Norwegian Wood

Another big pine

2011-03-07T20:05:00.001+01:00

Big pine in Trollheimen (Home of the Trolls) national park i central Norway.

Inspiration while we wait for spring

2011-03-07T20:02:00.000+01:00

Taken i Trollheimen (Home of the Trolls) national park i central Norway.

Salix again

2010-11-24T11:08:00.000+01:00

Here is the salix purpurea without leaves.

Before and after

2010-11-21T11:54:00.000+01:00

The privet was collected from a hedgerow in England in 2003, here is a pic from back then, probably 2004. The hedge was planted sometime in the 1930's so the tree is 70- 80 years old.

Here is a pic from yesterday. I put wire on some of the branches. Most stay where they are supposed to without wire now. The ramification is getting better every year so I cut off some of the new branches I grew last year because it was getting to crowded. I will pick up a new pot from John Pitt for this tree at Noelanders trophy in January.

Privet without leaves

2010-11-21T11:19:00.000+01:00

Privet

2010-11-20T18:37:00.000+01:00

The big privet has been put inside now. It stayed outside untill the temp went down to - 10 degrees. It took no harm but I didn't want to risk anything so I put it inside. It had several weeks of freezing temps but it didn't loose the leaves. I'm going to wire the tree again this winter so I will have to cut off all the leaves ( I was hoping they would fall off by them self if I left the tree outside for long enough, but it didn't happen...)

Salix purpurea update

2010-11-19T18:21:00.003+01:00

The salix hangs on to its leaves longer than any other of my trees. But they are starting to fall off now so I can soon have a look at the branch struckture

Aspen (Populus tremula)

2010-10-03T09:39:00.001+01:00

I have tried to collect aspen for bonsai before but I have never managed to keep them alive and it's very rare to find one that is sutable for bonsai. Well, I found this one this spring, but since I had such bad experience collcting them, I didn't really belive that this one would survive, but it did! It has grown quite well so now I have an aspen that I think is quite repectabe (for an aspen) I don't think I have ever seen one as a bonsai before when I think of it.

Birch

2010-10-01T09:31:00.001+01:00

This birch was collected spring 2010. I don't have much experience collecting birches but I was told it was difficult and that I should leave a lot of branches on the tree when I collected it, as opposed to what I would usually do with a decidious tree. It seems to have worked because it has grown very well all summer. Next spring I will start cutting back unwanted branches. It's fun to play with unusual species for bonsai!

Pine update

2010-09-30T07:21:00.000+01:00

This one was collected spring 2009. It has been growing very slowly and I was afraid that it would die. It has lost a major branch since my last post about it, but it still has enough branches to create a beautiful and very powerful image. It needs more time to recover from collection so it will be left alone probably for many years untill it has regained its full strength.

Another new spruce

2010-09-28T09:15:00.001+01:00

This spruce was collected august 2009 and has grown very well this summer. I like the slender trunks and the old rugged bark.

Honeysuckle update

2010-09-26T21:11:00.000+01:00

This one was collected spring 2009 and repottet spring 2010. I have posted images of it before. Since my last update on it i have cut off a big branch on the right side in the first image, I havn't worked on the cut surface yet but will do so this autumn. I think removing that branch has improved the image a lot. It still needs a lot of work and refinement but it has very good potential.

New honeysuckle

2010-09-24T09:06:00.000+01:00

This is my mest honeysuckle. It was collected this spring and has been growing like crazy all summer. I have cut back the new growth several times and it rmifies very quickly. This species can produce a refined image in 5 years from a stump. When the leaves fall off I will start working on the tree.

It had to be done....

2010-09-23T19:02:00.002+01:00

Finally it happened, Rune got fused with mother nature.

Blue honeysuckle

2010-09-23T08:15:00.000+01:00

Here is a very small blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea) was collected last year and has a very interesting trunk, with a spiraling live vein and nicely textured dead wood. The only workdone so far is repotting, a little work on tghe dead wood and cutting back new growth. It will be shaped this autumn.

