Tommy's trees

[sorce]

Wondering what soil you use and how you get it to stick so well.

Just cuz I'm here...

I put the roots of mine with what safe amount of soil was still within the roots, right to the rock, little DE over and packed in with thick black mud bottom Moss.

Wrapped in long grass if need be while the moss clings.
Replacing dry bits of moss with other thicker bits until it all starts growing well.

Dig that plant DJ Tommy, but I still worry of the visual "weight" of where to place, like them yeller circles I drew.

Sorce

 

[BunjaeKorea]

Do you mean for the moss? I used keto soil, easy to get here, sticks very well and keeps wet long, good for moss. Tree is in a mixture of akadama and Ezo sand.

Ur in Jpan right? Should have a look if they have any here

 

[BunjaeKorea]

Just cuz I'm here...

I put the roots of mine with what safe amount of soil was still within the roots, right to the rock, little DE over and packed in with thick black mud bottom Moss.

Wrapped in long grass if need be while the moss clings.
Replacing dry bits of moss with other thicker bits until it all starts growing well.

Dig that plant DJ Tommy, but I still worry of the visual "weight" of where to place, like them yeller circles I drew.

Sorce

Got ya.....have a rock I want to plant up but never quite know how

 

[sorce]

Got ya.....have a rock I want to plant up but never quite know how

I found it much easier than it seemed!

Sorce

 

[Djtommy]

Ur in Jpan right? Should have a look if they have any here

In japan yes, keto is very useful for things like this. I guess in Korea it should be possible to find it. Almost every garden center sells here. ケト土 in Japanese.

 

[BunjaeKorea]

In japan yes, keto is very useful for things like this. I guess in Korea it should be possible to find it. Almost every garden center sells here. ケト土 in Japanese.

Thanks a lot of the older folk here speak Japanese or at least read and understand it due to the occupation so my local shop owner who is in his 70s may know. Thanks for that

 

[Djtommy]

With this one I kinda went against my own advice of not wiring Ezo in spring though I think it will be fine, removed all the top foliage so more energy would be put in the lower part. It’s now Shohin size.
At the moment it’s more just structural setting so some change is still possible but now I will leave it till end of the year
Before and after

 

[Djtommy]

My windswept Ezo spruce forest, got a slab for it, now just need to get it on..

 

[Djtommy]

With this one I kinda went against my own advice of not wiring Ezo in spring though I think it will be fine, removed all the top foliage so more energy would be put in the lower part. It’s now Shohin size.
At the moment it’s more just structural setting so some change is still possible but now I will leave it till end of the year
Before and after
View attachment 184684View attachment 184685

This one may turn out to look like a juniper actually, oh well. It may still be cool

 

[Djtommy]

Very close to flowers now

 

[Djtommy]

Japanese maple growing, pinched most of the shoots, some were already a bit longer then I wanted but better then last year.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Lovely material...love the rock planting...but that maple clump/grove...? be still my heart.

 

[quietobserver]

Japanese maple growing, pinched most of the shoots, some were already a bit longer then I wanted but better then last year.
View attachment 185266

Love that pot!!! Hard to tell, how many trunks you got there?...? 7?..

 

[Djtommy]

Love that pot!!! Hard to tell, how many trunks you got there?...? 7?..

Yup, 7 is correct

 

[River's Edge]

With this one I kinda went against my own advice of not wiring Ezo in spring though I think it will be fine, removed all the top foliage so more energy would be put in the lower part. It’s now Shohin size.
At the moment it’s more just structural setting so some change is still possible but now I will leave it till end of the year
Before and after
View attachment 184684View attachment 184685

Just wondering what you consider the best time for wiring Ezo? I wired mine in the late fall two years ago and it reacted very badly, dropping needles and stressed out. It is recovering nicely now but will need wiring in the near future.

 

[Djtommy]

Just wondering what you consider the best time for wiring Ezo? I wired mine in the late fall two years ago and it reacted very badly, dropping needles and stressed out. It is recovering nicely now but will need wiring in the near future.

It may depend a bit on location too, the reason why I prefer not to wire in spring and summer is because it can get hot in this area, so they need to get easy traffic between roots and foliage. It’s also easier to damage the foliage I find in that time.

