Search results

  1. butlern

    RMJ progression

    Just documenting another of my junipers that I have not yet documented. I acquired this tree in November 2020 from a friend and local club member, John Denny. It was collected from the Rocky Mountains (shockingly!) in 2012 by Randy Knight and first went into a bonsai pot in 2015. The initial...
  2. butlern

    Rocky mountain juniper #1 progression

    Documenting one of my Rocky mountain junipers (#1 of two) that I acquired from a friend and local club member in October of 2020. Lots of challenges with this tree: live vein hardly visible (from current front) and inverse taper with somewhat insubstantial nebari. Nevertheless, my friend’s...
  3. butlern

    Brussel's Sharps Pygmy Progression

    Been struggling with this tree for a long while and never documented anything, so doing so now to keep everything organized. Purchased from Brussel's in Spring 2017. It had really heavy branches up high and the low branches were thin and weak. I'd never had a maple at that point, so it took a...
  4. butlern

    Da Su Bonsai Juniper #5

    Just documenting... mainly for my own purposes. But if people have thoughts and ideas on styling, I am all ears, because I am still struggling with this little juniper! I got this little thing from Dave Lowman (Da Su Bonsai) in the spring of 2018 after moving back to eastern Iowa. I don't know...
  5. butlern

    Hidden Gardens European (I think) Larch

    I picked up this Larch from Jeff at Hidden Gardens (Chicagoland) in the winter of 2019. I dont recall the history. Not sure whether it was always container grown, but the movement and foliage struck a chord with me. It had some basic wiring in place when I picked it up. Here is the tree in the...
  6. butlern

    Alley-collected Privet progression

    I dug this weed from the alley behind our old house in the spring of 2017. The base had a nice curve and a major branch was ripped away, straight down, creating in interesting scar. Basically had no roots when collected. I cut off a large leader, really big, straight, taper-less side branch...
  7. butlern

    Hidden Gardens American Hornbeam Progression

    I picked up this American Hornbeam from Hidden Gardens in Willowbrook, IL in winter 2017. A holiday present to myself. It was worked on by the guy who collected it out east. His name escapes me, but there is reference to group of American Hornbeams (including this specific tree and other...
  8. butlern

    Wacky Bald Cypress Progression

    I picked this tree up in spring 2017 from a friend. Basically a juvenile garden center bald cypress. Rode home on the passenger floorboard in my Prius. It was only about 4 feet tall with 1.5" diameter trunk at the base. I transplanted it into a 25 gallon container and watered and fed the heck...
  9. butlern

    Evergreen Gardenworks Shimpaku #3 (the problem child)

    Another progression to start, as I've come to see how valuable they can be for both documenting the evolution of a tree and soliciting additional perspectives from this community. This juniper was purchased from Brent in the spring of 2018 (part of a bundled deal on three junipers). The tree...
  10. butlern

    Engelmann spruce progression

    Picked up a rather unusual tree while Todd Schlafer was here conducting workshops in Iowa last fall. I think it's going to become a really interesting tree over time. Some dramatic movement, some really cool shari and deadwood. Apparently I didn't take a picture when I first picked it up, but...
  11. butlern

    Evergreen Gardenworks Cedar Elm Progression

    Sharing my cedar elm that I purchased from Evergreen Gardenworks in the late winter of 2017. I generally save the picture from Brent's website (an "as advertised" picture), but failed to do so for this tree. First picture is what I received from Brent, photographed in May 2017. The tree has...
  12. butlern

    Evergreen Gardenworks Shimpaku 1

    I've never started any progressions on any of my junipers, and inspired by a re-read and update on BVF's devoted to his "Shimpaku from Evergreen Gardenworks," I thought I would start today. Particularly given that this specific tree is the curvier "sister" to BVF's Shimpaku. First, a picture as...
  13. butlern