Mountain ash update

2010-09-22T08:17:00.000+01:00

This tree was collected spring 2009, the first photo is just after collecting

Here it is after one year of growth, before any work was done

This pic is fro today, I worked on the deadwood and wired it last autum and now it's time to wire it again

And here it is after a second wiring. It's not often one sees a good Sorbus aucuparia so I'm happy about this one. They are slow to develop, but in time it will ramify better, and hopefully it will put out flowers some day.

Yet another new pine

2010-09-21T08:00:00.002+01:00

This pine was collected spring 2010

The lower part of it is very impressive, in the future I will reduce the hight and use only the first few branches to create the crown.

Spruce part 2

2010-09-20T07:09:00.000+01:00

I always have to put collected spruces into really big boxes because I need to keep big rootballs to increase the chanse of getting enough hairroots to make the tree survive.

This one has survived and will be bare rooted next spring and put into a proper pot. I consider it essential to bare root the spruces during the first repot because they grow in very wet, bogsoil that breaks down to a mudlike structure after a few years. The spruces always responds to this procedure by putting out vigorous new growth. But I need to keep them in a shady position and they need a lot of moisture so I use small (1-3 mm) particles in the new substrate.

Spruce part 1

2010-09-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

This spruce was collected last year. It had been prepared for a few years by fertilizing it a few times every year.

In spite the fact that it grew in this almost mudlike and very wet bogsoil I could see some new hairroots in the top soil

The rootball is quite heavy due to all the water it contains. It's much more labourous to collect spruces than pines...

new spruce

2010-09-18T00:41:00.000+01:00

This spruce was collected in august last year. It grew on a rock so I got a compact rootball. That is very rare for spruces (at least where I collect them)

It has a lot of movement in the trunk. It has grown well this year so next spring it will be repotted into a proper pot.

Samabucus racemosa

2010-09-17T21:03:00.002+01:00

The common English name is red elderberry.
I have never seen one as bonsai before and there might very well be good reasons for that ; - )

I found this one this spring, and collected it because of the interesting bark and shape of the trunk

In the wild the growth is very coarse and the leaves are big.

It put out new growth everywhere, but like in the wild the growth was very coarse, the branches thickens very quickly and the diameter after one years free growth can be 2 cm, so they need to be cut back several times during summer to keep the growth under controll, and you need to wire the brances the first year they appear or they will not be bendable anymore.

This is what it looked like after the first shaping. I started to pinch back the new growth as soon as it started to grow to get better ramification. It is just an experiment and we'll see in the future if it's possible to develop decent ramification and to reduce the leafe size. The tree is about 75 cm tall.

It produces lots of red berrys in clusters in the wild, it stays on after the leafs fall off in autumn so that might be a nice feature if i can get it to produce berries in the future. ....

twisted pine

2010-09-17T21:00:00.002+01:00

This pine was collected spring 2009

This spring I repotted it and changed the planted angle. I removed all the old soil and it responded by growing very vigorously. Next yer it will be ready for the first styling...

Salix

2010-09-17T20:35:00.000+01:00

I got this salix purpurea 'nana' from a nursery last autumn. I posted something about it on the blog last year. It has developed very quicly. New shoots popped out everywhere and I need to thin it out a lot when the leaves fall off.

Privet update

2010-09-17T20:31:00.000+01:00

Here is an update on my privet. I took off the wire this summer and the brances got a bit out of position so I will rewire it this winter

Kevin Wilson seminar in May

2010-09-15T12:47:00.004+01:00

A lot has happened since my last post here many months ago so I keep posting more today...
In May this year Kevin Wilson visited and he did a demo on a pine owned by co blogger Nils Arne. Here is a short report.

Kevin was in a good mood.

Explaning about the way to treat the pine

Nils Arne helps out during the demo

And the finished result.

