Recent content by digger714

I emailed him a couple years ago, and was told i needed to spend a certain amount or he wasnt interested in talking to me, or have me visit his place. It does sound like he has some nice material though. Wish i would have been invited. On the thread, i believe a better box should be used for...

Good looking tree. Here, in my climate, i would go ahead and clean out the tree, taking all the foliage off close to the trunk and branches to see which i liked the best. It will take a couple days to be able to see the branches, so that would be a good start. Looks like youll have some really...

Hi Seth. Hope your doing good. All my maples did the same thing. I only have three tridents in pots. The rest are in the ground. I have about 50 tridents, and 20 japanese maples of 7 or 8 different cultivars in the ground, and they all did the same thing here in NC. I thought i might not have...

These are great trees. I just got through helping with a workshop with Cathy Shaner at the Bonsai Learning Center in Charlotte NC, and worked with 10 of these. She is an awesome teacher. If anyone is looking for someone to bring in for demos, she is the one to get. Our trees looked similar to...

Where do you find these types of stones used for in saikei displays? I know some can find things like this everywhere, but no so common where i am from. Is there a good place to order them from online? Thanks for any advice.

Hello all. I have a Rock Cotoneaster in my yard i planted years ago, and i was thinking about doing some pruning on it to see how it might grow as an upright tree. It does come out as a single trunk, but only for about an inch or two, then just dozens of branches going everywhere. :D Should i...

You can really see the trunk now. I like the taper that it has, so i would take any branches that are coming out in the same elevation on the trunk. If you have more than one branch anywhere, it will cause it to bulge out in that spot. Then, i would maybe put some wire on the branches your...

Hi Matt. Ive got a few of these i collected and have been working for a couple years now. Do all your major branch pruning while dormant, in late winter before spring. You could go ahead and do some pruning of secondary branches to remove any upward and downward growing branches, but i would...

Sounds like a good plan. I tend to be more cautious with my trees, but you are right about being in such a different climate zone, you can do more later there. Do your azaleas loose their leaves every winter? Ive not worked with this type of azalea before. I think i have one in the yard at a...

Azaleas are outdoor trees, and need to stay outdoors. They can be brought in for a day every now and then. I bring mine in for an evening sometimes, but back outdoors. There is no way, well without spending a small fortune to duplicate their needs. There are some indoor trees that can stay...

I agree Si. It must take an army to work on all the trees there. I was talking to one of the caregivers last year, and he was telling me how important it was to them to keep the trees looking like the original. Its a great place to visit for inspiration. Just learn to love the bees, lol.

Be careful doing too much to a tree this time of year. I would work on the top now, and prune and repot next spring. Im through repotting anything this year. Are you planning on chopping the top and rootpruning to put into a bonsai container? If so, then be careful how many roots you take off...

The way it was explained to me is that if your growing your trees out to gain size, then a chemical fertilizer is best. It has a higher NPK levels, so gives you more growth. The only time to use cakes is if you want a continual slow release fertilizer every time you water or it rains, sometimes...

Hi Brian. Thanks. So more or less, i divide by the number of parts. I was thinking if it didnt come out to at least a whole, then it would be 0. This mix is what one of the students in my club learned from Boon. The mix my teacher uses as a general purpose mix is similar, but he uses equal parts...

Hello everyone. I am making some fertilizer cakes, and am trying to figure out the NPK ratios for different mixes. I know i need to get an average, but am getting confused. If i use 4 cups of Cottonseed 6-2-1 = 24-8-4 1 cup of Blood Meal 12-0-0 = 12-0-0 1 cup of Bone Meal 6-9-0 =...