The Dragons have been busy over Christmas

There is always someone wanting to do a bit to their trees this time of year
Andy played withe idea of how is stunning cascade Larch would fit into this pot



I just love this type of combination





This is a mouthwatering combination, Andy decided to do the potting at a later date and for today just trimming the tree ready for the spring growth

Hi Chris
It will be a great connection.

Happy New Years all dragons.
Pavel

Hi Pavel and thanks for the reply.
Hope you have had a good Christmas and all the best for the new year

Regards Chris

Mike made time for some repotting before going back to Manchester for Christmas.
This is a typical problem that we encounter with collected stock, the "T BAR" root, not the best start to a project but depending on the quality of the tree above it it is often worth persevering with. So the time has come with this one after assessing the amount of back rooting to start reducing the long areas of the Tbar root and to balance this top pruning is carried out and always with the future image of the tree in mind.

















Hopefully this is on its way to becoming a nice tree

Regards Chris

The new pot for the cascade Larch will be an awesome combination. I am excited... and its not even my tree.

Andy repotted the Larch today into "THE" pot






















Andy I think this is a wonderful combination

Regards Chris

Llongyfarchiadau!!!!!

This is a great combination!!! I bet Andy is made up.

Where was the pot sourced Chris??

Hi Chris, you dragon guy's are always hard at work!
Just a concerned question: are those repotted trees going to be protected in a frost free winter shelter? I do believe that it would be safer to do that much rootwork on a Larch in early Spring?
Happy new Year!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Thanks for posting Chris.....nice combination between style and pot.....as I scrolled down I envisioned it a little higher in the pot......any thoughts on raising it with the next repot? Not having a frost free shelter I have to wait until March for Larch repots
It looks like there are some other interesting projects being worked on....?
Cheers Graham

Hi Bryan, Hans and gman.
Thanks for the replies
Bryan the pot is a MOPOT, Mo is a potter working down on the south coast

Hi Hans, thanks for the concern, Andy lives in a part of Wales called Pembrokshire this is the most south west corner, it is virtually frost free,as he said to us this week end at the workshop he had one night that went down to +2!!!!
He has under soil heating in his greenhouse as well. He manages fantastic growth, partly down to his expertise and partly due to his climate
Here is a larch he had with him this week only three years from collecting.







Hi gman, the position and hight of the planting was discussed and what you see is what Andy settled on this will no doubt be tweeked in future



Regards Chris

Jerry worked on a nice Hawthorn,

















I think Jerry look happy with the result,but he's sleeping again, its age !!!!!

Regards Chris

Thanks for the concern Hans, as Chris says, I live in a very mild part of Wales (Pembrokeshire) and I am located very close to the sea, so temperatures rarely drop below freezing. I also have a heated soil bed for collected stock and early repots. I am afraid I just could not wait to repot this one.
Here is a picture of my heated bed from last year.



Gman - yes we did discuss positioning the tree higher in the pot, but for me it exposed the somewhat slender trunkline hidden behind the more powerful cascading trunk line. Perhaps next time I might look for a way of disguising this (more moss/stone/mini fern planting).

Chris - I have to say it's been good to catch up over the past couple of weekends and do some work in the company of fellow Dragons and have a break from Christmas.
Just thought I would show a picture of my Boxing day activities - yes I was allowed in the house to do some wiring (it is Christmas after all)

Some beautiful Larches! Very interesting pot, that I think matches the tree well.

Andy, just curious, what temp do you keep that warming bed?

Its set on a variable thermostat at approximately 5' deg C for winter frost prevention. I also use for bringing on air layers once separated and for forcing cuttings, for this I set the temperature more towards 10-15'C. Just need to remember to water more than you usually would over the winter as one greenhouse does not get rain water and also bed has a drying effect.

Andy

The cascade larch looks great. I like the extra hole for the moss. What a great idea.

Alan

Thank You Andy.

Chris

Hi Andy everything is looking so organized I wish I could be so neat and tidy!!!!

See you soon

Regards Chris

Jason has been interested in Bonsai for a few years now and his job as a tree surgeon etc has given him the perfect opportunity To get some great material. He has been back and fore at the Sunday workshops on and off for years but now he is taking things a bit more serious.
Here are some of the trees he has been playing with
This oak needed defoiliating and structuring











The tree can now be seen and with some trimming a good balanced image is produced and with some wiring the tree will be ready for the new growth in spring

Here is a little crab apple that Jason found as a ground layer of an old tree and it flowers every year without fail!


The larger branch had some canker, but fortunately that was the one that was best to come off to give a more delicate image



With a little more attention to the ramification this tree in flower should be a winner

Regards Chris

Another one of Jason's great trees this is a Blackthorn that he rescued from hedgerow



A possible new pot ( john Pitt)



Some close ups







Regards Chris

That's a great Blackthorn Chris, it has lovely proportions. I think the John Pitt pot would suit it a treat.

Andy