New preparation method for spruce

2010-09-15T12:08:00.002+01:00

I think I have showed photos of this spruce in earlier posts. It is still not collected and I have prepared in in situ form 2007. This year i have started a new way of preparing this kind of material for collection. (big old and weak spruces like this is very difficult to collect sucsessfully)As you can see from the pics I have put large amounts of spagnum moss around the trunk. The spruce grows in relatively dry and very nutrient poor peat soil and that causes the roots to run several meters away from the trunk in search of nutrients so if I dig it up, even if i get an enormous rootball, there will be very few feeder roots in it and small chanses of survival for the tree. I have been fertilizing it every year and now I have also put the spagnum moss around it. the hope it that the increased moisture content due to the thick layer of spagnum moss will help the development of new roots close to the trunk. And spagnum moss is also known to be a very good rooting medium, low branches that come in contact with it tend to put out new roots easily. I have seen this many times in the mountains. I have done this with a few very nice spruces this year and have high hopes for this new technique.

Spruce update

2010-09-15T11:39:00.003+01:00

Here is a spruce that I have shown a few times earlier. It was collected in 2004 and has been worked on a few times already. It has grown very vigorously the last few years and this summer I partly shaped it again. It still needs detaled wiring and I might do that next year. This will go into a decent pot in a few years.

New honeysuckle

2010-09-15T11:29:00.003+01:00

Here are a few pics of a massive honeysuckle I collected this spring. By now it is completly covered in new growth. They grow like crazy. I will work on the deadwood and shape the branches as soon as the leaves fall off, now I can't even see the trunk through all the leaves on the new branches.

Another big one

2010-09-15T10:27:00.003+01:00

Since I havn't posted anything for a long time (sorry) I would like to show another amazing pine I collected this spring. It was a 2 man job to carry this one to the car.

Big compact pine

2010-09-15T10:10:00.003+01:00

Since Jan Olav shows his big new pine I simply have to do the same ; -)
It has a bright future! Collected spring 2010

New sabina

2010-09-15T09:59:00.001+01:00

Here is a new sabina juniper I recently got in a trade, it was collected in the Swiss alps 5-6 years ago. Next spring it will be repotted.

Crazy...

2010-09-14T21:48:00.002+01:00

A bit crazy I know, but I could not help myself.... Massive thing.

Maple

2010-09-05T19:40:00.004+01:00

Sorry Rune, I have turned out to be a true deciduous guy. I just love my maples and even my chinese elms. It is a pleasure to watch the growth of my privets and hawthorns. Pines are great but come on, this tree gives me good feelings. Just look at it!!! hehe.

New pot?

2010-09-05T19:28:00.003+01:00

Can anyone come up with a good pot virtual for this one? I would like to put it in a shallow oval pot. It is a hollow trunk trident with tiny leaves. I plan to repot it next spring.
It is 57cm tall.

New bonsai webshop

2010-09-03T19:56:00.008+01:00

Today was the launch of my norwegian bonsai webshop, www.bonsaipotter.com. I sell trees, pots and stuff for bonsai. Only in norwegian, but please have a look anyway. Jeg håper at mange norske kunder finner veien inn og registrerer seg. Velkommen. This has taken most of my time this summer. Now that the nursery is open and the webshop is online, blogging will carry on as usual.

Hawthorn

2010-05-03T18:21:00.002+01:00

Here is a big hawthorn in an early stage of development. I did some rough carving this year. Next year I will carve it like crazy and improve the taper in the tree.

Berberis

2010-05-03T18:18:00.001+01:00

Here is a berberis I dug last year. They sting like #$%&" and it really hurts. We`ll see if it is worth it in the long run. More from this one in the years to come.

Hawthorn

2010-05-03T18:15:00.001+01:00

Here is an update on one of my hawthorns. I like it better in this smaller pot. It had some massive roots that I had to cut, it did not bother at all. Still a long way to go but I enjoy it.

