Very small spruce forest

This is the smallest and strangest spruce I have ever collected. It was growing in a bog.



There are almost 30 trunks in the little forest. I guess a spruce cone must have fallen on the bog and almost all the seeds have sprouted by coincidence.





If it survives it will be fun to have what must be the smallest natural spruce forest bonsai around.

Blue Honeysuckle # 2

To better utilize the dead top of the biggest trunk I made a cavity where one of the upper shoots would fit in

I placed the shoot in the cavity and wrapped self adhesive tape around it. Hopefully the shoot will stay where it is by it self when the diameter has increased. The dead wood on this species is quite hard and durable so it will last for a long time especially if I treat it to prevent rot.


I also wired and shaped the branches. The only thing that matters at this stage is to get the right angle from the trunk and some movement in the first few centimeters. The branches will be cut back hard after leaf fall this autumn.

Blue honeysuckle # 1

This one was collected this spring. As you can see not much roots, but that is no problem

The exfoliating bark hides the nice twin trunk shape of the tree.

New growth is emerging this spring.


Here is the tree in the beginning of August. I have pealed off the outer layers of the bark and separated the two trunks a bit with a wedge. There is a problem with the larger trunk, the upper part is dead and it will look strange to have the thick trunk shorter than the thinner trunk. The problem will be solved in part 2 of the story
: -)

Fraxinus excelsior part 2

Here is the tree tilted to what might be the final angle, I havn't decided yet


Trunk diameter is about 25-30 cm depending on how it is measured


I hollowed out the dead top and it turns out that it's hollow half the way down the trunk so when I put the hose pipe in the top of the tree, water flows out in a natural hole half way down the trunk. it looks just like a fountain : -)

The deadwood work is absolutely not finished. I just took off the big pieces and will let the wood dry out before I do any detaled carving.

Fraxinus excelsior

This Ash was collected this spring. It's very rare to find an ash with stunted growth like this one ( at least in my area)



Here it is just after collection


I let it grow wild during the summer, except that I pruned off the terminal shoots on some branches to induce back budding (it worked)


This is how it looked last week after I weeded the pot : -) I will start carving the dead wood soon. Progress will be reported.
Next spring when I repot I will change the planted angle

Blackcurrant update

Here is an update on my blackcurrant stumps only 2 months after collection

Mountain ash

Here is a mountain ash I dug up this spring. I have never seen one with such a thick trunk and good trunk movement as a bonsai before. Trunk diameter is about 20 cm


It was nearly bare rooted, but some soil remained close to the trunk. There seemed to be quite a few hair roots in that soil.


A few weeks later I could see new growth all over the tree.


This is how the tre looks now. When the leaves fall off this autumn I will start to work on the deadwood and I will wire the branches. I think this will be a very nice one in time!

Blue honeysuckle part 2

The latin name of this species is Lonicera caerulea
Here is a close up of the trunk before the work began



New planted angle

Branches roghly wired. The new growth gets brittle very quickly so it's important to wire while it's still young. The branches will be cut back drastickly next year.


Close up of the trunk after dead wood work. The bark on this species comes off in long flakes and leaves a nice red/brown colour almost like a juniper. I like it.

Blue Honeysuckle part 1

This little tree was collected this spring. Here is my assistant preparing to dig out the tree.



You don't need much roots when collecting honeysuckles.


Potted up



As of yesterday

New big spruce part 2

Here is a close up of the upper part of the trunk.



Here is the tree potted up in a large wooden box. It will have to stay where it is now until I can get it in a smaller pot because it is extremely heavy and almost impossible to move. Most of the weight is because of the very wet soil/peat/spagnum from the bog where I collected it. Once I get all that away and replace it with a light weight growing medium and get it in a much smaller pot it will be less unconvinient to move it around ; -)

New big spruce part 1

Here is a very large spruce I collected recently. I found it in 2006 and has prepared it for collection by cutting off the unwanted branches (2006) and fertilizing it every year. It has grown well since I found it and it looks healty now so I collected it this year. Here are some photos.It's a bit difficult to tell from the photos, but there is some movement in the upper part of the trunk and also pretty good taper, (I just need to carve away most of the dead branch stumps first)