I've had a lot of fun with this little tree. Last December, it was the accent tree for my larger Juniper. Bill Valavanis saw it and suggested I put it in a smaller pot.
This is how it looked at the Silohette Show:
That's my Juniper on the left, the Zelkova, and Curt Howard's beautiful Water Elm on the right. (Yeah, I know, we shouldn't have two Elms in one display! And, Curt's Elm doesn't appear to move to the right when you stand directly in front of it. The was lots of discussion about that!)
Here's a better picture of the Zelkova as it looked then:
Bill Valavanis suggested that the pot was too large. He has a good eye. I had played the trick to move the pot a little to the rear of the stand, rather than have it perfectly centered. Makes the pot look smaller.
Went on a search for a new pot.
Nathan Simmons found one that I like a lot. Yozan.
Smaller, yes?
So, yesterday, I taught a potting class at Plant City bonsai. It was a bring your own. I was ably assisted by Morgan Alexander, and we were able to get everyone's trees repotted and taught them how to do a half bare root repot to transition from nursery soil to good bonsai soil, and had some time left over.
So, Morgan and I did a demo, using this little tree.
Bare rooted it, and even though it has spectacular nebari, it can always be improved! Cut a few "windows" and packed with orchid moss, and potted it up. It was tight.
Oh, I changed the front, too. While it is certainly, a broom style, one trunk is significantly larger than the others. Boon suggested that it be centered, rather than off at an angle. And he suggested the tree had grown too wide.
To do change the front means I've had to adjust some branches with a little wire. Tiny stuff: 18, 20, 22 gauge! Not finished with that part!
But here is after the repot. Soil is small akadama. Chopped orchid moss on top, I'll have to cultivate some thin moss for showing. More wiring to come. And some more refinement trimming on the canopy.
This is how it looked at the Silohette Show:
That's my Juniper on the left, the Zelkova, and Curt Howard's beautiful Water Elm on the right. (Yeah, I know, we shouldn't have two Elms in one display! And, Curt's Elm doesn't appear to move to the right when you stand directly in front of it. The was lots of discussion about that!)
Here's a better picture of the Zelkova as it looked then:
Bill Valavanis suggested that the pot was too large. He has a good eye. I had played the trick to move the pot a little to the rear of the stand, rather than have it perfectly centered. Makes the pot look smaller.
Went on a search for a new pot.
Nathan Simmons found one that I like a lot. Yozan.
Smaller, yes?
So, yesterday, I taught a potting class at Plant City bonsai. It was a bring your own. I was ably assisted by Morgan Alexander, and we were able to get everyone's trees repotted and taught them how to do a half bare root repot to transition from nursery soil to good bonsai soil, and had some time left over.
So, Morgan and I did a demo, using this little tree.
Bare rooted it, and even though it has spectacular nebari, it can always be improved! Cut a few "windows" and packed with orchid moss, and potted it up. It was tight.
Oh, I changed the front, too. While it is certainly, a broom style, one trunk is significantly larger than the others. Boon suggested that it be centered, rather than off at an angle. And he suggested the tree had grown too wide.
To do change the front means I've had to adjust some branches with a little wire. Tiny stuff: 18, 20, 22 gauge! Not finished with that part!
But here is after the repot. Soil is small akadama. Chopped orchid moss on top, I'll have to cultivate some thin moss for showing. More wiring to come. And some more refinement trimming on the canopy.
x2.....my roots get this reaction....