2008

Today

Sumo privet

2010-05-02T18:42:00.003+01:00

Here is a privet that I dug last year. It has a long way to go, but it is a massive thing. I will enjoy this in the years to come. I will post more pics as it develops.

The tree dug, rootball washed and ready for the grow box

In the box

Today

Privet

2010-05-02T18:36:00.003+01:00

Here is a privet that I dug from my garden a couple of years back. It has developed quite good and this year I will defoliate 2-3 times during the growing season to work on the ramification. One of my neighbors (an old chap) told me that the hedge was planted in the late 30`s. This is an old privet.

Last year

Today

Maple

2010-05-02T18:16:00.001+01:00

Here is one of my maples, also enjoying the warmth of the sun.

SPRING !!

2010-05-02T18:12:00.002+01:00

Finally spring(ish) feelings in our freezing part of the world. The trees are waking up for real and there should no longer be any danger of frost. This english elm is basking in the sun.

Airlayering video

2010-04-16T12:41:00.005+01:00

Another brilliant video from Graham Potter.

Workshop with Kevin Willson 8-9.may

2010-04-12T13:09:00.004+01:00

There will be a workshop weekend with Kevin Willson 8-9. may in Oslo. Everyone is welcome.
Info in norwegian:

Årets workshop blir med bonsailegenden Kevin Willson. Han har jobbet med bonsai, holdt workshops, deltatt på utstillinger vunnet en haug med priser i Europa i 30 år. Han er kanskje mest kjent for sin jobbing med dødved.

Program
Lørdag 8. mai. kl. 10 -16
Demonstrasjon hvor Kevin Wilson viser oss fremgangsmåter og teknikker, når han jobber med bonsai fra råmateriale til ferdig resultat.
Vi har en fantastisk furu som han skal jobbe med så dette blir en opplevelse.

Søndag 9.mai, kl. 10-16
Work shop. Da tar vi med oss egne planter som vi skal jobbe med under kyndig veiledning av Kevin Wilson. Her blir det mye å lære!

Arrangementet foregår på Binderiet AS, Haslevollen 3E 0579 Oslo.
Deltagelse 2 dager: kr 650,-
Deltagelse 1 dag : kr 350.-

Påmelding senest mandag 3.mai til Steinar Andersen
mob. 982 55 440
e-post steinar.andersen@sweco.no

Hvis det blir fantastisk vær er det mulig vi flytter det til en privat hage og alle vil da få beskjed om dette.

Besøk siden hans for å få et innblikk i Kevin Willsons fantastiske bonsaiverden.
Han har også en blogg.

Better nebari

2010-04-02T18:10:00.000+01:00

This honeysuckle was collected spring 2009. When I collected it, I left many roots at different levels on one side of the trunk, just to make sure it survived. Because of that the nebari is not so good.

Here it is autumn 2009

And here it is today after repotting. I removed the upper roots on the left side and got a much better nebari. I have covered the root base with spagnum moss but it goes from one side of the pot to the next, very imposing, it will be revieled later

It kind of looks like an olive tree with the gnareld trunk and deadwood areas....

More repotting

2010-03-28T15:14:00.001+01:00

As can be seen a lot of roots have developed since collection

Diameter of the pot is 53 cm. I have covered all the surface roots with spagnum moss. After a few years it will have a nice radial root system all around the trunk

I might have to do something about the big trunk/branch on the right, but I'll leave that for later.

Big honeysuckle repotted

2010-03-28T15:08:00.000+01:00

It looks about a million times better in a proper pot!

Breaking a honeysuckle in two # 2

2010-03-17T21:11:00.000+01:00

My son is checking the result of my work

Here the new trees are potted up. Insted of one big clumpsy trunk, I now have two (still kind of big) but much more elegant trunks. Both are about 80 cm tall and has a trunk diameter at the base of about 23 cm.
I had done some carving work last autumn, but now I need to go over them again, especially the one at the bottom to make the top section lighter.
The dark sections at the bottom of the trunks where they were joined together have bark and they will get a lighter colour like the rest of the bark when they dry up.

