AusBonsai

WOW great collecting Squat Jar .Have to say i love the look of the weird clump/raft thing very interesting. Look forward to updates. Cheers John.

The stuff dug by our South Australian cousins this season has been fantastic, BUT digging plums elevates things to the next level.
Welcome to the club.

Overnight some little ba***rd thing ate 3/4s of the buds of the large collected hawthorn. I've not seen this before, the remaining buds are wrapped in some clear plastic to help protect them, with only a few roots and this it's not looking too promising for my biggest haw yet.

Sorry to hear that. I have had similar experiences at this time of year when the sap starts to flow. Last year, surface roots on my a couple of my ash trees were gnawed down to ground level. Trees with thinner bark also occasionally have pieces of bark removed from the trunks. While the new shari add character, they are not always wanted.

SquatJar wrote: ↑August 18th, 2021, 12:38 pm Overnight some little ba***rd thing ate 3/4s of the buds of the large collected hawthorn. I've not seen this before, the remaining buds are wrapped in some clear plastic to help protect them, with only a few roots and this it's not looking too promising for my biggest haw yet.

Possums??
I'm paranoid about them, they are the bane of my bonsai existence and I need to cage off my trees at night in order for them to still exist in the morning. This time of year especially the possums in my area seem to be ravenous as I guess not as much good stuff around to munch on during the winter months, so when spring hits they are hungry and will jump on anything fresh and green. Hope they pull though for you... cross everything!

Thanks for the encouragement and commiserations, it still has some healthy buds so it ain't over till its over.

I have had many run ins with possums at my old house but since living at my current address I haven't seen any, touch wood.

I think this might be rats. Some new mume shoots were nibbled and they've scratched some holes in pots looking for seed. When I've seen possums they normally make more of a mess of the surroundings.

Prunus site 2

From the bark I'm guessing these are Almonds (Prunus Dulcis)

The first one is quite large, I plan to remove the big branch on the inside of the bend near the top
Good movement mostly in 3 planes, and some subtle twisting in the bark lines too

I'm most excited for this chunky little monkey. Great deadwood and hollows, when pruning it though I was concerned there doesn't seem to be much live tissue on it. And a third reasonable piece

We have buds!! Hopefully the roots are powering along too

The Chunky Monkey looks like it has a lot of potential . I hope it shoots for you in the right places .