Trimming one of my favorite "Hawthorn".

Thanks guy's and girl's,
I am glad you like my little tree!
If you are interested in the whole long story of this Hawthorn, right from me collecting it in March 2006, during a yamadori trip together with my old Bonsai Buddy "Mister Tickle" himself! You can go HERE directly to it's 2 parts story on my Bonsai website.
To give you a impression, here is how the tree looked in February 2008 before the first styling.



Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

That is one crazy tree!
World class, no doubt.
I'm especially impressed of it being of such manageable size.
Hat off...

Hi Hans I remember exactly when you collected this lovely tree... And exclaimed at the time that you would make it into an exquisite Bonsai... And you have. Hawthorns are the best don't you think!

Welcome Back Hans!!!! Great to you see a real talented man posting again. I missed the over sized Smileys of yours in this forum more than your trees...just kidding. how's the "big elephant larch" going?


regards,
jun

I feel happy for the IBC to have such a valuable member back!

I wish you the best, Hans!

Thank you for sharing! Indeed a great tree.
Can I be rude enough to ask if you can share a picture of the intended pot for the tree? Got me very curious!
But I do understand if you wish to wait untill the tree is in it.

Sincerely
Storm

Awesome progression very inspiring . How is the larch (the elephant)doing??

Storm wrote:Thank you for sharing! Indeed a great tree.
Can I be rude enough to ask if you can share a picture of the intended pot for the tree? Got me very curious!
But I do understand if you wish to wait untill the tree is in it.

Sincerely
Storm

Thanks everybody for your replies! And Storm no problem! Here they are! The orange stickers is on this pot, because it was not for sale! Dan liked it to much himself. He told me that on this pot the colors and texture came out in a special way. I told him that it was absolutely gorgeous and that the color reminded me of the green you some times see on old Chinese pots! I asked him if I could make some pictures of it, because I realy liked it! He placed the pot on the table you see in the pictures and when I finished, he took the pot in his hands and than sad, and now this pot is yours! I was flabbergasted and over the moon and I even think that I might have kissed him! So this beautiful pot holds a lot off dear memories for me. And therefore it would have been nice when my little Hawthorn would have fit in it right away! But there is always a next time in bonsai and I learned over the years how to be patience!...NOT!!!





Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Lovely pot, and lovely story

Superb trunck movement, very nice shaped branches and compact, me like a lott.
The Dan pot would be great for it.

Peter

Hans van Meer. wrote:

Storm wrote:Thank you for sharing! Indeed a great tree.
Can I be rude enough to ask if you can share a picture of the intended pot for the tree? Got me very curious!
But I do understand if you wish to wait untill the tree is in it.

Sincerely
Storm

Thanks everybody for your replies! And Storm no problem! Here they are! The orange stickers is on this pot, because it was not for sale! Dan liked it to much himself. He told me that on this pot the colors and texture came out in a special way. I told him that it was absolutely gorgeous and that the color reminded me of the green you some times see on old Chinese pots! I asked him if I could make some pictures of it, because I realy liked it! He placed the pot on the table you see in the pictures and when I finished, he took the pot in his hands and than sad, and now this pot is yours! I was flabbergasted and over the moon and I even think that I might have kissed him! So this beautiful pot holds a lot off dear memories for me. And therefore it would have been nice when my little Hawthorn would have fit in it right away! But there is always a next time in bonsai and I learned over the years how to be patience!...NOT!!!








Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

It holds dear memories for me too!...... I'm still holding that wonderful bottle of Middleton very rare Irish whiskey to sip with you. So my friend, get well soon and get yourself over here and we'll find the sleeping moon and slumber in intoxicated bliss. Thanks for your kind comments, and the tree is, as my good friend Peter Adams might have said: "Much too good for you!".... and I would add: "innit tho!"

Cheers,

Dan

ps..... you can kiss me anytime!!!!!!!! — not!

Hehe, great story, and a great pot. Looking forward to see the tree potted into it!

Hans
Very nice job on the Hawthorne. It is a execlent specim. You have given me direction on one of my own. We have a indiginous one here. The common name is parsley Hawthorne. Any growing tips for a rookie like me.

Mitch

Dan Barton wrote:

It holds dear memories for me too!...... I'm still holding that wonderful bottle of Middleton very rare Irish whiskey to sip with you. So my friend, get well soon and get yourself over here and we'll find the sleeping moon and slumber in intoxicated bliss. Thanks for your kind comments, and the tree is, as my good friend Peter Adams might have said: "Much too good for you!".... and I would add: "innit tho!"

Cheers,

Dan

ps..... you can kiss me anytime!!!!!!!! — not!

You are to kind dear sir! And if things keep on going, like the are going at this moment!? Well, than I will be cashing in on your tempting offer in the near future! Than we can further discus the "FIRST DEMENSION" and it use in modern Bonsai! And to be honest Dan...I will start to understand it all a bit better, the moment that I start seeing things trough purple coloured spectacles from that heavenly nectar you pour!
Have fun at the Bristol Bonsai Society (BBS) show this Sunday! And say Hi to Dan and Ritta for me! And a kiss for MomC and who cares? One for you to!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

A superb lesson in how to wire and style a Hawthorn. Thanks for sharing your wealth of experience with us Hans.

And I agree with Tony.....Hawthorn are THE best.

Although, English Elm are rapidly closing the gap for me!

Hello Hans,

Above all thanks for sharing the evolution of this amazing tree (personally one of my favorites) I believe sometimes people dont really apreciate enough the effort of sharing in nowdays, I really hope that you continue to share this project with us all, since I belive that this little Hawthorn fellow has much to teach us all.

