From 6ft to 2ft in 4hrs

[alpineart]

Hi Watto , don't know where i was hiding when you done this one , but thats my kinda tree .Magic carving for sure , and its developing well .Cheers Alpine

[Glenda]

Hi Watto,

It certainly responded well. I would like to know if you used a wood hardener on it? It looks like water would pool in the middle. Do you have problems with that?

Glenda

[Chris Di Nola]

Nice work mate its gonna be a ripper.

Cheers
Skip

[Watto]

Thanks for the responses.
Glenda - there is no pooling of water as the design allows water to flow out. No treatments have been done yet, except for a small burning of the deadwood to clean up the fibres that are a result of the carving. I intend to treat with a coloured lime sulphur solution in the next few months.
Skip - thanks. Coming from a "carver" that is a compliment but I confess that Deadwood did most of the initial carving work - but I'm putting my hand up for the design.

[NathanM]

Dude, I love it Looks sensational!!! Can' wait to see i in a few years with some more development behind it

[Chris Sirre]

This tree is a Alnus cordata (Italian Alder) I think, it is difficult to be 100% certain when you dig trees.

Hi Watto,

First of all what a great tree and I love your carving. Well done mate! Secondly this is an Alnus cordata and are great bonsai material. http://www.bomengids.nl/uk/hartvormig.html This is a very handy site if you don't know what type of tree it is.

Bohdi, from the picture of your tree it looks more like the Evergreen Alder, Alnus juriliensis.

Cheers,

Chris

[Watto]

Thanks for the confirmation of the species Chris. Also that site is good - thanks again. I do like to dig potential bonsai and at times I am not 100% sure of the species I take out of the ground.
Cheers

[Watto]

I thought I should up-date this post - just to show I havn't killed it!
I have trimmed this a few times during this growing season and allowed the leader to grow pretty much unrestrained to allow it to thicken. It has continued to reward me with beautiful lush growth and plenty of new buds.
I have bought a new pot for it and the plan is unchanged - re-pot in late winter 2012, but I also plan to build a viewing bench for it because it will be quite heavy when potted and will get minimal moving around.
Hope you continue to enjoy.

[Craig]

Looks like it's coming along nicely Watto, keep up the good work mate

[AGarcia]

Good to see it so healthy. I guess you next major challenge is the repot?

Regards

AG

[coocarch]

Holy crap, THAT'S AWESOME!

[Watto]

Thanks. The next step is to pot it and the plan is still August of this year. It is difficult to buy good pots for trees this size but I do have one, and that is the good news.
I trimmed this tree again last weekend (there are no photos however) and it is still powering along. I am really looking forward to potting this up as it will give the whole tree a lift which I think it deserves now.
I continue to water and fertilize so it has plenty of strength.
Cheers - Watto

[Watto]

Time for an up-date.
I have finally potted this tree into its first bonsai pot. The pot is approx 900mm x 600mm (give or take a little bit) and the root ball needed to be reduced quite a bit to fit it in.
A bit more carving to be done in about 5 or 6 months time, as well as some work on the apex.
I hope you enjoy the new look.

[matty-j]

Watto this is some very inspiring stuff!!! Fantastic!

[Steve Warren]

Thats looking really good Watto. I am green with envy, I must get out more often and see if I can find some raw material that size. Once again great work. Keep us posted.

Regards

Steve Warren