AusBonsai

This has had a bit of work done while in the ground . I was going to lift them last year but it never happened .This particular tree has been grown i solid shale so the roots were like a crinkle cut chip and very shallow approximately 60mm thick .Its trunk measures 65mm and it canopy is 900mm wide 700mm deep and 350mm high It represents an old aged tree very nicely after struggling to grow in height , yet to be trimmed after the basic clipping it got with the hedge trimmers a while back .This will make for a very nice Bonsai in no time .. This is a smaller tree with a big trunk .This suffered die back many years ago however the trunk survived .It measure 70mm with nice movement in the lower base of the trunk . The canopy is 500mm wide 400mm deep and 300mm high .Both have major faults but these tree's will get their first work-over ahead of the rest .

Cheers Alpineart

Hi Alpine

There's some very nice Bonsai starter's you have there are sure there as big as you say

Regard's The Hacker

Hi Hacker , mate if anything i always under quote not exaggerate the size of the material i collect or use , not here to bullshit anybody .These 2 would have the biggest trunks in the garden but not the biggest bases . I can read a tape measure , and yes digital camera's do lie . Maybe i should run the vernier gauge over it .

Mate they look ever bigger if i put my glasses on .The tray is 580mm wide 90mm high the pot is 400mm wide 90mm high Before potting 4 trunks were removed from the base of the small tree,the 3 remaining trunks/branches are just over 20mm each .I trimmed a pot grown Satsuki azalea a week ago , its trunk is 30mm thick @ 1/3 the age of these , i didn't expect the trunk to be over 20mm thick .

Cheers Alpine

I thought i should do some work on this Azalea as it was very congested and trunks were crossing over and entangled in each other . Using hook and hold wires it was a 7-8 hour task that has seen 50% of the foliage and secondary/tertiary branching removed . Now with a more open feel to it , I will be allow it to grow on for another season with a basic clip and grow trim to further improve the structure and a few more wires to bring some of the upper heavier trunks down a bit moreI'm not looking for a broom style more of a natural very old age tree having separate foliage pads , with flowers of course .New dimensions are 800mm x 600mm x 300mm , i did another trim after these pics were taken just to define the pads a bit more .

Cheers Alpineart

Looks good! I sruggle with shaping these buggers, the branches are so snappy. Did you lose any when you set yours?

All my azaleas are in flower right now.....

Hi sean.mitchell1, mate i use hook and hold wiring on any brittle tree. This is the easiest ans safest method to use and yes it eliminate all those broken branches . Its a wiring nightmare and requires resetting as you progress, so i set the heavy trunks first then set the smaller finer trunks/ branches off them . Very few breakages this way .

Hi Glenda , i had a small burst of flowers in spring and early Summer . I trimmed all these back with hedge trimmers to uncover the trunks and bases before the buds were established , no good wasting energy on flowers as that would mean untrimmed and untrained trainers , basically just having plants in pots .All are back budding extremely well even the dozen or so still in the ground . Next season i hope to be able to call some of these Bonsai not trainers .

Cheers Alpineart.

Good onya Alpine they have a bright future. Not sure about the Woodstock though. I will bring you over a Turkey.

Hi Bodhi , mate the Turkey and the Woodstocks no good to me , i'm a coffee man .Silly enough now without adding fuel to the fire . I used to do Bonsai after a few sherbets and bugger me i kept cutting all the wrong branches off . There's a lot of work in these but over a very short period of time they will be good Bonsai .

Cheers Alpine