building a bonsai garden against my in-laws comments.

[junmilo]

So today...my father(72) and me started building a bench for the pines that I have...in my own yard...where my father in law turned it into a farm...

My father in law complained to my wife that the bench is too high and its going to cover the little farm land he made from the sun (haha)...wife came and told me its too high...I told her to tell her father to shush..and that he don't know anything..and its my house and yard...I have put up a lot to let them live with us...where my parents live on their own..


Anyway...me and my dad build the bench out of wood...please let me know if I need to improve on it or not...I want my father to enjoy it when he comes and visit his grand kids on weekends. Also I'll be asking about ideas to design my trees as well... Thank you.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

If it's big enough for your FIL to sleep under, it's perfect...

 

[mark_g]

good job on the bench.. just the perfect height to get all the sunshine.
just wondering where did you got your pines? I also live in Toronto.

thanks,
mark

 

[junmilo]

If it's big enough for your FIL to sleep under, it's perfect...

I have those 2 sick Cork Bark Pines that i have on the other side of the garden. they are in a limbo...I want to save them, the regulations here in Canada is soo strict that i can't find stuff to help the tree.

I have about 10 more Japanese Red Pine and 3 Cork and about 10 maples on the other side that I need to build bench for.

 

[junmilo]

good job on the bench.. just the perfect height to get all the sunshine.
just wondering where did you got your pines? I also live in Toronto.

thanks,
mark

Hi Mark,

I bought most of them from Humber Nurseries in Brampton....I got the amur maples and Jap maple from Sheridan Nurseries on Highway 7 and Highway 404.

J

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I have those 2 sick Cork Bark Pines that i have on the other side of the garden. they are in a limbo...I want to save them, the regulations here in Canada is soo strict that i can't find stuff to help the tree.

Ahh..that's right. Hope they pull through for you. Lots of sun? Good soil? Buds showing any signs of life yet?

 

[junmilo]

Ahh..that's right. Hope they pull through for you. Lots of sun? Good soil? Buds showing any signs of life yet?

I brought them out from the garage On Saturday. They were repoted with a mix of Akadama, http://www.usemyke.com/mycorise/gardening/tree/myketree/myketree.htm
and an organic mix soil.

After the repot, most of the needles turned yellow/brown, but some are still staying solid green. I don't see any buds showing signs of life yet, I'm crossing my fingers.

During the re-pot i did cut off a sick branch and grafted onto a Normal Japanese black pine (close to the base of the tree) and trimmed off some of the branches on the top of the JBP so that the graft will get enough juice, used grafting tape and wrapped it for about 3 weeks now, I tore open the top of the graft take to see if the needles are still green (70% are still green) and i can see some life in the bud.

I am tempting to cut another branch off the original tree and grafting it onto my two other normal JBP so that I can preserve these cork barks...incase both tree don't make it.

 

[Neli]

When did you repot them? Organics is not a very good idea to add on pines. It clogs the soil.

 

[junmilo]

When did you repot them? Organics is not a very good idea to add on pines. It clogs the soil.

When I first posted photos of them, some were saying the soil was pretty bad. So that's what I did. We did not remove much of the original soil other then the top. The new pot they r in is just a slightly bigger than their original plastic tub.

The soil mix is 99% akadama, 0.9% myke and 0.1% organic mix.

 

[Neli]

When I first posted photos of them, some were saying the soil was pretty bad. So that's what I did. We did not remove much of the original soil other then the top. The new pot they r in is just a slightly bigger than their original plastic tub.

The soil mix is 99% akadama, 0.9% myke and 0.1% organic mix.

0.1 % Organic soil must be like a pinch...He he he! That is fine.

 

[KennedyMarx]

When I first posted photos of them, some were saying the soil was pretty bad. So that's what I did. We did not remove much of the original soil other then the top. The new pot they r in is just a slightly bigger than their original plastic tub.

The soil mix is 99% akadama, 0.9% myke and 0.1% organic mix.

I'm not a pine guy, but that sounds like it's going to stay way too wet for trees that prefer a drier soil mix. Usually pine soil mixes have a larger percentage of pumice and lava rock than akadama.

 

[jkd2572]

My super healthy JPB is planted in 75% pumice 25% composted pine bark. Granted. It gets hella hot here.

 

[Ja_De]

I'm curious as to what your FIL has planned for that vast expanse of acreage that your bench deprives of sunlight. What kind of farm is he hoping to establish? Is he going to raise beef cattle or perhaps vegetables of some kind ?

The bench seems to accommodate your bonsai "farm" quite nicely, in answer to your question. Despite that it's a bit low...

 

[ponderingsage]

Yeah, your bench seems more than respectful of sharing the space.