Shohin English Elm

This English Elm was dug from the wild a few years ago. It was in a paddock where sheep often grazed and this is the general result, Mother Nature instigating the initial shape.

This tree won a minor award at a recent show in Goulburn (and I do mean minor) but was in leaf at that stage. Being in leaf does hide the flaws but now it has dropped its leaves it is time to do the late Autumn work on this tree and improve its branch placement.

It is currently in a pot by Australian potter Penny Davis.

Shohin Yamadori Plum

Not all Yamadori are large trees and from time to time I try to dug a few smaller ones in the hope of turning them into shohin bonsai. This is the case of this plum. It currently stands about 15cm tall and is in a pot by Pat Kennedy.

It shows wild branching that I really like and in spring the colour of the pot matches the colour of the leaves. It has now lost all its leaves and is ready for its winter dormancy.

One More Bonsai Stand

I know this is supposed to be a bonsai blog and lately I have posted a number of bonsai display stands but I think that is OK because it is all related.

This is the latest stand I have built, again it is a reasonably traditional stand and is made from some type of ash I believe. It has not be stained, just a few coats of polyurethane and the finished look is OK by my reckoning.

The reddish brown colouring of the timber is quite nice in my opinion.

Pomegranate

Quite some years ago I grew a few pomegranates from seeds I got locally. I then tried to twist three seedlings together in a form of knitted trunk. It is at least five years ago and from what I can see the knitting process has been relatively unsuccessful but I wont be deterred. This is how it looks now and the original idea was to grow a shohin size bonsai but it’s a fair bit bigger than that now.

The way it is going the next update will be in another five years.

Showing its autumn colour and one fruit

Another Stand Finished

Getting to play with some wood has been really enjoyable. Although I will probably never be a great timber craftsman (more like a wood butcher) it keeps my hands busy and I get a lot of satisfaction from having a bonsai on display that is on a stand that I made.

The latest one is a very traditional stand but I think it will be able to be used for a number of trees.

This one is made from some recycled ash and a small piece of hardwood I found some time ago and the finish is rosewood.