Nova bonsai garden

Carol 83 · Sep 30, 2022

You are living the dream, congrats.

markyscott · Oct 3, 2022

Water system is fully operational and sidewall framing is completed on the south wall.

cmeg1 · Oct 3, 2022

Looks great!
So plenty of Pines in that southern exposure,right?

markyscott · Oct 4, 2022

cmeg1 said:
Looks great!
So plenty of Pines in that southern exposure,right?

Yes! I have many pines, junipers, and sun-loving broadleaf trees. And many thin-blooded Texas natives. Hopefully the high tunnel will take winters edge off.

S

markyscott · Oct 4, 2022

First tree moved to the garden. Hip board installed on the north sidewall. And a new driveway entrance.

cmeg1 · Oct 4, 2022

Looks great

Maiden69 · Oct 4, 2022

@markyscott you're going to have to widen up the track on that lift to go offroading now!

markyscott · Oct 9, 2022

Took a little side trip up the coast. First stop was in Atlantic Highlands in Monmouth County, NJ where I went hiking in Hartshorne Woods Park. It’s a beautiful park right on the coast at the confluence of the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers. It has about 16 miles of hiking trails. It’s named after Richard Hartshorne, an English Quaker, who acquired the land from the Lenape for 13 shillings in 1670. On the easternmost end, there is a WW2 era coastal artillery site known as Battery Lewis. Ther area is underlain by a conglomerate locally called "Peanut Stone" (actually part of the Serravallian Cohansey Formation) which was extensively quarried and used as building stone in throughout the county.

markyscott · Oct 9, 2022

Next stop was Mt Tom in western Mass. It's a 1200' basalt peak on the west bank of the Connecticut River between Holyoke and Easthampton. It's the highest peak on Metacomet Ridge extending from Branford, Connecticut nearly to the Vermont and New Hampshire Borders. Mt Tom has long been a recreational destination - there was once a trolley extending up the flank from Easthampton to the "Summit House", built in 1897, burned down, rebuilt and burned down again in 1929. It was replaced by an amusement park for a while, but the summit is now occupied by cell and television transmission towers. I remember sledding there as a child, but I had a need to hike the mountain to the summit.

Fall colors were about a week or so from peak with vivid hues on the Red and Sugar Maples and the Northern Red Oak. I found shrubby American Chestnut (surprisingly) with one that was probably 20' tall. I found Sassafras, although nowhere near the size of the ones I found in Virginia. Northern Red Oak was very dominant, but I was surprised to find one or two Southern Red Oak as well. In Virginia I have a lot of Southern Red Oak, but no Northern Red Oak as far as I know. I collected acorns to bring home with me. I found quite a few Black Oak and Bear Oak as well. There were large stands of Eastern Hemlock and some monstrous Eastern White Pine.

Maiden69 · Oct 10, 2022

I really miss the view in that area... I hated the snow, I am from the tropics), but loved the changing seasons.

markyscott · Oct 10, 2022

A final stop. This one with @cmeg1! Thank you Curtis for your hospitality and for sharing your time and knowledge. I’m loving my new seedlings. You are a true craftsman!

markyscott · Oct 10, 2022

Maiden69 said:
I really miss the view in that area... I hated the snow, I am from the tropics), but loved the changing seasons.

I’m not in Mass. but I’m loving the fall colors. Here’s my Crape Myrtle.

Mike Westervelt · Oct 10, 2022

Apologize if this topic has been covered already in this very interesting and inspirational thread, but your fencing seems woefully inadequate to protect your
fabulous trees from deer, admittedly they usually only remove foliage and small twigs, however it's seldom at an opportune time in my experience.
Fantastic progress on an awesome property, much respect.

markyscott · Oct 10, 2022

Mike Westervelt said:
Apologize if this topic has been covered already in this very interesting and inspirational thread, but your fencing seems woefully inadequate to protect your
fabulous trees from deer, admittedly they usually only remove foliage and small twigs, however it's seldom at an opportune time in my experience.
Fantastic progress on an awesome property, much respect.

The fence is to keep the cattle out. I’m still working on the deer solution.

Scott