Chinese Elms - Seedling Progression

[anthonyW]

Very real image here of course as your tree trunks age with character our minds explore more, very nice pic....I took your tray edge out.

cheers Anthony

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[Max]

Hi mate, just wondering if instead of a gravel path, just using the undulation of the ground would make the viewer think, "oh, okay, he must have walked this way to get there" just a thought

[MJL]

Hi AnthonyW and No Idea,

Appreciated the positive feedback.

@No Idea - you are spot on. I am learning about paths and indeed, have already received feedback on this forest and my Japanese Maple forest on how they can be improved. I have already made some of those improvements by creating a more winding path and narrowing the width as it progresses to the back.

Your idea is helpful and I will incorporate that into future iterations of this and other forests. Interestingly, I like the way paths naturally age after a Bonsai/Penjing is re-potted. I think I'll let the mosses grow over the paths in this forest and over time your effect will be created; indeed, hopefully it will look like the forest is re-taking a path created by those forest dwellers that may have passed through at an earlier time.

And before I go... a dad-joke!

What do you call a deer with no eyes? No Idea

HA!

[boom64]

Looking good Mark ,time and more time will make this one a winner. Cheers John.

[MJL]

Cheers, John. Yes time is what is needed now .... I remember the old computer games used to indicate the passage of time thus...

tic. tic. time passes _

As this is no game - years of cut 'n' grow to follow.

It does remind me of a conversation I had at our last Yarra Valley Bonsai Society meeting. I joked with one of the more experienced members that he would not get out of bed for any of my stock - the trunk has to the the size of a wrist ... he joked back and noted that actually, unless he's digging it out with a Bob Cat - he's probably not interested!

I continue to tend my seedlings and trees of a few years of age.

tic. tic. time passes.

[DangerousDave]

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs then...?


Still no idea


Somebody had to do it

[MJL]

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs then...?


Still no idea


Somebody had to do it

Luv your work. I’d better find a little deer for my forest to pay homage to this thread. [THUMBS UP SIGN]


Bonsai teaches me patience.

[MJL]

Reasonably big haircut.

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I am probably just taking away growth that will thicken trunks! And perhaps I am late for such a serious second cut this season?
My goal is now to concentrate design - removing branches that I know will not ‘fit’ the context of the forest and encouraging new growth and potential future branches.


Bonsai teaches me patience.

[MJL]

Less than a month after the haircut and once again the wee ‘lil forest is verdant!

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ryceman3]

I see the little guy has taken a stroll over near the path! This is looking good, nice job.

[MJL]

I see the little guy has taken a stroll over near the path! This is looking good, nice job.

Cheers R3, the little fella moved out for a while when the arborist entered the forest and disturbed the peace. Peace had returned and so has the little dude.

[MJL]

Sometimes I lament the path I am taking in this hobby - sometimes I celebrate. I always enjoy it. Recently I experienced all three: lament, celebration (well - at least a little smile) and enjoyment. Why?

This forest needed a repot. For the first hr I was thinking oh sh!t ... In truth it is potting mix related. (I have now reflected that for the next stage in my Bonsai development I need to progress my understanding of mixes and substrates etc... get me to a consistent mix - or at least a better mix. I understand that I'll need different mixes for say my pines to my deciduous trees but the mix I am using at present is crud, crap - poo tickets. That's why I started this repot in lament ...

When I took the forest out of the pot and it may have well been in a bog... Chinese Elms are almost unkillable and they clearly don't mind wet roots. After two years - the roots were straggly and indeed, the whole forest literally fell apart; dropping through my hands in a reasonably sad comedy of events.

It turned a quick'ish job into a 4hr + task. Upon the forest falling apart - I lost control of the forest (and my patience) and decide to start afresh. I cleaned the muck, cut the roots and then tried to re-position... still lamenting ...a couple of hrs in....

I played and played ... it was sunny winter's day yet my cold hands and cold heart where wondering how it is that I continue to take steps back rather than steps forward. I played and played ... repositioned, rotated, tilted, ....

Lament started to turn to a smile... I liked the radial root spread on the main tree (nearly extracted it as a future single tree specimen) and a reasonable root spread on the second tree and then I found a pleasing position - not too dissimilar to the last position but a little more sympathetic to each other - and it grew from there. In the end, I was happy with the result. I was smiling .... perhaps the steps back had been recovered - at least to the point where I had again learned some stuff and that the forest, while different - was at least as good, maybe better.

In truth, still sticks in a pot (hardly bonsai) bit perhaps better sticks in a pot!

Anyway .. I enjoyed the process and continue to enjoy this setting. I did intend to take more photos of the journey but alas, I was wrist deep in a forest bog and I could not really use the phone. So you can use your imagination on the process and I'll post a pictures of the finished setting.

Front to back.

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...and yes, I may remove the stones but at this stage they are helping hold it all together.

Have a good evening.

Cheers,

Mark

[shibui]

The flatter and shallower the tray the more water it will retain. Seems counterintuitive but that's what happens. Tilting the pot will make it drain better, even if the drain holes are not near the edges. try it out with a wide, shallow pot.
I agree that having one single mix is better from a number of aspects- convenience (only one storage tub required), watering, etc. I use the same mix for all trees here - pines, deciduous, natives, everything and they all seem to grow well.

[MJL]

The flatter and shallower the tray the more water it will retain. Seems counterintuitive but that's what happens. Tilting the pot will make it drain better, even if the drain holes are not near the edges. try it out with a wide, shallow pot.
I agree that having one single mix is better from a number of aspects- convenience (only one storage tub required), watering, etc. I use the same mix for all trees here - pines, deciduous, natives, everything and they all seem to grow well.

Thanks for the tip Neil. I'll give it a crack.

Cheers,

[MJL]

I'm finding this progression interesting... as this group settled into its recent re-pot, I kept looking at it and today decided to refine the look, again! Back at the start of this thread Susan/Kirky noted a preference for the original set up with less trees and a number mentioned meandering paths ... today I reduced the trees by a few and reset the path and gave things a bit of a haircut. (KC&R - the path is still too 'clean' but it will settle. I still haven't master the art of the immediately natural path. )

Anyway a couple of updated photos below. Front and side.

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In the end, this will always be an exercise for learning. Perhaps all bonsai trees are. We learn from every tree Bonsai and indeed, every tree we study in nature.... I have few more trays of seedlings that I am keeping for other forests and group plantings. Some of those groups are being ground grown ... when they find their way into training pots. It will be interesting to see the difference.