There is always plenty to keep us busy here in the Greenwood during the winter months. Here is some recent work and images to keep you interested till Spring time comes!
Recently I have been busy styling mostly evergreen bonsai, both from my own collection as well as clients trees. I thought I would show you some of this work.
Firstly we have an English Yew (Taxus). This tree had suffered from fire / scorch damage on the right hand side a year or so ago. It has now stabilised and was ready for restorative styling. My aim was to get it back on track and looking more sensible. It is still currently planted into a over depth training pot in order to increase and maximise vigour for the next season.
This transformation took around 3 hours of Studio time.
Next up, a favourite of mine. A client brought me along this Blue Cedar – Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ For a bit of trimming, wiring and further refinement. Winter is a great time to get jobs like this done, after all, who wants to be outside, when I can be tucked up working on bonsai.
Whilst we are on the subject of cedars, here are a few photos of a Deodar Cedar from my own collection. This shows the development of this tree over the last 3 years of my ownership. Firstly when It was purchased it looked like this (NOV 2015). It is quite overgrown, and it has out grown it’s bonsai pot.
After first Styling it was looking a lot more sensible. Also at this time it was potted into a larger pot. I also found the flared side on the profile of the pot suited the movement in the trunk much better. This image was taken just 10 days after the first one.
Over the following year it also filled out quite well, trimmed 3-4 times during the growing season, as Deodar’s are the most vigorous of the Cedar family. (2017)
In my third year working on this tree it now looks like the image below. (taken Dec 2018). A lot can be achieved with bonsai in a relatively short space of time. With the right care, and styling regime. It is always worth taking a quick photo of your trees when you work on them to build up some “service history” and in order to appreciate that your efforts are not in vain. In pretty much exactly 3 years I am pleased with how far I have come with this tree, and it seems happy too.
This tree I have been working on for 12 years, about 5 years ago It was exhibited at the Noelanders Bonsai Trophy in Belgium. It is a delight in winter, a purely winter image tree. Just to show you a rare glimpse of what it was like when I started, here is a photo from that day 12 years ago, enjoy!
This is an image of my large Siberian Elm. Captured (very quickly) whilst winter twigs were in the grip of frost.
