Projects from TJ’s Backyard

[Colorado]

Next up: 2 Year Progression of Mallsai Tiger Bark Ficus.

This tree has sentimental value to me. The story is that my wife and I moved into our first house together in 2019. One day I came home from work and she says “Hey, I was at the grocery store and there was a van with some bonsai on the side of the road, thought you might like to check it out!” I thought that was very sweet of her and of course I went for a look. Ended up with a classic S-curve Mallsai Ficus

Summer 2019:


February 2020


October 2021


I had been growing this as an informal upright. I’d been just embracing the S-shape and accepting its Mallsai roots. However, I decided yesterday to take it in a different direction. Future bunjin:



Sam Miller container detail:

 

[Colorado]

Ponderosa Work

This tree was collected in 2018 by my buddy Dave. I believe in the foothills west of Colorado Springs. Dave is a highly talented practitioner and did a fantastic job setting this tree up with the initial, raw structural styling.

My work yesterday was to find my front and angle for repotting in the spring. I rewired and repositioned a couple branches. Finally, I compressed the apex with 10 gauge and a guy wire.

I think this tree will show some refinement and definition in the pads by fall 2022. At that time I will clean up bottom needles and detail wire, assuming the tree does not skip a beat from repotting.

Before the work:


After the work:

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Cool ponderosa

 

[Colorado]

Here is the Japanese White Birch fully wired out. The asymmetry of the canopy gives me an uneasy feeling which I find very interesting. Still a very young tree, will continue working on building secondary and tertiary ramification. I am not super concerned about growing trick trunks for this grove. It reminds me of a birch clump you would stumble across in a river bottom.

 

[Colorado]

Ponderosa from Post #1



I ended up going with the previous back as a new front. This side doesn’t have the deadwood in your face, but it is the best trunk line and branch placement. It also highlights a different piece of deadwood which, once better framed, mirrors the apex in a nice way in my opinion.

I’m still in the long needle phase, but by 2023 hopefully this will be showing some signs of refinement.

The planting angle is currently off, but I think I’ll wait until spring 2023 to repot. I’ve been trying to preserve the characteristic surface roots that are now deadwood and make them work in the design, but thinking those may need to go.

 

[Colorado]

Big Texas Scarlet Quince

Been working on this one for about a year now. Let it grow wild all season. Box is 24” long. Flowers!

 

[Bonsai Orange County]

Acer glabrum. Rocky Mountain Maple. This is a project from my back yard that I am very excited about!

I have not seen Rocky Mountain Maple used much for bonsai. But I believe the species to have great potential. I find a. glabrum to be very similar in many ways to a. palmatum, Japanese maple.

Here’s a photo of the mature, hardened off leaves from two japenese maples and two Rocky Mountain maples, all four trees with distinct genetics. You can see that the largest leaves from the glabrums are quite a bit smaller than the largest leaves from the palmatums:

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Now, I am not yet ready to declare that we can achieve smaller leaves with glabrum than with palmatum. These are just a couple data points. But the Rocky Mountain maple is certainly capable of nice-sized leaves for bonsai.

Here’s a Rocky Mountain Maple that I am working on propagating. Today’s project is a simple air layer. My main goal is just to acquire more plant material of this species since they’re pretty rare to come across in nurseries around here, but you can find them if you look!

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I threw a container on there...and now we wait.

This is definitely a species that I will continue to explore

Really dig this Rocky Mountain Maple. I see them often on hikes in the foothills outside Denver and wondered how’s they’d do as bonsai. Cool tree(s)!!

 

[Colorado]

Year end update on my Japanese maple projects.

Standard Japanese maple; no cultivar. Received March 2020 from Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks.

In spring 2021, I bare rooted and worked the roots into a radial distribution. Planted into a 6” terra cotta round in akadama. I wanted to develop some good roots in close to the base before I let it really hulk out in a box or a larger pot.

I got about 4 feet of extensions this year, even in this little pot and akadama. Here’s one of the 3 projects.



