Pigs ear of a box.

Hi,
Really it's more of a Sow's head.





Could this sow's head become a silk bonsai?

Another box. It's a big one.
Started with a little block carving. I plan on stripping it as much as possible by had, but it is very hard wood, so I needed to block carve first.


Does Box deadwood rot quickly?

Finally, a shohin box.


The crab apple is not joined to the box.
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I love the second and third ones. Not sure about the first as its difficult to see where the weeds stop and the tree starts!!! Beautiful base on the second but the big lump of wood at the top needs some refining, as you well know. the shohin will be a little honey. Boxwood will last a very long time, with treatment of course. Im jealous.

H Will,
Thank you for your reply.

"Not sure about the first as its difficult to see where the weeds stop and the tree starts!!!"

we'ed do better next time.
I obtained all three for a guy in the Warminster society. I bought one, traded one and he gave me the other.
I have never worked with Box before, so it's a steep learning curve. I'm look forwards to the ride.
Advice, info and thoughts regarding Box, would be very welcome.

Wow Jerry nice material. The little Piggy Wiggy looks interesting. I am working on a box this weekend with Harleyrider.... the stump shown here a week or so ago. The wood is VERY hard... will probably burn out my Matika... wheres Bob when you need him

Tony

Having just worked on Tony's Box (!!), I can confirm that it is very hard wood indeed. Although it didn't burn out the Makita, it certainly gave his branch splitters a run for their money.

Love the pigs 'ead, btw. All it needs now is an apple in its gob and we're laughing!

I thought about Tony Ticklinng your box!! but you beat me to it. Got any pics?

Absolutely loads of 'em! Matt was with us and between us we took over 100 pics. We've been tasked to write an illustrated report on the whole process from raw material through branch selection, hacking the top off the stump, carving and hollowing the whole thing, wiring and shaping of the branches and all points inbetween.
Hopefully it won't take too long.........

That was one hectic 5 hour session we had there.

Harleyrider wrote:
Love the pigs 'ead, btw. All it needs now is an apple in its gob and we're laughing!

Terry's choc orange courtesy of steve, (harleyrider) at Burrs last weekend.

In the words of the advert: "It's not Terry's, it's mine!"

And, thanks to that lovely Harleyrider, that's exactly what happened.

I have heard that boxwoods are difficult to lift from the ground and then keep alive for more than 4-5 years. Is there any truth to that idea?? Is there a best way to dig up a boxwood? I ask because I have several that are about 18 years old and I'm itching to do something with them. Thanks.

Libby

Hi Bumblebee. Everything I have been told about Buxux suggests that they are extremely hardy and forgiving, even being compared to Privet in that respect.
As long as you collect enough fibrous roots and give them a couple of years in a grow-box you should have no problems.

Just so you know, the examples seen above were collected from a hedge thought to be between 400 - 500 years old!