Crataegus monogyna

This is another project ive been working on, English Hawthorn bought from a nursery, its been previously collected from the wild as shows signs of grazing by animals. ive been told it has white flowers but i havnt seen them yet, i picked it up last aug. ive been trimming bits off here n there, but the last couple days i removed a lot of the undesirable branching and re potted. it will be styled like a real Hawthorn tree in the wild...








and after i cleaned off the moss and tidied up the nebari, reduced the canopy...I see this as the front









Type of image i have in mind, i think the tree is already showing how it wants to grow












The tree today




Obviously needs to develop, but it will be a somewhat airy and open look....

Update later in year

Nice tree. As I was scrolling through the pictures I was wondering whether you had been reading the exchange between Michael and Walter Pall about cutting back hard for better ramification.  Great read btw. It looks like you have been paying attention.  Are you planning on cutting back the top branch on the upper right or will that be a new trunk leader?

Thanks for sharing
Steve

steveb wrote:Nice tree. As I was scrolling through the pictures I was wondering whether you had been reading the exchange between Michael and Walter Pall about cutting back hard for better ramification.  Great read btw. It looks like you have been paying attention.  Are you planning on cutting back the top branch on the upper right or will that be a new trunk leader?

Thanks for sharing
Steve

Hi Steve, i make a lot of my decisions based on the form of trees in nature, many Hawthorn start as one trunk breaking into two and can be quite airy trees



i came to the conclusion that if im going for this particular look, i could afford to remove some of the character less or undesirable branching and focus on the trees best bits, while keeping in within my desired image of an old Hawthorn from a harsh environment. so the plan now is to develop the tree from the main branches ive kept, i need to see how the top right branch develops before making a decision on an apex or two.

Ive also been keeping up to date with AJ's thread and all the comments, its indeed a good read and very informative and yes there are many tips to be had

Btw Steve, ive been working on this one a few months, but the last images and cut back were done a couple days ago, but its been cut back here n there over maybe a six month period.

Hi Steve, as someone recently pointed out, AJ's thread is very inspiring and well worth checking out....but shouldnt be the core of the forum,
Maybe if other folk started sharing they're own work and ongoing projects, the forum would be a lot busier?
You kind of get the feeling sometimes, people are waiting for their trees to become world class masterpieces before sharing
I see this on a few forums, i dont use a blog although maybe i should...but im quite happy to keep logging my work on various forums and updating as i go along, doing my bit to keep the forums alive in the process

Those are beautiful pictures of natural trees that you posted. To replicate that look as a bonsai would be incredible and it looks like yours is on the way.

I have a few hackberries (Celtis) that I've been growing from seedlings.  I've read, and noticed from the ones growing in my back yard,  that they also have 2 or 3 trunks that form starting half way up the tree.  It looks a little strange on mature trees so don't know how it will look on a bonsai.  

I'm guilty of not posting much of my work. This is mostly because much is in the ground. However I have 6 trees that I'm digging up and potting this spring and I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures. 

Steve

Nice start, and I like your approach: looking at trees in nature rather than getting inspiration from other bonsai.

Cheers guys, will update as it develops...
Steve, look forward to seeing your progressions, Hackberry make great bonsai, there is a really good looking broom style one in the 'show us your brooms thread' .

An early summer update, this one has been growing well and ive been pruning it as i go along..
url=https://flic.kr/p/H4yk44][/url]IMG_0564 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0565 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0566 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0567 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0571 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0572 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0573 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

A winter update, still early days, but quite an improvement in the primary structure...
It was wired over summer and been taking wire off the last few days, in future ill mainly use clip and grow to style the tree..

IMG_3069 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_3247 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Maybe there's a potential windswept in there..
IMG_3248 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr


Bark starting to show some character
IMG_3253 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_3257 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

It's going nicely!
Beautiful autumnal image those yellow leaves!
My hawthorn has not a single yellow leaf yet... still hot for it Perhaps I should send it to bed for winter using the defoliation?

my nellie wrote:It's going nicely!
Beautiful autumnal image those yellow leaves!
My hawthorn has not a single yellow leaf yet... still hot for it Perhaps I should send it to bed for winter using the defoliation?

Hi Nelly, this was one of the last trees on my balcony to change colour and go into dormancy....it might not be cold enough for yours to change colour yet, i wouldnt force it though

Thank you for your suggestion!

Please, spent some minutes reading Harry Harrington website about hawthorns.
Be aware they awake very soon after dormancy.