Alpineart's Blog

This is a progression to the original Inarching/approach graft JBP’s .While it has been a very good project over the last couple of years it has been a learning curve as to how to approach the layering and inarching process on Pines in general . There has been some failures  ,  lessons learned is a better way of putting it . I consider my glass too be Half full with most things i do , and the benefits are far greater if i have the right mind set . One tree has me puzzled as to why it has died in the middle while the other have grown on , maybe the stock was of lesser quality or had issues before i started , none the less i have gained plenty of info and a few more trainers to play with .These are  the original trunks , now at a manageably height of less than 1meter . They still have the approach grafts in place , they are some of the original layers first taken from the tree in 2010 and used for the approach grafts . All up over 50 inach grafts  have been set and some 20  layers , not all have survived , 45  grafts  have taken and are progressing well while some of the layers have not survived , the 16 that  i have are growing on strongly . These will now be allowed to recover then over the next season they will be turned into trainers , the 1 in the middle back is the original fused apex , yes it has lost 2 of the 4 trunks but more have been added so its slowly progressing .The 2 in the front left are very week and with no roots they are in the hands of another power . I decided to remove them as the trunk had died in the mid section of the tree. Set for a spell in the green house they may very well pull through , although with no roots and only a callous to build on they are basically oversize cuttings .All in all its been a very rewarding couple of years , i have more than quadrupled  my original stock , learnt valuable methods and idea’s as to how to approch pines on a different level . No they are far from finished , i am in two minds as to set more layers on the original trunks after the grafts have been severed .Then there is the bending and styling process that will be something special ,after all these are “Made in Australia” Not collected in the wild

Cheers and Happy Bonsai . Alpineart

These were spotted from the road as i traveled to Wangaratta .I usually call in to see Jackie , as she collects unwanted plants and tree’s from the surrounding district,most of which make  excellent material for bonsai . This privet was in a 600mm plastic pot , its base was around 120mm and just under 1 metre high . It has multi trunks and this will make a very nice clump style forest trainer . Due to the weight of the potted plant i used a large trolley

to move it to the garden bed where it was  removed from the pot . Using a small prospecting pick i teased the roots out then with a sabre saw

i  severed the root mass , the tap root which was 75mm thick was easily disposed of using the saw .A quick trim of the remainder of the roots and then a wash to expose the remainder

. This is now ready for the tray in which it will reside for the next few years , i have used some wire inserted into the drain holes to hold the tre

e upright as the weight of the foliage will topple it over during the trimming process .

.With the tree wired into the pot, it is filled with my Bonsai mix of red scoria and composted aged pine bark , then watered and allowed to drain

into a large tub to use for the next project , now it ready for a trim .

Utilizing the old pot turned upside down as a platform works well especially when it 600mm high . I have checked the trunks  and covered the tray with an old work towel to prevent the foliage falling onto the soil and saves a clean up afterwards . Now  its time to rip into the foliage

and progress from front to back working 1/3 of the group at a time,

checking the progress from the side of the tree gives a good indication of the height and depth of the finished tree’s . With 2/3 of the trimming done its progressing well

.It has been cut back very hard during it life time and the inner sections and upper section have plenty of die back creating natural jin and shari’s, the foliage will now be worked around these features and incorporate them into the finished design  .

With the majority of the foliage removed i then proceed to trim back the remaining growth to  the second set of leaves .All done and dusted for this season

This is the chosen front

left side

right side

and the rear . All up this little exercise took 3 hours to complete and that makes for a good project .Cost of the tree was $10 and the tray was $3 that makes for a $13 trainer . The base at ground level is 120mm and finished height is 550mm , the tray measures  5oomm x 50mm . Some trimming of the roots above the ground will take place over the growing period, they have been left as the root mass was reduced by 80% , a little ugly but in time and with some wiring to be done i’m more than happy with the result .

Cheers and happy Bonsai Alpineart

These are the new look grow beds that have been implemented as the stock continues to grow .I have made extra area’s to plant out progressing Trident Maples , Japanese Maples , Crab Apples , American Horn beams and  Flowering Cherries .Most of these are 2-3 year old seed grown trainers in various configurations and progressions . I have over 100 square meters of grow beds and approximately 1200 different  trainers in the ground at various stages of development .Keeping on top of these is a task and a half in its self , with and early Spring and major frost still occurring some will no doubt suffer from premature budding and leaf burn .Life in this yard is very busy even in winter when the new beds were established then there is the re-potting and root pruning of all my potted tree’s and trainers . All the work here is done with a little help from my 8 year old son .Yesthis is  one mans passion / operation obsession , no staff hiding behind the scenes doing all the work while i take the credit .Cheers Alpineart