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  1. BillsBayou

    Thinking of using a hardwood for the daiza I'll make for this stone

    Found this in Georgia, I think. Zero modifications to the stone. It spoke to me. Can't wait to put it in a show.
  2. BillsBayou

    I carved a big stone and moved a forrest

    Friend asked me to create a larger planting stone for his forrest. We traced the existing forrest stone onto paper and made some choices for how to size it up. Negative space will be added to the left and a visible stone margin will surround the trees. Stones that have a large surface area and...
  3. BillsBayou

    My new bonsai tool arrived today

    I had a fevered dream where I was styling a rotted stump. When I woke up, I ordered this from Amazon.
  4. BillsBayou

    Arkansas locations to find cupped slabs?

    I'd like to get ahold of a few bowl-shaped slabs; cup, saucer, concave... The ones I've seen come out of Arkansas. Does anyone know any locations I can go to get these? I'm in New Orleans, but will be up near Arkansas later this month. Driving a few more hours wouldn't be difficult for my...
  5. BillsBayou

    ATV winch versus bald cypress

    Catahoula Lake is drained and dry at this time of year. Not the best time to collect bald cypress, but this is when they’re available. The trees here are seriously stunted for their age and that’s what makes them interesting. It gets hot here. I camped on the playa to get an early, cooler...
  6. BillsBayou

    A Tale Of Two Carbides (blades, that is)

    It was the best of sales, it was the worst of sales, it was the age of wiseguys, it was the age of tomfoolery, it was a web page of incredulity, it was a shipment of doubt. we had nothing to lose, we were all going to Home Depot, we were all going to Customer Service. For those of you who...
  7. BillsBayou

    Help with pricing a large planting stone

    "Texas holey stone" The price has not been set as of yet. I will not be shipping this stone as it weighs 74 pounds (33.5kg). The stone is 24" (60cm) across at its widest and the same length from front to back. The stone is approximately 8 inches high (10cm). This would make a great base for a...
  8. BillsBayou

    Texas holy stone, just not sure

    Saw this today. I can’t think of much to do with it just yet. Maybe put a dwarf crape myrtle in the center with smaller crepe myrtles in nearby holes. The smaller would be cuttings from the larger. Maybe some accent plants. Any ideas? Damn thing weighs about 75lbs (34kg). I put it up on...
  9. BillsBayou

    Anyone ever use a sledgehammer to create deadwood features?

    Hulk no carve. Hulk smash. What if the heartwood of a trunk was pre-shattered when it came time to carve it out? What if I didn't CUT off the top of a bald cypress and instead, smashed the cut line to a pulp using a sledgehammer? What if I had access to quarter sticks of dynamite? Trees, wood...
  10. BillsBayou

    Got a great deal on some Japanese pot in Denver

    Kaoru Ito pot. Potter name "Bunzan". He is currently retired. From the Fukui prefecture on Honshu Island. Pots from here are called Echizen yaki. This was not made on a pottery wheel. You can see the impressions of the artists fingers all along the pot. Yeah, well, I'm not sure if I got all of...
  11. BillsBayou

    Scored some New Jersey pot in Denver

    @Bob Hunter pot I picked up Saturday night at the ABS banquet. It rings like a bell when thumped. Handmade. 31cm X 8.5cm It was too beautiful not to bid on it. Sadly, everyone at the banquet were Philistines and I was the only bidder. ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME? I have no idea what to put in it...
  12. BillsBayou

    ABS Denver 2023 - Latest member of the Midnight Bonsai Society

    Conventions! You need to go to conventions. This is where you meet new friends and learn new techniques. As a way to have fun, I made up several shirts with different designs to give away semi-randomly. This is Oscar wearing the Mountain Division shirt of the Midnight Bonsai Society. He lurks...
  13. BillsBayou

    Video: Rare deadwood feature (to me) that has me thinking about what we're trying to achieve with carving

    As a branch grows from bud to limb, the beginnings of the branch can be found deep in the trunk. As the center of a tree rots out, it can leave behind evidence of the beginnings of branches or branches we no longer see. This particular tree got me thinking what all of this means with respect to...
  14. BillsBayou

    Who's going to Denver for ABS? I hope to see some of you there!

    Pretty much the title says it all. Who will be at the ABS convention starting on June 8?
  15. BillsBayou

    Nursery took 75% off this crape myrtle. So did I.

    Original price was $129.99. Sale price: $32.50 I brought the trimmings back to the nursery man. He was laughing and said he would take them to the dumpster for me.
  16. BillsBayou

    2023 Bald Cypress Dig

    New location for digging bald cypress. Two things make this a great area; No clay in the roots; Odd genetics causing early deep flutes and rapid taper; Good trees are close to the road; Area is far enough out there to limit competition for material; Cops only care about speeders and don't care...
  17. BillsBayou

    The accidental bonsai

    Cars going off into the trees can help us pull larger trees faster. This was our caravan: First thing I saw was tracks going into the trees. Into, not through. If you don't see it above, I'm using the caution tape to flag my find. Evan said it was funny how were there only five seconds...
  18. BillsBayou

    Seeking storage in Denver in June

    I'm going to the ABS Bonsai convention in Denver this June. Our plan is to be camping before and after the convention. The problem is the roof-top luggage pod, the inverter generator, and gas can. The carrier won't fit in the underground garages at the hotel and botanical garden. Would anyone...
  19. BillsBayou

    Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hatchet 8" Pruning (CARVING) Saw

    Milwaukee tool number 3004-20 Just came in today. I used to use the Lancelot chainsaw disc from King Arthur Tools. I had a great run using the tool on my angle grinders. Despite being a very dangerous thing to do to an angle grinder, I never had a single incident. Guy Guidry put one in his...
  20. BillsBayou

    Hand-carved slab commissioned by Underhill Bonsai (Folsom, Louisiana)

    A client of Underhill Bonsai wants to create a dense forest of elms. I was asked to carve the slab for the project. The finished width is 46". Depth is 21". It's a piece of Pennsylvania Bluestone. The stone has. Good spirit and cooperated with the commissioned design. The second photo is a HUGE...
  21. BillsBayou

    Taxodium seed collecting for upcoming experiment

    A local university planted T. distichum down one side of their street and T. ascendens (aka: T. distichum var. imbricatum) down the other side. I have a project where I'll be torturing seedlings. This is today's haul of seeds. Leaves in the bags tell me which is which. I'll be posting updates as...
  22. BillsBayou

    Merry Christmas! "Bonsai and Bad Harmonica" (new video)

    I don't know, I was really drunk at the time.
  23. BillsBayou

    Need bag to protect foliage of collected trees during transport. Don't know what they're called.

    How do I buy something when I don't know what it's called? The problem is how to protect a tree's foliage during open air transport for a couple hundred miles. Wilt-Pruf is great, but is only part of the solution. Isn't there a bag or wrap that I can use on a tree to protect it from hours of...
  24. BillsBayou

    Repotting ficus cuttings in a CPL soil mix ... in November

    Sometimes I do the wrong thing just because. Let's repot a couple tropicals at the end of November in an untested inorganic soil mix. The trees are cuttings from the past couple of years. One a ficus salicaria, the other a ficus microcarpa "Green Island". The soil is a variation of the APL...
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