Breaking a honeysuckle in two

2010-03-17T21:02:00.001+01:00

This Honeysuckle was collected last spring together with the others I have shown recently. I don't like the shape of the trunk so I took it in to my studio to study the possibilities. As it stands now it is no good since one part of the trunk leans the left and the other to the right. The only solution to this is to break the trunk in two. It seems that it should be quite easy to do that because the two trunks are only attached down by the root base.

As I suspected it was no problem top break the trunk in two : -)

My son is very happy about the result!

First wiring of another honeysuckle

2010-03-15T14:35:00.000+01:00

This one was collected last spring together with the other one I showed a few days ago.

I did some initial carving last autumn and this is how it looked before the shaping

And here it is after the first shaping. It will be repotted as soon as the frost disapears from the soil.
This is my favorite honeysuckle : -)

'spring' is here #2

2010-03-13T08:48:00.000+01:00

Here is the result after the initial shaping. There are some gaps here and there, but I expect many new branches to grow from the trunk this year so it will probably fill in with time. Sorry about the background, it makes it difficult to see the branches....
Next step for this tree is repotting as soon as the soil is frost free (hopefully very soon!)

'Spring' is finally here #1

2010-03-13T08:31:00.000+01:00

Well, we still have 50 cm of snow and freezing temps every night, but enough snow has melted for me to start some work on my trees.

Here is a big tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) that was collect spring 2009. I did some rough work on the deadwood last autumn and decided to shape the branches yesterday. Here is how it looked bfore the work.

Big privet repotted part 2

2010-03-07T19:44:00.000+01:00

Ready to be placed in the pot again

For those of you who have seen this tree before, you can notice that I have hollowed out the deadwood in the front of the tree since last time I posted it here.

I put it into the same pot, but I placed it a little higer than before.
I have ordered a new pot from John Pitt for this tree.

Big privet repotted

2010-03-07T19:38:00.001+01:00

I've had this tree for 2 years now and it's time to have a look at the roots

It had a very good rootball and it was just about time for a repot

After cutting back the bottom roots.

Salix purpurea repotted

2010-02-21T15:35:00.000+01:00

It will be interesting to see how this species behaves as a bonsai

More repotting

2010-02-20T13:28:00.000+01:00

Collected last spring

In the new pot by David Jones, Walsall studio ceramics

Close up of the twisting live vein on the smallest trunk

Back side

Repotting

2010-02-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

This Lonicera was collected spring 2009 and as expected the whole pot was filled with roots when I took it out

I cut the roots back a lot to fit the tre in to a good pot.

Here it is in its new pot. It is less than 40 cm to the top of the wire.

Noelander Trophy XI

2010-02-08T13:31:00.004+01:00

Here are some some my favourite trees at Noelander Trophy XI. Great show!

This pine is by Walter Pall. It's so much better live and it's bigger than you might expect. I looks good from many sides and the crow is very open.

winter garden

2010-02-03T06:29:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos of my garden from yesterday, we have had about 15 more cm of snow since then....and it's really cold all the time
It looks like spring will be late this year.....

people

2010-01-27T22:07:00.001+01:00

Here are photos of the demonstrators and some more.

more Noelanders trophy

2010-01-27T22:06:00.001+01:00

More trees:

Pinus sylvestris from Richard Chambers

Korean Hornbeam from Ian Stewardson

Korean hornbeam from Mario Komsta

Noelanders trophy

2010-01-27T22:05:00.001+01:00

Here are some of the trees from the exhibit

Juniperus sabina from Carlos Van Der Vaart

Juniperus chinensis from Mauro Stemberger

Pinus mugo from Marc Noelanders

And the winner of the trophy: Juniperus chinensis from Enrico Savini

We are off to the Noelanders Trophy!

