bonsai occupations next weekend and next few weeks

I aim to have 1 or 2 fieldmaples Acer Campestre as raw material this weekend, hurray... to fieldgrow 1 or 2 more years, or put in wooden box. Either way, i'll first chop all branches and leave mainly the trunk, maybe chop it partly.

Other thing is a few common alders i have spotted in a nearby terrain next to an uninhabited house. Some are bushy/multiple trunks, some are solitary trees, some 2 to 3 metres in height, thickness between 1 inch and 2 to 3 inches, so interesting to go ask around, ring the doorbells and drag my shovel with me.

some pictures of the raw material field maples where I will choose from to further fieldgrow it whilst rebuilding some first branch structure; or keep in wooden box to do the same:

Have fun with this nice group of material!

yves71277 wrote:I aim to have 1 or 2 fieldmaples Acer Campestre as raw material this weekend, ... ...

May I ask is it raw material cultivated to be trained and become a bonsai or just ordinary nursery material?

my nellie wrote:

yves71277 wrote:I aim to have 1 or 2 fieldmaples Acer Campestre as raw material this weekend, ... ...

May I ask is it raw material cultivated to be trained and become a bonsai or just ordinary nursery material?

offcourse you 'may' ask . Well its a bit in between, it hasnt been cultivated for that purpose right from the beginning, but about the last 3 or 4 years yes. So indeed, not your average nursery material that you would 'find by being lucky'.

I see.
Good findings indeed.
The nurseries here have very tall trees on which the ramification starts too high with no taper.
One has to go around and try hard to find something decent.

Well, weekend has passed so now I have one more baby to take care of, that is 1 acer campestre.

They were a bit of a mess, branch-wise, a bit neglected so very heavy at the top and thus a bit of inverse taper too. Will be very hard to correct since i changed my mind and probably won't fieldgrow it some more time.

I'll grow it in a wooden box for about 2 years, maybe let some sacrifice branches grow on the lower parts.

It has a nebari what first looks a bit impressive, but then is a bit dissapointing. In april 2013 I want to repot, put on good substrate in wooden box, and graft a few young acer campestre's (i'll go and find some at a local tree nursery) on the roots, and maybe use some for threadgrafting.

In the meanwhile i could not resist pruning it back hard this sunday. I'll leave it now, do nothing, and give it a good winters protection until late march to repot it.

I'll upload some pictures of the pruning i've done so far.

and here it is, after initial pruning.
the basic structure will be further decided the next year and in 2014, before transplanting it in bonsai trainingpot. Until then just grow it in a wooden box and see how the green develops, adjust basic structure or not. I'm not even sure i will not chop the trunk even further, but i think it is 'ok' now; and i dont mind the very slight inverse taper, maybe let some sacrifice branches help me with that, dont know yet i'll see what i get.

none of the wounds will be sealed now, i'll just give it a winters protection and then let nature heal the wounds next year.