About the pot, it's trully outstanding, another amazing work by Dan.

Hope to hear from this tree again in a near future

Best regards,

[quote="Harleyrider"]A superb lesson in how to wire and style a Hawthorn. Thanks for sharing your wealth of experience with us Hans.

And I agree with Tony.....Hawthorn are THE best.

quote]

Thanks Steve! And I also agree with Tony, but not for the full hundred percent! See below!



Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Mitch Thomas wrote:Hans
Very nice job on the Hawthorne. It is a execlent specim. You have given me direction on one of my own. We have a indiginous one here. The common name is parsley Hawthorne. Any growing tips for a rookie like me.

Mitch

I am glad to hear that my little tree is a inspiration to you!
Well if your parsley Hawthorn has the same growing habits as the Crataegus that I work with? Than here is a tip: Let the new shoots that you have selected to become branches or a top, grow freely until they have almost reach the thickens that you need them to be for your design. Especially in mid size to large size Bonsai! Because if you cut them back to soon to the desired length, they will hardly thicken any more in the near future! I have found this out the hard way even on this one! Not even if you let next year shoots, that grow from them, grow freely, it will still not thicken much! So once cut there is not much more thickening to expect! So loosely put some wire on these new branches to give it it's basic shape and than let it grow! Make sure that the wire dos not dig in! Those new shoots grow realy fast! When it is time to remove the wire, carfuly recoil it in one piece, straitened it out and than re use it on the same branch! If you branch has reached the desired thickness, you cut is back to any off it's secondary branches. These thinner secondary branches than become the new leader of the branch or top! This way you have created outward taper and movement on your main branch! The way how I wire and shaped the branches on this and other Hawthorn of this size, allows me to cut back to younger branches for many years to come. With out loosing the intended shape! And the branches will only get better over time!
Hope that it makes any sense?? But in my defense, it is very late again!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Hans van Meer.
... ... ...
Location: behind my pc.

I have just noticed that now you are... everywhere, Hans!

Hans van Meer. wrote:
....here is a tip: Let the new shoots that you have selected to become branches or a top, grow freely until they have almost reach the thickens that you need them to be for your design. Especially in mid size to large size Bonsai! Because if you cut them back to soon to the desired length, they will hardly thicken any more in the near future! I have found this out the hard way even on this one! Not even if you let next year shoots, that grow from them, grow freely, it will still not thicken much!
Hans van Meer.

Not a lot of people would know that!

Top info

Great tree Hans needless to say.

TimR

tony wrote:Hi Hans, Hawthorns are the best don't you think!

Hi Tony,
And I do agree, they are the best! To proof this point I would like to share someting amazing that happened to a other yamadori Hawthorn that I named the dancer.
Below: March 2006.
I collected this strangely shaped tree in a dune forest close to the sea, just a 10 minutes drive from were I live. A part of this old forest would be flooded so that it could become a tidal wetland again like it use to be many years ago. This would be don so that the original wildlife could return to occupy this part of the coast again. So most of the Hawthorns and other trees that live here would drown and die! So I was glad that I could at least safe one! The tree was more than 2 meter in height so I sawed off all of it's branches there and than.



Below: Later that same year. The tree has recovered well. It strange shape and height are a real challenge to transform in to a believable Bonsai!



Below: And this is how the tree looks in 2011. After just a few years of work it is starting to become a fantasy tree in Literati style!



So what is so amazing about this tree? Well the above picture was made just a few days ago! After years of growing very fast with out any problems, the tree did not open it's buds this year! It appeared to have died during the harsh winter we had last year! I was devastated! But there was a glimmer of hope, because it happened to me once before that a Hawthorn appeared to be death! That was many ears ago and it happened to one of the first Hawthorns that I had collected with Tony Tickle. When I called him for advice, he told me to leave it be, because some times they just go to sleep for a wile! And surely next growing season it started to bud and grow like nothing ever happened to it! So I was glad that I took Tony's advice, because that same tree was shown a few years later at the Ginkgo awards! So knowing this I placed this Hawthorn in a sheltered spot and hoped for a other miracle! And if you look closely to the above picture you will notice that I got my miracle!
More will follow!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Below: On almost every branch the buds are swelling and new growth can be seen everywere! Even on the lower part of the tree there is new growth!



Below: Close up of the top section. Isn't it amazing! Like a phoenix it has resurrected!



Now I am hopeful that she might recover completely! And even if she still looses some branches, I dont care, as long as she lives!
So this proves the point that Hawthorns are truly amazing and very suited for a live as Bonsai!
So the lesson here is: Don't trow away your Hawthorn when it appears to be dead! Give it some time, it might just be sleeping, like my "Dancer" was!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

thanks for sharing such beautiful pictures and an awesome story, hans! glad you could save such a beautiful tree from an untimely death. i especially like the picture from late 2006 with the heineken in the pot...my kind of scale reference.

best of luck with the future of this tree!
Jesse

Hi Hans,

Do you have some progression photos of this http://hans-van-meer.ofbonsai.org/2011/05/25/two-hawthorns-and-a-x-mas-tree/ small haw?

I have a straight haw and i want to have some ideas on i to make a shohin.

Thanks.

Jesse McMahon wrote:thanks for sharing such beautiful pictures and an awesome story, hans! glad you could save such a beautiful tree from an untimely death. i especially like the picture from late 2006 with the heineken in the pot...my kind of scale reference.

best of luck with the future of this tree!
Jesse

Thanks Jesse! And I know the importance of proper scale reference! Otherwise things can get very confusing! Thake this picture that I made a few days ago. Now is this Weigelia a very small shohin, or is it a very large lightener?!



Cheers,
Hans van Meer.