2010-01-22T10:20:00.002+01:00

Rune and I are going to the Noelanders Trophy in Belgium this weekend. Hope to see you there.
Watch this space for pictures and report.

Blue honeysuckle part 3

2010-01-20T13:45:00.005+01:00

This is the tree that didn't look like it had much potential as bonsai.

I had to cut back the thick roots a lot to make them fit in to a properly sized container, but there were more than enough roots so it was not a problem, and with this species one can cut back really hard with no problems.

Here it is in the new pot.

And here it is after a rough shaping. It didn't turn out all that bad after all. It looks much better than I would have guessed when it was crammed in with the other trunk. I expect a lot of new branches to develop from the trunk next spring so I can fill in the holes in the design.

I also need to do more carving work on the dead part to incorporate it better in the design.

Blue honeysuckle part 2

2010-01-20T13:24:00.002+01:00

Here I have done some carving work (it is now finished yet)

It was impossible to finish the shaping of the trees when they were growing so close together so I decided to repot them into separate pots. I broke the rootball apart and started to cut back the roots.Since the trees have been inside all winter with temps up to + 5 celsius the buds have already started to swell a bit (way to early in my area) so I'm hoping that the repotting will slow the process down a bit and I will also reduse the temp in my studio a little to slow things down.

Blue honeysuckle

2010-01-16T16:42:00.001+01:00

This one was collected spring 2009. It was not easy to see what this could become when I collected it...

It had lots and lots of flaky bark that I pealed off and it became clear that it was 2 trunks and not one. For some stupid reason I didn't break the two trunks apart, but planted them in the same pot instead.

It grew well all summer.

Before the snow and cold came, I put the tree in my bonsai studio, not because it needed winter protection but because I wanted to work on it during winter.
Here I have just started work by pulling the two trees more apart so it's easier to see what they look like and I have cut off some unnesessary branches.
Next step is to carve the stumps....As you can see the tree to the right has a very interesting trunk and will be a good tree in time.

Winter is here....

2009-12-26T19:47:00.000+01:00

We got back to our house today after celebrating Cristmas with the family and had to shovel away 50 cm of snow. Now the birds can get to the food we give them again:-)

My trees are luckily protected from the forcasted extreme cold next week by the insulating snow cover

Lonicera cutting

2009-12-18T12:48:00.001+01:00

Whebn I colleted some of my big loniceras this last spring, I decided totake some cuttings of some thick branches against my better judgement just to see if they would take root. I found 3 suitable branches and all of them took root! That shows just how easy it is to collect Loniceras! Here is the development of one of them.

Here is how it looked in april just after I took it.

This is how it looked in the beginning of desember after I had cut back the thick branches a bit.

The other side

And here is how it looks now after some work on the dead wood and wiring of the few branches it has. I expect many more shoots to develop from the trunk next spring. The trunk diameter is 7 cm anf the hight is 22 cm. (The top will be cut back further later on)

Ribes nigrum again

2009-12-17T18:49:00.000+01:00

Here is another of the black currant bushes I dug up this summer. It will be some kind of a clump style....

Another Ribes nigrum

2009-12-09T20:40:00.002+01:00

Here is another blackcurrant that I collected from my garden this summer.
This one has also grown well and it also has many dead stumps that needs to be removed.

When I started to remove the dead stumps it turned out that much of the interior of the trunk was build up by clay that had accumulated over the years. When I removed the clay the tree changed apperance completly. It looks much more interesting now I think

Here it is after styling. It will be interesting to see how this species developes as a bonsai

Ribes nigrum update

2009-12-09T20:34:00.002+01:00

Here is obne of the black currant bushes I collectd from my garden this summer. It has grown profusely this summer and it's time to start some work on it. There are many dead branch stumps on it. The deadwood seems to rot away almost instantly so it seems to be impossible to use deadwood in the design.

I took off all the dead branches and as much of the dead parts as I could and cut back and wired the branches. here is the result.

At the moment it looks like the tree has two tops, but I will remove one of them next summer, I will leave it as it is untill after repotting to see wich one is the best to keep.

