Moving

Due to some technical problems with this site, I have moved my blog to a new website. Please head on over and check it out:

new bonsai apprentice blog

see ya there.

it's about time!

Wow, has it really been 8 months since I've updated this blog? Incredible how time flies. I am going to strive to get back in the swing of things.

To get things off to a good start, here is a video I made in October of Brent demonstrating his grafting technique. Enjoy!

Brent's Blog

Yes, I know I'm way behind in updating. And with 2 major bonsai shows coming up this month, the updates will probably still be a wyas off.

But the good news is that my teacher Brent has started a blog of his own. You can check it out here:

http://bonsai-nurseryman.blogspot.com/

enjoy!

Apprenticeship Session 15: I've got crabs

The next week (still back in April) we were working on taking some crab apples out of their 1 gallon pots and putting them in the ground to thicken. Crabs tend to throw suckers from any roots that become exposed on the surface. So, if's it's a minor root, you can sever it and take the sucker as a new tree. I did just that, and wound up with 14 new crab apple trees! They are tiny now, but they will grow.

Unfortunately, my pics of them didn't turn out too great, and the weather today was too crapy to shoot any more, so you'll have to wait till later for the pics. Although, really, there's not much to see. Little twigs in little pots. I did get some pics of the bigger crabs in the ground - here they are:






We got the crabs in the ground, using the same techniques I've outlined before. Sorry - nothing too new and exciting this time.

The next update will be better, I promise!

Apprenticeship Session 14: catch up time

In April the weather had cooled back down some, so this allowed us to continue catching up on the spring tasks. This included repotting more of the black/white pine grafts that I have mentioned previously.

Also, we continued putting some trees into the ground. These were trees that had been worked on several years earlier - most had their major trunk chops already done. They are going into the ground to allow them to heal up the scars from the chops, as well as put on some more trunk girth. Here's a shot of one row of the growing fields.



To get the trees ready to go in the ground I first took them out of their pots and removed all the old soil. This is done using a hose and a root hook. Brent's soil mix facilitates this process quite well. His main ingreedients are bark and perlite. The bark pretty much breaks down to fine particles after 2-3 years, so that washes out easy. The perlite is lighter than water, so it actually floats up out of the root ball as you are spraying. Using the rook hook to carefully untangle the roots is definately necessary. I tried to get as nice a spread of roots as possible before planting them.

Once the rootball is cleaned and straitened, some root pruning is done. THis encourages more roots around the base, instead of the longer tap-roots. I also did quite alot of top pruning. As it will take a while for the tree to establish itself in the ground, the reduced foliage will cut down on transpirational losses from the leaves.

Once the tree is pruned, the roots are dunked in muck - which is made of water plus soil from the field the tree will be planted in. This coats the roots, so that they will have an easier time growing into the soil around them in the field.

The other technique that Brent does is to wrap the tree in a fine cloth to protect the trunk and foliage from sun damage. Most of these trees had been growing very close together in the "staging area" so had not been getting much sun for the last few years. Out in the field they will be under the sun full force, so this cloth will help protect them while they get used to it. Brent refers to it as "putting diapers on the trees."

Apprenticeship Session 13: Big Big Elms

I'm finally getting around to updating. You should get 4 updates in the next week or so, some come back and check em out.

This week, which was back in early April, I had the very fun task of pruning a bunch of very big cork bark chinese elms. These are great trees - essentially just trunks now. When Brent is ready to sell them, they will go for around $250-$500 each! I picked out one for myself a few months ago.

Here's a shot of the rows of trees before I started. They have been growing in these pots pretty much untouched for over five years. Many of them had their roots escape from the pot and grow into the ground, which helps to bulk them up faster.



Here's a shot half way through the pruning process.



Here's once of the "sacrifice branches" I trimmed off. These are 3/4 of an inch to over an inch thick, and 4-6 feet long. They really help to bulk up the trunk.



Here's a shot of the pile of branches I cut off - this is actually about half of the total.



I left about an inch still on the tree, and cut horizontally. Hopefully new growth will start from the tip of the cut, giving a great start to the primary branches. Here's a drawing of what I mean.



Here's a shot of the completed pruning. I'm not sure when these trees will be for sale, but they will be some of the best trees in the county. If you've got the bucks, send Brent an email and get on the waiting list for one.

Apprenticeship Sessions 9-12: Time Flies When You are Having Fun

OK, I've really gotten behind here. I appologize again to those of you who have been checking in on a regular basis. I'm going to try to do better.

As I mentioned previously, in March we were doing "rescue work." When Brent moved his nursery, alot of his trees were placed into a holding area to be sorted through later. Well, 3 years later and we are just getting started on the sorting. Many of these trees had become quite pot bound during that time. Other had their roots escape into the ground and grow like crazy. Some had gotten burned by the sun. Some had gotten shaded by the trees around them. So basically, what we were doing was pulling out trees, repotting them, and getting them into the shade houses for recovery. We actually managed to save the majority of the trees we pulled out. Some had really gained interesting character from those years of benign neglect. There are still ALOT of plants in that section. I have a feeling the rescue work will continue for years to come.

We got alot done in the sessions, and I took some pics. Unfotuantely, I cannot seem to find my camera. I think I left it in my car, which is in the shop getting a tune up. I will be picking it up this evening, so hopefully I will soon be able to add some photos and descriptions of what we did. Check back later this week.