Foliage is something you need to be careful with when wiring, even small damages can lead to browning. For me any time from late fall seems no problem. Why you had bad result I don’t know, perhaps it got dry around that time? They love water, in nature they often grow in swampy areas, Did you wire it inside? If so you may need to spray the foliage now and then during wiring. How did you overwinter it?
The very best place to store them in winter is outside under a layer of snow.
That’s not something I can do but also during winter I try to not keep them in sun and make sure they don’t dry out.

My friend in Hokkaido, doesn’t really wire Ezo in winter, I think because too cold. It often gets too minus 20 Celsius. The only trees he seems to loose are the one that we’re kept inside in winter. It gets cold in that place but also dry and Ezo seems to be rather weak for that even in winter, normally he sprays also foliage daily or even several times a day but seems sometimes still a problem. (He has the bonsai shop so can not keep everything under the snow all winter)
He started wiring Ezo trees I think since few weeks back, and he does almost till end of year but even his location summer is not the best time, end of summer seems to be ok again.
He also does repotting of Ezo often end of summer, and that seems to work out very well.
According to him even better then spring.

If they are not big heavy bends you are probably just fine to do it now, I assume there will be still a few weeks before they start growing if the tree was outside in winter.

Most important I find I keeping them moist, especially after wiring

Good luck
Grtz

 

[River's Edge]

It may depend a bit on location too, the reason why I prefer not to wire in spring and summer is because it can get hot in this area, so they need to get easy traffic between roots and foliage. It’s also easier to damage the foliage I find in that time.

Foliage is something you need to be careful with when wiring, even small damages can lead to browning. For me any time from late fall seems no problem. Why you had bad result I don’t know, perhaps it got dry around that time? They love water, in nature they often grow in swampy areas, Did you wire it inside? If so you may need to spray the foliage now and then during wiring. How did you overwinter it?
The very best place to store them in winter is outside under a layer of snow.
That’s not something I can do but also during winter I try to not keep them in sun and make sure they don’t dry out.

My friend in Hokkaido, doesn’t really wire Ezo in winter, I think because too cold. It often gets too minus 20 Celsius. The only trees he seems to loose are the one that we’re kept inside in winter. It gets cold in that place but also dry and Ezo seems to be rather weak for that even in winter, normally he sprays also foliage daily or even several times a day but seems sometimes still a problem. (He has the bonsai shop so can not keep everything under the snow all winter)
He started wiring Ezo trees I think since few weeks back, and he does almost till end of year but even his location summer is not the best time, end of summer seems to be ok again.
He also does repotting of Ezo often end of summer, and that seems to work out very well.
According to him even better then spring.

If they are not big heavy bends you are probably just fine to do it now, I assume there will be still a few weeks before they start growing if the tree was outside in winter.

Most important I find I keeping them moist, especially after wiring

Good luck
Grtz

Thank you for the detailed thoughts. On reflection when i wired the Ezo it was being kept for the winter in an unheated greenhouse but i had it in the workshop for several days and probably did not mist it often enough, as well it may have kept a bit too warm during that time.
Also i had finished repotting the tree early that fall. It had been done in stages over three years to remove compacted nursery soil and adjust to an anderson flat. The tree showed no sign of stress when i wired it but fell back rapidly towards spring losing a lot of needles. It has begun recovering nicely last fall and i showing a lot of buds for this spring. The remaining foliage is now healthy and dark green. There is no sign of movement in the buds so far this spring, still too cold. This year i am going to place it in a more shaded location for the summer and keep it outside for the coming winter. I will consider the wiring in the fall.
Thank you for your help.
Best in Bonsai

 

[Djtommy]

Red pine growing stronger again after 2 weaker years.
This year decandling should be no problem so now giving it some extra food to prepare.

 

[River's Edge]

Red pine growing stronger again after 2 weaker years.
This year decandling should be no problem so now giving it some extra food to prepare.
View attachment 187064

Nice, i can appreciate the subtle bend you are forming on the top piece. Also that the branches and candles have been wired and positioned to encourage the back budding after decandling. Look forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Deleted member 21616]

@Djtommy how does you beni chidori look this time of year?

my favorite cultivar. I have been trying so hard to find one here in Montreal!