Archive for January, 2010


Cotoneaster Horizontals

This is one of the many plants dug from my garden several years ago and placed into large pots for development . Originally an ugly twin trunk plant i removed the ugly side and allowed the growth to run riot over the last 3 years .The results are excellent , i wired the branches prior to placing it into a bonsai pot . This will now be trimmed and nurtured to improved the overall appearance .The height is around 400mm with a base of 80mm x 110mm , i will carve a little off the bottom to lower the trunk below soil level with the intention of placing it into a shallow bonsai pot.

Cedar with a twist

This is my latest project, an unknown species of Cedar that i collected from a disused farm house .It is actually a self- layered branch of an old tree planted in the 1950’s .I managed to get 2 good layers from the 1 branch and both have survived . This particular one was rather void of foliage on the lower part of the trunk so i decided to split the trunk , twist and contort it into a more compact shrub and allow it to grow on . Using the foliage growth and dead-wood to its best advantage i will free-style it at a later date .

First of all i drilled a series of pilot holes up the trunk along the natural jin , then with a jig-saw simply sliced through the trunk all the way to the apex . Excess wood was removed using branch cutters then trimming with a dremel to a smoother finish. I then wired the 2 trunks and basically twisted and shaped into a contorted shrub .This will now grow on until i find the time to style this trainer into something different