Evergreens to me such as junipers, cypress and Spruce seem to me to be harder to work on than leafy trees. I don’t know why this is, but it is harder to work them out as to whether they will sprout back or not when cut. Deciduous, leafy trees are my favorite to work with as you can easily see where they are growing from and where the nearest bud is. There is a totally different method that needs to be implemented when working with needle trees. I will be exploring the differences soon on the website.
Most trees and shrubs are excellent for bonsai. For others however it is a constant struggle to stay alive.
There is one tree I hate more than any other…. (more…)
The common ash can be a good bonsai choice as long as you consider a number of factors. As with any tree you have positive points but drawbacks also. (more…)
I am lucky enough to live with my back garden being next to what I class as the main three native trees of Britain. These are: (more…)
The following trees are the best choices to use as bonsai in my opinion. Here they are in no particular order: (more…)
What are the best trees for bonsai? Some trees are definately harder to implement a bonsai form on than others but is it still possible to miniaturise them? (more…)
What are the best trees for bonsai? This is a difficult question as I feel that any tree or shrub can be used for bonsai. However there are some that are harder to use than others for various reasons. (more…)
The silver birch has a lifespan which is fairly short compared to other trees such as the mighty oak or redwood. The birch only lives for about 40-80 years at best. It makes up for this short life by growing very rapidly and establishing itself quickly. It can be good for bonsai if you want quick, eye-catching results. BUT in all likelihood, your creation will not be around for your future generations to admire.
This weekend I dug up a box tree (buxus sempervirens) from my growing bed. I have been growing it there for the last year or so to let it create it’s own branches and grow on a little bigger so that it would be ready for a pot.
On Saturday I decided it was time to style the box tree and place it in a pot. Mainly to do with having not much else to do but also because it was looking ready for styling.
Here it is in the growing bed before the repot. I’ve put the flash on so that you can see the branch structure better -
Here is the angle from the back in the growing bed of the box tree -
I uprooted the tree and gave the roots a soaking under the tap followed by a vigorous trim. It was fitted into it’s small new pot and new soil mix was added making sure all the gaps around the roots were filled. I added some moss around the base of the trunk for effect and watered again.
After that was the simple process of trimming a lot of excess branches off to give a pleasing look to it. Finally I fully wired the tree into a more twisted position until I found it perfect. Here is the result -
Total time to create: about 45 minutes
