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The previous post is basically the most recent update on these trees. The wife and I just bought our first house this year and we're pretty busy with the work of getting settled in. I'm hoping that come next spring I will dig up my first couple trees and get them into training pots/boxes. I will...

Just finished up this years annual (usually around the 4th of July, 2 weeks late due to vacation this year) decandling. Did most of the regular decandling on all lower buds pushed out this spring, with the exception of leaving some as future sacrifices or branch thickeners. Unlike in previous...

August 2022 These photos are 1 month after de-candling on the 4th of July weekend. Same tree last picture in previous post^ The outcoming was in general all the new growth is coming from the base of needles "needle buds" around the decandling locations, rather than new buds forming at the...

2022: Some of these leaders are getting 7'-8' tall on the older trees. with base trunks getting to ~2-3" thick. May 2022 Before /\ De-candled over 4th of July weekend. After \/ Example of a JBP lower down decandled, with a sacrifice branch that is probably 8' tall

2020: Blank year, not sure what happened to my phone, but somehow, I lost any documentation for this time. 2021: A lot of my focus is keeping the lower branches alive stripping needle higher on the tree and decandling on lower branches to keep growth compact lower down. Trying to keep as many...

2019: Planted another large group of pines up in the ground growing garden, this time I was better about planting all the trees at an angle. Hopefully providing the future bonsais with more movement in the lower trunk. I didn’t make the effort of wiring and contorting any of the trunks because...

2018: The great re-planting begins. Seedlings are transplanted from raised bed into the field. I planted things in a variety of ways. Some were planted through a tile I drilled a hole in. Spoiler alert only a few of these survived to present. I suspect a lot of that was due to the difficulty I...

2017: Basically, everything survived the winter and came out growing well throughout the year. Everything remained in the growing bed. I began preparing my growing grounds purchasing a lot of haydite and then tilling it all into the clay soil I would be growing my trees in. Not a perfect...

2016: The Beginning: Seeds came from online in Fall of 2015 and I stratified seeds in a damp paper towel and left in the fridge over the winter in order to get seeds to germinate for planting in the Spring of 2016. Seeds were then planted into a raised bed which I had filled with a mix of...

Sidesummy's JBP & JRP Ground Growing Progression Photo Series: As of 2022 I'm 7 years into my bonsai from seed journey. I thought it would in nice to provide an ongoing photo series of my progress thus far. Reading the forums for several years I have always found it particularly helpful when...

Hey thanks for the video reference. Yes I'm very much doing something similar to what he's been doing in pots, except mine being in the ground. It seems he didn't detail a lot about what his work looks like for the lower branches, but I suspect he was a little more on top of that work than...

Several years later. Some 3-4 year old pines in front Some of the 5-6 year old pines in the back. I continue to decandle the lower branches each summer and bud select in the fall. I've been stripping the needles off pretty much everything on the sacrifice branch except this year's growth...

I haven't had any really problems with them from winter yet. Granted I've never had them in bonsai pots with a need to give them a little more over wintering protection. But a few are sitting in some colanders just sitting on the ground (some roots have gone through the bottom and into the...

Here is an album of where the trees are today. Most everything is up in a garden plot ground growing now to thicken up trunks. Im doing my best to keep low growth alive and compacted (decandling, needle pulling for light, or cutting back to adventurous bud) while letting leaders growth ong and...

I got a new shipment of colanders to plant even more of my 1-2 y/o seedlings into individual containers. It seems that the black/red pines I put into individual pots have also survived the transfer, their candles have begun elongating! Yay success! The pines planted in the ground also seem to...

Plastic Colanders Here is where I'm buying these colanders in bulk for cheap prices. Just be aware that if they sit outside in the sun and get all the UV rays the plastic deteriorates and will crack and be unusable within a few years. Just FYI

I was able to move a couple more things from the raised beds into individual pots some replaced in the raised beds, but sitting on top of and will allow the roots to grow out the bottom for a bit. Other previously potted trees were also moved into the garden area in colanders and set above...

Ah, thanks for the heads up on the warning about dieback and mold. I hope that fact that I ammended the soil heavily with haydite to improve the drainage and airflow will assist in reducing this. I'm glad to know that the warmth of the mats may help. Even if it holds a little more water its...

Rushing to replant the weekend before my wedding because I know as I'm away in Ireland for honeymoon the buds would start to open and I didn't want to wait another whole year to make use of the bonsai growing grounds! Here they are at the end of the year last fall. Preparing the space With help...

Fall Update: 2017 from seed - Zelkova's in Front, JBP behind them. (to the far back is 2nd year 2016 planted stuff) 2016 from seed - Tridents, JRP, JBP, and in the bottom right a 3rd year potted in colanders Jap. Maple and Dogwood. Lets hope the Ohio winter treats everything kindly and...

Last years pines have really taken off with their first new candles. Glad to see them healthy. A few Reds and Blacks.

Just another update on what the grounds look like. Finally had a long enough stretch of dry spell that I felt comfortable tilling the ground before mixing in the haydite. The Bobcat helped a lot... and wasn't too much cost to rent for the day. One step closer to getting something planted in my...

Taken yesterday

Here are a few more from the raised bed I recently expanded. Tridents, Japanese Maples, and Zelkova.

JBP Tridents Japanese Maples