Now that I have a good, radial start to the roots, I will plant this one in a box next year and let it grow wild to start building the trunk and base. Very long term project!

 

[Colorado]

Literati Elm I styled a couple months ago. The photo is intended to show the line/silhouette:



Planning on a Sam Miller container for this tree for the spring.

 

[Colorado]

Off Topic: this new little Shohin has a lot of growing out to do!



Meet Mr. Fitzgerald

 

[Colorado]

‘Snow falls quietly, before sunrise’



First snow in the garden for this winter.

 

[Bonsai Orange County]

Good on you for taking that photo this AM. I had a beautiful covering this morning too and was too lazy and cozy to go outside for a few photos!!! We sure needed it around here. Looks good TJ!

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Next up: 2 Year Progression of Mallsai Tiger Bark Ficus.

This tree has sentimental value to me. The story is that my wife and I moved into our first house together in 2019. One day I came home from work and she says “Hey, I was at the grocery store and there was a van with some bonsai on the side of the road, thought you might like to check it out!” I thought that was very sweet of her and of course I went for a look. Ended up with a classic S-curve Mallsai Ficus

Summer 2019:
View attachment 403153

February 2020
View attachment 403154

October 2021
View attachment 403156

I had been growing this as an informal upright. I’d been just embracing the S-shape and accepting its Mallsai roots. However, I decided yesterday to take it in a different direction. Future bunjin:

View attachment 403157

Sam Miller container detail:
View attachment 403158
View attachment 403159

The trunk has nice movement, but to me Ficus are not the best for literatis, they usually are very strong masculine trees with short thick trunks; big canopy, nebari and lots of aerial roots. I see big ficus all the time where I live some are really spectacular

 

[Colorado]

Repotted the mame willow leaf ficus. I am glad I used the round container for radial root development, but it just didn’t look quite right.

Before:


After:


I don’t really recommend repotting ficus during winter as a generality. But ficus grow so well in my particular sunroom that I have no concern whatsoever. It was pushing roots through the drain hole, so it is clear that the tree is metabolically active.

The nice thing about repotting at this time is that I can just focus on foliage development during the summer, outside, without any interruption in growth from root work.

 

[Colorado]

This freed up the round container for a new project. I purchased this ceramic “stone” off Facebook from an artist named Don Lindstrom. I love how the container and the stone echo each other in color.

I plan to place one or two kishu whips on the stone for a Shohin composition.

 

[Colorado]

New Year’s Day. This is always a time for reflection, for me. It is hard to believe that it is coming up on 3 years that I have been a resident Nut here. It is safe to say that my bonsai journey would have been totally different - and likely much more painful - if not for this amazing resource.

Thinking ahead, I am tremendously excited about 2022. There are a number of trees in my garden which I think will make big steps forward this year. For some, it will be an initial repot from collection container to bonsai pot. For others, initial styling. And finally, the birth of many new projects, from seeds, cuttings, or air layers.

I hope whoever (if anybody ) is reading this is excited about your own Projects in Your Backyard as I am for 2022!

 

[Bonsai Orange County]

Happy 2022, TJ!! Really looking forward to some of your new "projects" this year - just wait til you guys see it . Been great getting to know you and to spend time going to look at trees together. You've been an amazing resource for me personally, and its been a pleasure to see your trees and creativity in person!

Looking forward to more trips to Todd's soon!

Stay warm and dry today and don't forget the black-eyed peas!!

 

[Colorado]

Dwarf Alberta Spruce from post #25. Enjoying the snow!

 

[Colorado]

I have been itching to do some bonsai work here in the dead of winter. Decided to make a little accent piece from some material I had around the house. I have a bunch of cacti that I’ve been growing for 5 or 6 years.

This one is mamillaria elongata. It has profuse, small white flowers when it decides to bloom. It has bloomed for me a couple times.

@sorce container!

 

[Colorado]

Ponderosa Pine in the morning sun of late winter. This tree will be repotted in the next few weeks.