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Hi @19Mateo83! The tree is doing fine. I'm not sure what exactly caused the die-back after the first winter, but it is doing well now. I repotted it in Spring 2021 and still have issues with those flies, although they weren't as bad this year. I'm guessing they aren't hurting the tree, but they...

I would love a chance to own one of your pots. Count me in!

I think the Kaiku School is less a club and more a two-year course in bonsai. I haven't participated in it, but several members of our club are current students and speak highly of it. Topsfield is a bit out of the way if you aren't already on the north shore, but it's an option. Joe does...

I am part of the Northeast Bonsai club (as linked earlier to Facebook). We meet once a month at the Topsfield Fairground, and will have a display at the Topsfield Fair which starts this weekend, where you can sign up as a new member. Or feel free to email the club president, Joe, at...

Again, only pictures from 2019. This one is from May 2019: And from June 2019:

Apparently I never bothered taking pictures of many of my trees this year, so this is from June 2019.

Thanks @Mihai! Here's to turning things around in 2021!

An update with a class picture. 18 crabapples layered, we'll see how many survive the winter. A few had almost no roots, just callous material. But they haven't dried out in a couple days 🤞!

Did some work on a few wee willow leaf ficus yesterday. They need a bit of filling out, but I'm really happy with the radial roots, basal flare, and basic structure that can create some 3 - 4 inch trees. Tree #1: Tree #2: Tree #3: P.S. the stick in the first 2 trees is to separate the...

Sweet, thank you for that!

I just repotted a willow leaf that is growing strong. I did a major root reduction and the top could use a major cut-back as well. Is it safe for me to do that now, or should I wait for it to recover first?

I've got about 20 crabapple air layers going right now, of you are willing to wait until next year.

I have done something similar and although it worked there was an issue of roots only growing from the underside so that there was not an even distribution of roots. Check out my thread on it here.

I was just going back through this thread and realized I didn't include some stuff from last year. Since the tree was growing pretty strong, I gave it a bit of a cut back in August, but not as severe as in June. Basically a hedge prune: Before After I also had an issue of flies growing...

Here are two pictures from yesterday. I removed all of the obviously dead branches (no green cambium, shriveled bark, no pushing buds, etc) and left all of the new growth. I should have paid better attention to the fact that I was told it came from Florida by the seller. It just never dawned on...

Thanks Leo, that's what I'm going to do. I had jus finished building a grow box for it and was about to repot it when I realized it might be a bad idea. I then thought of just slip-potting it, but decided that wouldn't be that much of a benefit, so I just popped the whole thing inside the box...

I have a bit of a dilemma with this tree now. I over wintered it outside under the bonsai bench and mulched in with the rest of my cold hardy trees and it seems to have died back mostly to the trunk and primary branches. I was hoping to repot it this year to get the roots sorted and into good...

Last spring I significantly reduced the roots and put it into this shallower version of a grow box that is slowly falling apart. The tree grew relatively slowly but still looks healthy. It is even putting out what look like cones. The pot I have for it is about 30% shallower than what it's in...

I have about 20 crabapple sections marked. Maybe one or 2 native elms (American?). Possibly a crepe myrtle. I should probably stop there before my wife freaks out. 😃 But I may do a quaking(?) aspen as well. 🤫

I once layered a couple of horizontal branches and showed what happened to one of them in this thread. They are both still healthy, but will need to be ground layered to get an even root spread.

Was there ever a final update thread, or did this contest die?

Pretty much got my benches and irrigation system all set up, just in time for the newborn to arrive! :cool: Now I basically just need to hand water when specific trees need it, or to fertilize. Makes getting ready in the morning much easier when all I need to do is look out the window and make...

Thank you for the info Leo! It's always interesting to learn the history of how things spread. Also, it's not that truth has no meaning in the US, it's just that we like to use "alternative facts" :rolleyes:.

Just a quick update to show the response from being cut back, three weeks later.

Thanks @0soyoung, I feel the same way. I'm not sure why I didn't think much about that front while looking at the tree in person, but it definitely works in the picture. I haven't done any carving before (except to smooth out a large cut) so I'm excited about all the opportunities this tree will...