Larch Pruning

I have just competed the winter pruning on my Larches.  I generally do this before the buds start to move, so that once the roots start pushing nutrients up the tree, it goes to the buds that I want to develop.
Building and maintaining ramification on larches is an ongoing proces and I have made a video that explains this process and also how branches are built up.

Signs of life

We had a good spell of relatively mild weather and things are starting to move.  The smaller trees in the greenhouse (mainly Tridents, Maples and Chinese Elms) are all starting to push buds.  Outside the European Hornbeams and also two of my Birches are also on the move and repotting is looming.  Can't wait.

Winter Update

December has seen temperatures as low as -14C, certainly the lowest I can remember (here in Leicestershire).  The weather has improved a little now and I am taking stock to see if any damage has occurred.  So far there is a few cracked pots and two of my Chinese Box trees are showing frost damage (dry, crispy leaves), but all the other trees seem to be ok.  Spring will tell.
Currently busy digging up some nice Larch and a great Silver Birch raw material from the grow beds.
Also sifting and grading the ingredients for my potting mixes in anticipation of a busy spring.  I am making a video  on bonsai potting soil in the next couple of weeks, so check back if interested.  

Winter has well and truly arrived

I have been very busy with my new Job, so my blog had to take a bit of a back seat. Just as well that there was not much to do in the bonsai garden.

After a great autumn with many nice days, winter has now well and truly arrived with sub zero temperatures and a covering of snow (the earliest substantial snowfall for 17 years).
The trees are all ready for their winter rest. The hardiest stay on the benches and the others are either below the bench under a fleece cover or in the cold greenhouse. I have also just picked up a consignment of newly imported Chinese elms, and as they have not had time to acclimatise to our winter temperatures yet, they have the prime spot in a heated greenhouse.

Autumn Colour

Most of my deciduous trees are now starting to change colour. The first on to put on a real show is my Korean Hornbeam Group.

Here is a video to show it in it's full autumn glory.

Enjoy

Styling the spruce video

Here is a video of the initial styling of the competition spruce.

Enjoy

Wee Trees Literati competition

I totally forgot to post this.  The new competition is well on it's way and I have entered two trees.
The competition is about styling any raw stock or pre trained bonsai material into a convincing Literati style tree.

So here are my two entries:

Lonicera nitidia - dug out of the garden beds this spring.

Blue Spruce (I think) - old Christmas tree that has been sitting around in my garden for a while

Here is my progress so far:

Lonicera

Spruce