanese Holly in Early Development

Tags

Bonsai, collect, holly, prune, pruning, repot, root, rootwork, styling, yamadori

Bonsai is an art of patience. Sometime around four years ago I found a Japanese holly growing wild in area where I knew I was able to collect. It was overgrown, but I saw potential for not just one, but at least two trees. I waited until the following growing season to take an air layer (which you can read about here), and then until the spring after that to dig the parent plant (which you can read about here). It has been recovering in a planting box for the last couple of years, so we are four years in and we aren’t even to the fun part yet!

Japanese holly “parent” plant

Beech Vacation

Tags

beech, Bonsai, collect, dig, Fagus, yamadori

I don’t actually have anything about a vacation here, I’m just a sucker for a silly play on words. Yeah, I’m one of those guys who actually appreciates the punny newspaper headlines.

With the Coronavirus, I am at home. No vacation for me. I am still working five days a week from home and in my planned beach vacation (beach with an A) is all but officially cancelled due to a stay at home order. In the mean time, I am playing with beech (no A), American beech, Fagus grandifolia.

I’ve shared this first beech with you before. Check it out here if you want to read more. And there’s more where that came from.

This particular time in spring, at least here in Northern Virginia, is a special moment where beech are concerned. A few of the most vigorous beech buds are starting to look greener than they did over the winter and are starting to swell and extend. Those buds will begin to open any day now, and that means it’s a good time to dig.

Some of my first beech collections were tiny little things. The awkward twisted fella above, and the little guy below have been in pots for several years. After getting a vibe on their recovery and growth habits, I had the nerve collect larger specimens like the wide spreading broom at top.

The twin trunk, shown next, is a nice little tree that I think has a lot of potential after I have some time to develop the ramification.

I recently had someone try to convince me the front below was better than the one shown above. He argued that the visible split in the lower trunk was a desirable feature, but photographing the tree helped solidify that the front above is better in my opinion. I mean, look at the way the trunks are dancing with one another!

I have a few more excellent candidates growing out there in the ground. Most recently I collected this one with a nice leaning quality. The upright trunk in the back will likely be removed in the future.

…and this one that includes a couple of upright trunks that are starting to fuse together. It could be something very cool at some point down the road.

I wonder if I have the courage to dig this big guy! I know the bright sunlight makes it hard to see, but check out that wide spreading base! I’ll watch it and take my time deciding. No need to rush.

Holding my ground on the Ugly Pine

Tags

Bonsai, collect, NVBS, pine, prune, pruning, styling, Virginia, wiring, yamadori

Have you ever taken a bonsai to a club meeting or a workshop just to get everyone’s unsolicited advice about how you should style it? We have an often repeated joke in our local club that if you ask ten different people you’ll get twelve different answers. That’s especially true when you have an unkempt tree that is in desperate need of styling. And apparently also true if you don’t even ask.

Beech Bonsai Progress

Tags

beech, Bonsai, collect, Fagus, pruning, styling, wire, wiring, yamadori

I am super excited about the development of a beech I collected and shared with you two years ago. You can read about that, and see photos from the time of collection here. For a quicker reminder, here’s a photo from autumn 2018, just a half a year after being collected.

Beech in fall color, November 2018

Is it hard to dig?

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, collect, collection, dig

A friend from my bonsai club was asking about digging some shrubs that his neighbor doesn’t want anymore. He knows I like to collect so he asked if it’s hard. I probably should have just said, “Yes,” but I provided a longer answer that I thought I would share with you.

Bonsai, a Second Chance for Unwanted Shrubs

Tags

Bonsai, boxwood, buxus, collect, dig, NVBS, yamadori

In late September, I went to a property out in Haymarket to remove a number of boxwood shrubs that the owner no longer wanted. Rather than just ripping them out and discarding them, she found Northern Virginia Bonsai Society through our website and asked if we could give them a second chance as bonsai.

A Hidden Gem, Japanese Holly

Tags

Bonsai, collect, dig, how to, ilex, Japanese Holly, yamadori

Sometimes the greatest payoffs come only with a lot of patience, and a little struggle. It is finally time to collect a Japanese holly, Ilex cranata, that I have been watching for nearly two years now.

Beaver Beech Bonsai

Tags

animal artist, beaver, beech, Bonsai, collect, yamadori

Triple B!

“What the heck is beaver beech bonsai?” you ask. It’s the tree I collected this morning!

Learning to Live in a Pot

Tags

bareroot, Bonsai, box, boxwood, buxus, collect, pot, root, rootwork, training, wash

It might sound strange, but a tree needs to learn to live in a pot, and that takes some time. A year ago a large boxwood took the first step in the process (you can read about it here) and it was about as gentle a transition as there could be — you know, considering it just got cut from the ground, had many of its roots severed and most of its branches removed. After collection, this plant went back in the ground!