Escallonia

I had the chance to collect some Escallonia from a 40 year old hedge that was being removed.
The first thing that suprised me was that over a 40ft run of hedge there was not a large amount of material worth lifting.
All the trees had nice bark but most were very straight and not of any use for Bonsai.
I collected 4 pieces that i think will make reasonable trees in time.



The first is a split trunk Chuhin size.



The second a Shohin size piece with some dead wood at the base.



This is another Shohin size tree.



The last one is the largest.

I am keeping them in a sheltered spot and misting twice a day to help with there survival.

Hi Peter,
I am sure you will have some fun with them and with your ability they are going to be great

Regards Chris

It's funny how some hedges of the stuff are all poker straight and other twist and turn. I was offered a 40 foot long hedge of the stuff last month but they were all straight and boring and not that heavy either considering the age. At least with heavy ones you can carve character into them

My favourite above is the last one. Should be really nice in a few years.

Thanks Chris, Ian.

No 2 and 4 are the keepers. The other two are for swaps when recovered.

If there's one thing I'm really starting to learn with regards to Yamadori its this, sculpting bonsai is easy, finding good material to do it with is hard.

I particularly like the last one.

man on the mountain wrote:If there's one thing I'm really starting to learn with regards to Yamadori its this, sculpting bonsai is easy, finding good material to do it with is hard.

Great bonsai is all about the material...

For the record... Sorry Peter Its got to be said... I would NOT have THIS Escallonia material in my garden it will NOT make great bonsai... I would look for better!

Tony,

I only said they would make reasonable trees NOT GREAT BONSAI.

Hi Peter.

Life is too short for 'reasonable' trees... I know you have great material in your garden... stop wasting time/space/energy and concentrate your efforts, strive to be the best you can, creating the best trees... is this not your aim?

tony wrote:

man on the mountain wrote:If there's one thing I'm really starting to learn with regards to Yamadori its this, sculpting bonsai is easy, finding good material to do it with is hard.

Great bonsai is all about the material...

For the record... Sorry Peter Its got to be said... I would NOT have THIS Escallonia material in my garden it will NOT make great bonsai... I would look for better!

AMEN
ka pabling