    Tool manufacturer's ID

    Similar question to Sansui's, but thought I'd start a separate thead: I picked up some tools recently, and they are certainly not antique, made of carbon steel, and they appear crudely finished along the non-cutting surfaces. First picture shows cavity/void along cutting surfaces, which along...
  14. butlern

    Juniper #4

    Picked this up Skimpaku from Don Blackmond in early March (thanks, Don!). Spent time cleaning up deadwood, peeling off flaking bark, getting rid of mites (Iowa mites, not Michigan mites), and getting some wire applied. Worked with Todd Schlafer last weekend, too. He taught me so much, and he's...
  15. butlern

    post-mortem? (Dawn redwood air layer)

    I picked up a Dawn Redwood (Schulman's Nordlicht cultivar) last spring. Really interesting foliage, but a painfully slow growing dwarf cultivar. Anyway, in my excitement over the beautiful, soft foliage, and promising trunk/branch taper and branch structure, I never cleared away the soil to...
  16. butlern

    Marc Torppa @ The Growing Grounds and/or Don Blackmond @ GBB

    I have reached out to a few vendors, including Marc, also Don Blackmond, about the availability of juniper material... and I never get any replies. What is the mechanism? Do many vendors only deal with previous clients? No phone numbers listed for either individual. Maybe it's just the...
  17. butlern

    Best (safest) pump/pressure sprayers?

    I am looking for feedback on your collective experience with small, portable sprayers designed to apply either pesticides or fungicides. I have some "budget" sprayers from box stores, but concerning to me is that when I pump-up and pressurize them, they seem to "hiss" chemical out of the main...
  18. butlern

    Sensor Push, anyone?

    got a great early present at the end of November... Sensor push! Great little devices and simple app installed on phone to monitor temp and humidity in any environment. Relatively inexpensive, too. You can sync to multiple sensors (e.g sensors placed on garage floor, middle shelf, top shelf...
  19. butlern

    search function

    Is there an advanced search function? When I search for key words (e.g. acacia) I get all sorts of irrelevant threads that contain mention of acacia in passing. No rank order associated with whether the keyword is in the subject line, or anything like that. Mostly non-useful information. Pages...
  20. butlern

    Scots Pine... what are these and what should I be doing with them?

    New to pines (and horticulture, in general). Are these buds to be manipulated this summer (reduced to two), if my goal is to let the pines grow freely to mature trunk but also at the same time reduce multiple junctions with the goal of limiting future swelling and reverse taper?
  21. butlern

    Cut to two buds = ramification. Really?

    I have been trying very hard to encourage my cedar elm to ramify, but everywhere I cut to two buds, only the distal grows (top arrow in the representative example below), while the proximal bud just sits there and sulks (bottom arrow) What gives?! Noah
  22. butlern

    Leaf/bark ID help

    I tried several horticultural sites that have algorithms to identify a tree or shrub based on the characteristics of leaves, but nothing I ended up with appears very close to what I have along a creek bed in my friends back yard. Any ideas on what this might be? Trunks are gnarled and...
  23. butlern

    Grifter sold me a graft?

    Relatively new (to me) Sharp's Pygmy (SP). Not sure, so querying here... does this look like a graft to your collective expert eyes? Just not sure if the change in bark texture/color is normal for a SP on it's own roots (or whether SP are never/never found on their own roots). Slightly...
  24. butlern

    can dawn redwood be ground layered successfully?

    I have an unusual cultivar of dawn redwood (Schulmann's nordlicht) and I think it's worth trying to make something of the tree... if I can fix the base. Turns out I didn't dig down far enough into the container when I discovered it in the nursery. It has really bad reverse taper about 3...
  25. butlern

    Pyracantha... is that it for the year?!

    Pathetic display... one single cluster of flowers (and ultimately berries) developed from a single shoot of new growth this summer. Will that be it? There are tons of other new shoots and lots of new thorns forming all over this unruly stick. Is it too late to expect additional flowers...
Top Bottom