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They really look good Geoff. (Y) I really like the dramatic curves in the second one. A very good image of an old tree.
Hi Elaine
Yes 🙂
I will do a piece about that in spring, but a quick description comes here.
If you have a flat rock or something similar, you can use the same method as when arranging a forest, or a single tree. Using Keto, that is a black sticky clay soil to build a barrier around, so the soil doesn’t wash off.
Be sure to mount screws or drilling holes at the bottom, so you can fix the plant in there with wire.
A second method is to build a base like when arranging a Kokodama. Kokodama is a decorative simple arrangement where a plant is planted in a moss-ball arrangement. Also here the Keto bæsticky clay soil is used, and afterwards covered by mosses, attached with a thin cord or sewing thread.
Set this Kokodama arrangement at top of the piece you have selected.
A video with the processes and how-to will be published in spring.
Link to a dealer with Keto. https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/keto-tsuchi-japanese-peat-muck-kokedama-bonsai-soil-1kg
If you google bonsai keto soil it will come up.
Best regards
Morten
Nice. 10 days is fine. Sometimes posts arrive
9 days after it is send domestic here. Glad you find the book useful.
Hi Peggy and others
I will see if I can get around adding information about the books ( and barcodes where available). I will post that here when done. Expect next week. Kind of busy 🙂
Regards
Morten
Thanks, Geoff
Some of the books are only available in Japan, others are no longer printed or rare.
Hope it inspires a bit any way 🙂
Thanks 👍 Books are wonderful to have. I really enjoy to take an old book out and review it in between. Especially at the dark ours of winter.
A few comments from me.
It is an ideal time to wire and prune trees dropping their leaves/needles. You can now see what you do when all needles are cleaned out. Branches are flexible and pruning has an extra advantage right now.
Fall/autumn pruning produces growing hormones over the winter, adding more back budding and new growth than spring pruning. Spring pruning just gives more strength to bud already established, while fall pruning produces more buds.
The wiring will not take effect before the growing season but is a good work schedule to do it now when the tree is in your hands. There also are a lot of other things to do in spring. Wiring right after the leaves drops and the branches being flexible is best.
Nice tree. Look forward to see more of it after your work 🙂
Very nice, and interesting to see a Silver Birch that size. The first one I have seen so small. 🙂 (Y)
Nice to work with this size. Relaxing. Thanks for sharing.
Relevant and good question. When the branches move back after removing the wire, it obviously was removed too soon. But this is difficult to know when you do it, especially with the bigger branches. The smaller branches are easier to follow, observing when the branch begins to swell around the wire, and then removing just when that starts. No later, because there is a risk of wire marks, and not sooner, because then it will not hold.
The wire was attached to the smaller branches for around a year.
The wire didn’t bite at most smaller branches, but they were growing well – but slow – and thickened, helping them stay in position after the wire was taken off.
But the back branches did move. Despite the wire sitting for 18-20 months. The large branch bent the most stayed though. Probably because the inner callus after bending heavily kept it in place. The softer back branch didn’t have this inner scaring, and obviously is more flexible.
But that is the usual process. Some branches will stay, and others need a second wiring and a new position. All that will be featured in the next episode.
Older trees will grow more slowly, and therefore the wire has to sit much longer.
