Projects from TJ’s Backyard

[Colorado]

This thread is intended to document the projects from my backyard.

I very much appreciate the similar threads from other members. Hopefully this thread will be interesting or helpful to someone, someday.

I intend to update this thread periodically throughout the year with small insights into my bonsai practice.

I think this is an appropriate first project for my thread. This is a very raw and unrefined ponderosa pine, my first yamadori, sitting atop a newly-constructed bench that I built this spring. Lots of “firsts” here. A good place to start. This tree will be fully wired this summer.

 

[Hartinez]

Dude.

This thread is intended to document the projects from my backyard.

I very much appreciate the similar threads from other members. Hopefully this thread will be interesting or helpful to someone, someday.

I intend to update this thread periodically throughout the year with small insights into my bonsai practice.

I think this is an appropriate first project for my thread. This is a very raw and unrefined ponderosa pine, my first yamadori, sitting atop a newly-constructed bench that I built this spring. Lots of “firsts” here. A good place to start. This tree will be fully wired this summer.
View attachment 377329

That thing is a beast!

 

[Colorado]

@Hartinez Indeed! But not as big of a beast as it was in 2019 when I originally acquired it from Todd Schlafer in a wooden collection box. I have since jinned a secondary trunk and significantly shortened the apical branch. Now if only I can dig up the photos from that project....

 

[Colorado]

Here are the details on how I constructed the bench. The simple design was based on the benches @Adair M has posted.

Materials included concrete landscaping blocks and four, 12-foot long, treated 4x4s. You could glue the blocks together, but I elected not to. I used some smaller blocks to make sure the 4x4s sit flush with the blocks.




I am really happy with it so far. We’ll see how it holds up here on the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

 

[Colorado]

The Projects In my back yard are not all big, collected yamadori. Far from it!

This project is a mame willow leaf ficus. It was over-potted previously for development. I had 3 mame pots to choose from:

I ended up going with the unglazed round!

 

[Carol 83]

The Projects In my back yard are not all big, collected yamadori. Far from it!

This project is a mame willow leaf ficus. It was over-potted previously for development. I had 3 mame pots to choose from:
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I ended up going with the unglazed round!
View attachment 378646

You should check out @Pitoon's mame pots.

 

[Colorado]

Shohin Buttonwood! I just picked up this tree off Facebook. Once the tree has acclimated to my garden, it will go into its first bonsai pot later this summer.

 

[Hartinez]

Shohin Buttonwood! I just picked up this tree off Facebook. Once the tree has acclimated to my garden, it will go into its first bonsai pot later this summer.
View attachment 379668

Nice. First auction acquisition?

 

[Colorado]

Not the first...but the first in awhile!

 

[Colorado]

Acer glabrum. Rocky Mountain Maple. This is a project from my back yard that I am very excited about!

I have not seen Rocky Mountain Maple used much for bonsai. But I believe the species to have great potential. I find a. glabrum to be very similar in many ways to a. palmatum, Japanese maple.

Here’s a photo of the mature, hardened off leaves from two japenese maples and two Rocky Mountain maples, all four trees with distinct genetics. You can see that the largest leaves from the glabrums are quite a bit smaller than the largest leaves from the palmatums:



Now, I am not yet ready to declare that we can achieve smaller leaves with glabrum than with palmatum. These are just a couple data points. But the Rocky Mountain maple is certainly capable of nice-sized leaves for bonsai.

Here’s a Rocky Mountain Maple that I am working on propagating. Today’s project is a simple air layer. My main goal is just to acquire more plant material of this species since they’re pretty rare to come across in nurseries around here, but you can find them if you look!




I threw a container on there...and now we wait.

This is definitely a species that I will continue to explore

 

[Tieball]

Here are the details on how I constructed the bench. The simple design was based on the benches @Adair M has posted.

Materials included concrete landscaping blocks and four, 12-foot long, treated 4x4s. You could glue the blocks together, but I elected not to. I used some smaller blocks to make sure the 4x4s sit flush with the blocks.

View attachment 378414View attachment 378415
View attachment 378416View attachment 378417

I am really happy with it so far. We’ll see how it holds up here on the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

Nice design and build. I like the simplicity.

 

[Colorado]

Tiger Bark Ficus. I had a great time sitting on my back porch this weekend, listening to the gentle rain while defoliating, pruning, and wiring out this tree.

This tree is definitely still in development. I did not defoliate the weakest, lowest branches. I also did not defoliate branches that were severely bent. I used a combination of copper and aluminum wire, depending on what the branch needed.

Before:


After:

 

[Colorado]

This morning I stumbled upon @Brian Van Fleet 2010 Maple thread. Amazing progression! Got me thinking about my trident project out in the backyard.

I acquired this trident from a fellow Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society club member. I believe it originally came from Green Thumb nursery in South Carolina.

I repotted it this spring from a black nursery can into this box. 50/50 akadama/pumice. The root work was severe and probably too late, and it sulked through the spring. Now, it is finally gaining steam and I will leave it to grow unchecked for the rest of the year. I plan to chop it down to that low bud next spring, and then a larger box and root work spring 2023. Ground growing is not a safe option in my climate - I think it could withstand the coldest temps, but an early freeze or late freeze would do in a trident, I believe. So I’ll use boxes to grow it out so that I can protect when necessary.

 

[Colorado]

Buttonwood!

 

[Colorado]

Snapped a quick shot of my bench this morning…

 

[Colorado]

Ficus from post #12, about a month after defoliation and wiring. Will allow to run a bit more before a pretty hard prune to bring the canopy back to a more proportional size.

 

[Colorado]

Small ponderosa pine. First styling. It is a quirky little tree.

I am exploring what can be done on the lower limit of the size spectrum with ponderosa. I am sure the needle size will be challenging, but I’m curious what can be achieved with a very small pot and modern ponderosa techniques.

I acquired this tree from Andy Smith at Golden Arrow Bonsai.

Before the work:


First styling:


The needles are a little messy. I’ll do more detailed needle work next year, cleaning up the bottom needles, etc once it’s had a chance to recover and settle into the design.

 

[Colorado]

Doug Fir. Picked this up as a nursery seedling, labeled as the Rocky Mountain variety of Douglas fir, pseudotsuga menziesii var. ‘glauca.’

This tree’s aesthetic is defined by verticality. Inspired by many of the trees I see skiing, with significant snow influence that pulls the branches downward, almost hugging the trunk.

The biggest issue with the tree right now is the lack of branch density in the upper half of the tree. I will likely end up removing some of the lower branches to create a more uniform branch density in the future.

Nursery stock purchased fall 2019. Repotted into bonsai soil ( 2:1:1 ) spring 2020.


It rocked out after repot, so I did some structural wiring fall 2020. Let it grow until July 2021. Removed structural wire biting in, pruned, and rewired structural and detail:


I will fertilize heavily through the rest of the year and likely start pinching next spring to continue developing ramification. Bonsai pot spring 2023.

 

[Colorado]

Worked on the ficus from post #12 again this week. I did a minor repot to correct the planting angle to bring it a bit more upright, to adjust the aerial roots, and to move the trunk slightly off-center in the pot. Now it will be ready to stay in this pot for 2-3 years to allow the roots to scale the akadama.


I also busted out the dremel for a bit of work on the shari. This was a rough go at it, will refine over time. Will apply lime sulphur this weekend.

 

[Wood]

Doug Fir. Picked this up as a nursery seedling, labeled as the Rocky Mountain variety of Douglas fir, pseudotsuga menziesii var. ‘glauca.’ ...

I love the verticality and drama of this tree. Those two lower jins really stick out to my eye because they're going the wrong way. Do you have a plan for them?