Honeysuckle no 4

2009-12-05T21:45:00.001+01:00

Here is the tree after a light pruning and some wireing. I had left many branches in the apex too long last year so I had to cut them back quite a bit so the apex isn't as developed as it could have been, but one learnes from ones mistakes....

Honeysuckle no 3

2009-12-05T21:40:00.000+01:00

Here is what the tree looked like a few days ago. Because I had left the wires on for too long this summer the growth has not been as good as on the other honeysuckles I have so the tree hasn't increased as much in ramification this season as I had hoped for.

Honeysuckle no 2

2009-12-05T21:36:00.000+01:00

Spring 2008 it was repotted

And this is what it looked like summer 2008

Honeysuckle part 1

2009-12-05T21:33:00.000+01:00

This tree was collected spring 2007

Salix purpurea 'nana' no 3

2009-11-29T21:26:00.001+01:00

Here is how the tree looks after the first styling. It has been a drastic pruning. I have used some of the cut off branches as props to place the brances where I want them and have only wired a few branches. Most of them are too thick to wire effectivly.

The rootbase now measuses 13 cm in diameter and the hight of the tree is reduced to 36 cm.
Next step is to repot when spring arrives.

Salix purpurea 'nana' no 2

2009-11-29T19:51:00.003+01:00

Here I have started to cut back the branches

Still morte cutting

It is starting to take shape

Still more cutting. This has only been very rough cutting back so far and. The silouette is just about right now, but that leaves no room for new growth and fine ramification so I will have to cut back quite a bit more, and some of the branches are pretty long and straight anyway so they have to be shortened. The hight now is 47 cm and the width of the crown is also 47 cm.

More to come...

Salix purpurea 'nana'

2009-11-29T19:43:00.000+01:00

Here is a dwarf red willow. I have never seen one as a bonsai before, but to me it looks like this species has very good potential

This one is about 10 years old and has been growing in a pot and the roots has grown into the ground and helped thicken the trunk. It was one meter tall and 120 cm wide before work started

Close up of the root base before any work

Here I have started to uncover the root base. It is 9 cm wide but there is still more to uncover.

For scale. More too come soon....

Linden

2009-11-22T15:06:00.000+01:00

Here is my Tilia cordata.

I pruned back the new growth a bit

And I took off the wire. It has been on for 1 whole year now, but it still hasn't left any marks on the branches.
This is the back of the tree

And here is the front. It's a bit difficult to get good ramification on linden, but I can see some new buds here and there on old wood on the branches and on the trunk so it will improve over time.
The lower left part still need a lot of growth. There are some new buds in the right places on the trunk so I will get more branches in that area in a few years.

Privet finished for now

2009-11-15T10:28:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I found time to finish shaping my big liguster. I think it's starting to look pretty good alredy!

Privet half done

2009-11-12T15:28:00.000+01:00

I don't get much time to shaping these days, but I get a little done every now and again

My big privet is half done for now.
I have grown more than 10 new branches from the trunk this summer to fill inn gaps here and there. It will obiously take some years before the ramification is satifactory, but privets develop really quickly!

New spruce

2009-11-10T16:35:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos of a spruce I collected just behind my house in september : -)

As you can see it has a really strange shape with a 180 degree bend in the trunk

It was growing on a rock and had a very shallow and compact root system so it has an excelent chance of survival

Here it is in its new home.

Honeysuckle wiring

2009-11-07T15:36:00.000+01:00

Here is one of my honeysuckles. It was collected as a stump in spring 2007

Today I cut it back and wired it again. Here is the result. It's improving every year, but it still needs a lot of development.

Privet again

2009-11-06T20:19:00.000+01:00

Here is my privet after I have plucked off all the leaves

The back

Here it is after I have given it a haircut

And here I have started to wire the branches. Still a long way to go....

