monster hawthorn

yeah, I was thinking of something smaller - it doesn't have the elegance to be a tall tree I thought. I like the chunkiness of it's low structure and I was planning to cut all the tall bits off and start from scratch on the base, with an idea for a Tolkien mirkwood type affair. I haven't got any carving tools yet but I've been keeping an eye on Dremmel stuff on ebay. Thanks for the invites and suggestions for where to look for help. I've gone to Greenwood bonsai for some basic training sessions so far, and had some help with my trees from there, but I could do with more help as far as more advanced techniques.

I've got a corkbark elm which is shohin sized, but I've made a bit of a balls up with it with a couple of injuducious cuts to branches.

as to the survival of my monster, any tips would be most welcome. I've given it a spray with seaweed extract because I'm aware that feeding at root level at this stage would be harmful evn in ideal circumstances, but anything else would be most appreciated dudes.

Another thing you could do with the Monster Blackthorn is put a layer of Sphagnum Moss on the soil over the root base. I'll not bore everyone with the science is surrounding this, mostly because I'm struggling to remember it just now, but it seems to work in terms of promoting new root growth. It's certainly worked well for me and for deciduous trees I usually put a layer around all trees for a couple of weeks after repotting. It's my preferred medium for air layering as well. Remember to keep the moss wettish tho'.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is it still planted at about the same depth in this new box as it was in the ground?

littlebobby wrote:Alas I did not leap from my mother's womb the complete bonsai artiste.

Same story for all of us... we had to go through this too/are going through this

But Walter is not referring to anything artistic here... this is horticultural knowledge, which is an absolute prerequisite to bonsai...

Rule of thumb with deciduous trees: Don't do root work (this counted as root work) at any time other than spring when it is breaking dormancy, and is full of energy and new root growth.

Especially a tree which has already been weakened by collection. This tree has now been double-stressed, and recovery will be difficult.

a2khalid wrote:Are my eyes deceiving me, or is it still planted at about the same depth in this new box as it was in the ground?

littlebobby wrote:Alas I did not leap from my mother's womb the complete bonsai artiste.

Same story for all of us... we had to go through this too/are going through this

But Walter is not referring to anything artistic here... this is horticultural knowledge, which is an absolute prerequisite to bonsai...

Rule of thumb with deciduous trees: Don't do root work (this counted as root work) at any time other than spring when it is breaking dormancy, and is full of energy and new root growth.

Especially a tree which has already been weakened by collection. This tree has now been double-stressed, and recovery will be difficult.

not quite, but there was very poor root development, and most of what there was was just below soil level as you see it. I though I would give it a better chance by giving those parts some covering. Don't tell me it's another b*ll*cks up or I shall cry.

Should I put the moss on the soil surface?

three weeks in its new home. almost completely defoliated itself so what you see now is new. fed it last weekend for the first time. very gingerly had a peek and noted some fibrous root development, some of which was under the original layer of sphagnum, so I put a thin layer of compost over it and re-covered it with fresh moss. So ar so good...

That's the best news you could have. Now don't do anything else. No fiddling or inspecting the roots, right? Leave it where it is for now and just water when required. You can start feeding now too. Branches that haven't popped buds probably won't, but don't do anything silly like sawing them off. The movement would more than likely snap and kill any of the fine new feeder roots that should now be forming.

Pray through the winter that this growth wasn't its last gasp of life.

Next spring is the time to be lifting, hopefully inspecting fine new roots.

Kev Bailey wrote:That's the best news you could have. Now don't do anything else. No fiddling or inspecting the roots, right? Leave it where it is for now and just water when required. You can start feeding now too. Branches that haven't popped buds probably won't, but don't do anything silly like sawing them off. The movement would more than likely snap and kill any of the fine new feeder roots that should now be forming.

Pray through the winter that this growth wasn't its last gasp of life.

Next spring is the time to be lifting, hopefully inspecting fine new roots.

yup. going to leave well alone now apart from feeding and watering for a couple of years, apart from (if it lives that long) bit of tidying up next summer. Cheers. I probably needed keeping in line there patience is not one of my virtues, which means that bonsai is an interesting and challenging choice of hobby.

can you tell I've got a camera now? Update on the non - hawthorn blackthorne. survived suprisingly well. Kev was right about the branches that hadn't popped, but I think I've got lots of scope for carving the remaining dead wood.