Whats Going on in Smoke's Backyard?

[Smoke]

The tree could now be planted into a bonsai training pot to begin slower growing. All the wire was taken off and the apex transition was also adressed by thinning the shoulders from the chop.

All the cuts were sealed and the tree planted. The tree now stands more erect, but I really liked it with a more slanting style. Maybe next year I can allow the left side to be planted deeper.



The tree is about two inches taller now, and the undercut shoulder is gone. There is much more flare on the right and left to expose but roots need to fill in and thicken there for the next big reveal.



Pruned, de-wired, re-wired, planted and done.....for now.

 

[Smoke]

This tree was also repotted today. This tree is the one in which I have decided to stop using akadama as a soil ingredient for moisture retention. I feel coarse bark can do the job just as well and get rid of the mud in the bottom of my pots come repotting time.



Since the squirrel scourage of 2008 the nebari has grown quite well. A few more years will allow more roots to fuse into a thick matt. This tree gets repotted in this pot each year with no soil under the tree. the roots just grow against the bottom of the pot, which has helped in growing the base and gaining some much needed flare.





Roots growing in no soil what so ever. All the soil does is protect these bad boys from the intense central valley heat.



All potted up and ready for another year.

 

[Smoke]

I did a pretty heavy pruning and got rid of some heavy ends from the monthly hedging this tree recieves. Then I put the squirrel protector back on. Kinda reminds me of my wifes head during the cyber knife.

 

[Smoke]

The Pit Bull got the repot treatment today also. This tree was into a pot last year. This year it was root pruned and had work done to the base with more heavy roots removed. The base of the tree can be seen when it was taken out of the can after digging and growing for a year. U used a saw and just flat cut the base keeping a few roots for the plant to survive. It has and how it does grow. Its big and its beefy and that why I call it pit bull.
Before pruning. All of these pots are being used as training pots. some of these I got really cheap cause their ugly!

After pruning. next year the left side of the base will be dealt with. The big wrapping root will come off as well as some others.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Worked on this California juniper. I have stopped for a day or two cuase the tridents were getting away from me and need faster attention if they were going to be repotted this year. I started on this juniper in 2005 when I put it in this pot. It was collected in 2003 and was really a bush. I let the branches get away from me and all the green has to be chased back in to make this thing even presentable. I removed a 1.5 inch branch and have another on to do later this week even larger. Both will be worked into jins. I havn't measured the trunk in a while but I think it is around 5 inches across.

More to come on this one as well as two more later this week. Three if I get ambitious. The fourth one is a real monster in dire need of taming. Maybe a pcture tomorrow.

Best tree of all. Should show more of these.

 

[Smoke]

Some leaves on the maples after the repot. Some trees are slower than others.




This tree is in full leaf


Not even a swollen bud on this bad boy



This one, "OZ" is popping rather well

, "

 

[Smoke]

Kotohime is coming out.




Shohin elms are leafing also.


Trimmed some small pines and repotted one to a small hex pot.

 

[Smoke]

This juniper is a gift from a friend. It was an experiment gone wild. Two procumbens were twisted together and planted in the ground. They were dug out last year and potted in a plastic container. I have been asked to provide a demo of a shohin plant at an upcoming show and have decided to do this one. Today I planted it into this ceramic pot for a better presentation. After the demo I will show how it turned out here. There are some closeups of the trunks welded together also. Now it is super healthy and ready to work on. Runners indicate this is ready.

 

[JudyB]

All potted up and ready for another year.

View attachment 94732

I think this is my favorite one of yours. Looking fabulous.

 

[JudyB]

This one, "OZ" is popping rather well

Or, maybe this one!

 

[GrimLore]

Trimmed some small pines and repotted one to a small hex pot.

That one has my attention

Grimmy

 

[Smoke]

This trident was repotted and two approach grafts applied. The grafts came from bent around shoots. I tried two techniques that have worked in the past and will see which one takes faster. One with zip ties and one with breathable clear tape. Not parafilm, but a stretchy film that sticks to itself when stretched that Ed Clark gave me to try. He grafts about 6 to 7000 grafts a year.

 

[Smoke]

This trident maple is a left over from some cuttings taken many years ago. (8) A couple years ago it suffered major damage from the squirrel scourge and was left to fend for itself. Today I noticed it was looking pretty good, and the damage is repairing and the branches just need some TLC, so I put it into a super dark blue glazed Yamafusa pot and will tend to the branches this year. The base is 2 inches across and the tree is about 8 inches tall.

This small shohin pine was from the Ed Clark Seminar with Ted Matson two years ago. I decided to plant this one in a rough Yamakki pot.




Still needs much more branch refinement but will do that in this pot.

 

[Smoke]

The large pine I purchased from Muranaka was ready to be potted. The grow pot was full of pumice and perlite.



This hackberry was also the scourge of the squirrels and almost died due to the critters eating off almost the entire root ball. I have no idea how it stayed alive. It has just sat around and recovered and now it was time to do something with it. This one went into an old Dick Ryerson pot I have had for about ten years.

 

[armetisius]

Some really cool trees there Smoke

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Those are awesome. I hope I can get my trident to come out half as good as yours.

John

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nice to see that big JBP again.

 

[Smoke]

In post 221 the trident was repotted. Now the leaves are opening and I thought I would go for a night shot. Trunk is looking pretty good as well as the branches. The shape seems balanced and the branch lengths are good.

 

[ianb]

View attachment 95506

Hey Al, on this graft it looks like there are no buds close to the trunk, or is it the angle of the photo?

 

[JoeR]

Sorry that this is unrelated but...


How long have you been doing bonsai Al?