Development of a privet

2009-11-01T18:26:00.002+01:00

I got this tree last summer. It was raw material then. Here it is after the first styling in august 2008

This is how it looked a few days ago, only one growing season later. Ramification has increased a lot. I have cut back the branches 4-5 times this summer. It grows like crazy.

In order to better see the branch structure I decided to pluck off all the leaves. Ligustrum is a semi decidious tree and if it becomes cold enough it looses all the leaves by it self. I placed the tree inside in a frost free room a few days ago so it will not happen by itself. It had been exposed to night temps down to - 5 celsius for a few weeks and showed no signs of dropping the leaves.
It is time consuming to pluck off all the leaves. I have to take one at a time, it's not like a pine where you can pluck many needles at the same time.
When I'm done plucking the leaves I'll cut back the branches again and wire the tree.

More carving

2009-11-01T09:46:00.000+01:00

Here is another big honeysuckle that needs a lot of carving work

And here it is after a very rough first round with 'the terrier' No detal carving has been done yet, only bulk removal of wood.

Carving work

2009-10-15T19:56:00.000+01:00

Here is one of my BIG honeysuckles that I collected this spring.
First a quick history
The tree before collection

Here I have cut it back and are getting ready to dig.

Here it is in its new home just after collection

And finally today after the initial block carving. It is not finished yet. I have only used one bit on my power tool so far. It's 'The Terrier' from www.kaizenbonsai.com
It's a very good tool for removing a lot of wood quickly. I must have carved away several kilos from this tree during the few hours I worked on it to day. The next step is to do some more refining on the dead wood and to wire the tree. Report will follow.

A few honeysuckles

2009-10-05T10:05:00.000+01:00

Here are pics of 4 honeysuckles I collected this spring. I have done some carving on them, wired and cut back the branches. It is only a very rough first styling.

5 years in the evolution of a spruce

2009-09-17T14:48:00.001+01:00

This spruce was collected in the beginning of september 2004. This is how it looked in spring 2005. It had lost more than 50 % of the needles and I was pretty sure it would die, but late june that year it started to show new growth!

I left the tree pretty much alone for some years but I did bend the main branches with guy wires and I also reduced the root ball during that time. This photo is from august 2008, 4 years after collection. It has grown well and I repotted the tree into a smaller wooden box ( I didn't have a large enough pot) Here you can see some earlier posts about this tree: http://norwegianbonsai.blogspot.com/2007/05/big-spruce-part-4.html
http://norwegianbonsai.blogspot.com/2007/05/big-spruce-part-3.html
http://norwegianbonsai.blogspot.com/2007/05/big-spruce-part-2.html
http://norwegianbonsai.blogspot.com/2007/05/big-spruce-part-1.html

This photo is from spring 2009. I removed more than 50 % of the foilage to prepare the tree for its first styling. (The tree is not in my garden so I only see it a few times every year)

Here is the tree in july 2009. I have just done the first styling. I have not shaped the small branches yet. The wire will have to stay on the big branches for several years before they settle in their new positions and spruces don't like too much disturbance at once so I will leave the rest of the shaping for next year. I will also have to thin out the foliage quite a bit more, especially in the back. It takes a long time to get good results with spruces, but if we are patient they will reward us with healthy growth and wonderful shapes!

Some of the trees I collected this year

2009-09-12T20:30:00.001+01:00

Here is an overwiev of some of the trees I collected this year.

Very small spruce forest

2009-08-30T19:25:00.000+01:00

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

2009-08-27T18:48:00.001+01:00

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

2009-08-26T21:41:00.000+01:00

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

2009-08-25T19:07:00.001+01:00

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

2009-08-21T18:58:00.000+01:00

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

2009-08-16T10:44:00.002+01:00

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

Mountain ash

2009-08-15T19:32:00.000+01:00

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

2009-08-14T10:11:00.001+01:00

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

2009-08-14T10:04:00.000+01:00

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

2009-08-13T13:35:00.000+01:00

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 ; -)