Alpineart's Blog

This is the slow progression of my Big Nigra collected back in 2008 .The roots are emerging from the original single root produced in it first season after  collection .Still growing  in red scoria and composted aged pine bark as is most of my Tree’s and Trainers . I have repotted this for the third time n the same mix that has produced a healthy feeder root system from basically nothing . I have several hundred pines and conifers growing in scoria and the results are astounding .It can dry out on top however it is always damp underneath where it counts . The wire has been removed and all the needles were cut back by 50% ,this process does result in a shorter needle over time .I have managed to produced 18mm natural needles on Nigra’s which normally produces a needle around 50-70mm . As a trainer this tree has huge potentual, it will take many years to develop a good narebri and to fill out the foliage pads , but that’s what Bonsai is all about , taking time and Taking the time .There is still an issue with the bar branches ,but there is a lot of new shoots forming around the trunk and with the candle pinching i hope to redirect the growth to where it is needed. I have discovered this trunk is actually a chop top and the new leader has almost completely healed and covered the original  severed apex .This would have to be mother natures best effort at concealing a chop. Cheers Alpineart

This is 1 of the tree cut back and allowed to grow on in the ground . Due to renovations in the garden it was removed 8 weeks ago .I never had the time to pot it up so it sat on the ground until now .It has continued to shoot and while not brilliant there is plenty of die-back in the center .This will open up the middle for the future design .I simple soaked it over night in water to soften the red clay then washed out the roots and trimmed . The clay here acts as a shallow tray/pot allowing only minimal depth of root penetration giving e  a very shallow root spread . With the roots sorted and trimmed it was potted up into a large Bonsai pot and this is where it will remain for 1 season .I will slowly remove some of the dead trunks from the center then design and style the Trainer into something unique .Cheers Alpineart

This is a little Father and son project that i have been motivated to do .It was originally one of my first attempts at Bonsai , i could see a tree in it after battling along during the early day .I placed it into my garden along with many other plants  Maples , Cedars , Conifers . Whilst i have a unique garden , most were Bonsai trainers that i struggled with .This tree was over 3 metres high with good movement from its bonsai day , most of its life was spent in the terrace and was never looked after as with all the garden tree they were left to their own devices. My Son Noah was keen to see a new Cordless Sabre Saw in action so with a little help from him we removed all  the branches  to expose the trunk for a style preference .Noah and i spend a lot of time playing with tree’s and trainers , repotting , root pruning and collecting along with motorbike riding and any outdoor sports we care to do .At the age of 8 his has the willingness to learn new things . After all the branches were removed a quick study of the trunk line and it into the fine tuning side of turning a trunk into a trainer . We removed the larger stubs first then re-assess the plan for the most movement in the trunk line . The old saying” less is more” and it applies to this trunk . With all the larger unwanted stubs completely removed we were left with a trunk with excellent taper and movement . Finished for now as i plan to leave it in the ground for more shooting /back budding power from the original roots . Come next winter it will no doubt be ready to remove and pot up for a quality Large trainer .Finished height of the trainer   is 570mm the trunk is around 130mm and a huge base at ground level of around 200mm. This exercise to us 40 minutes which in itself was rather quick and simple .Cheers and Happy Bonsai . Alpineart