AusBonsai

This was dug out of my garden about 3 years ago .Planted 11 years back this ground cover was overgrown by a couple of landscape conifers .Removed and placed into a 250mm plastic pot and allowed to grow on unchecked for 12 months when the second trunk and an upper main branch were removed .The tree is 350mm high with a 120mm base and an 80mm trunk i gave it a quick trim and wire then slip potted it into a bonsai pot .Very happy with the result however the base need chopping to allow the tree to sit lower in a shallow pot

Pretty tree, i have a soft spot for cotoneaster horizontalis. When I was a wee little girl, I had a miniature garden with a dwarf variety of cotoneaster horizontalis as the centrepiece. At the time mum and I thought that bonsai looked a bit cruel and difficult, so we just shaped the tree in the ground. If the current owners left it, theres a 40 year old bonsai sitting in the ground, hmm, worth a look over the fence next time Im down that way.
But I know the dwarf cotoneaster was a rare beastie, we got it from Charlie Szabo at the Green Witch nursery in Stirling, where I later worked as his assistant (read blackberry weeder ) They've named a garden bed at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens after old Charlie, he was a brilliant nurseryman.

nice mate!

its not often you see a cotoneaster of this size around, another year or two of refine ment and it will be great!


jamie

Sigh, dad has a nice cotoneaster horizontalis in his gardens, havent managed to strike cuttings yet, and its over 15 years old, not sure if he would agree to me trying to lift it..

Greth wrote:Sigh, dad has a nice cotoneaster horizontalis in his gardens, havent managed to strike cuttings yet, and its over 15 years old, not sure if he would agree to me trying to lift it..

Buy him a slab get him drunk and steal it , or set a ground layer they take quite quick if kept moist .Cheers

He doesnt drink much these days, not after a stroke, heart attack and cancer all within 2 years, but I can hope to inherit it. I should just ask for it, maybe he doesnt care much if I lift it.

[quote="Greth"]He doesnt drink much these days, not after a stroke, heart attack and cancer all within 2 years, but I can hope to inherit it. I should just ask for it, maybe he doesnt care much if I lift it.[/quote
Hi Greth , sorry to hear about your Dad , ask him if you can borrow it i'm sure he wouldn't mind.Cheers

Beautiful Tree mate. It's so nice to see some Cotoneaster back on the forum and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one done as a formal upright. Nice thickness on the base too!!!

Jester wrote:Beautiful Tree mate. It's so nice to see some Cotoneaster back on the forum and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one done as a formal upright. Nice thickness on the base too!!!

not only that its got good taper! its not just straight up and down equal width!
nice tree

jamie

Jester wrote:Beautiful Tree mate. It's so nice to see some Cotoneaster back on the forum and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one done as a formal upright. Nice thickness on the base too!!!

Hi Jester , Come to think of it neither have i , i tend to be a little different . Like to rock the boat you could say . Cheers

jamie111 wrote:

Jester wrote:Beautiful Tree mate. It's so nice to see some Cotoneaster back on the forum and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one done as a formal upright. Nice thickness on the base too!!!

not only that its got good taper! its not just straight up and down equal width!
nice tree

jamie [/quote

Hi Jamie ,the original pic has been located however it wont upload without distorting , i'll keep trying to upload it to show the difference .Cheers

I'd lie to see it in a tray pot. The pot it is in is more of a semi cascade pot and I think the tree would be improved by a different style. Think about it the next time you repot. If you prefer the tree in a deeper container, than look for a slightly deeper tray pot. They are available. Very nice. I like cotoneasters but any stock plants I have ever come across all have major styling problems and i have passed them by. This tree is very well done.

Hi Mel , i would agree with you on this one however the base is around 120mm and looks like an onion hence the deep pot was the only one i had to conceal the base .I use what i have at the time . The roots will continue to develop in this pot then i will take to the base and remove about 50%so it sits lower in a shallow dish .Cheers Alpine

Jester wrote:Beautiful Tree mate. It's so nice to see some Cotoneaster back on the forum and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one done as a formal upright. Nice thickness on the base too!!!

Nice tree Alpine,


I have to disagree with Jestertho. It is not a formal upright as there is a bend in the trunk.
to be a formal, the first criteria is that
It MUST be as straight as a pole.
Nice even taper along its length.
Branches MUST be Left, Right, Back, Left, Right Back ( Repeat) ( or the other way around if you are left handed )

Many times we see trees presented as Formals when they are not quite there.

Ken

Thanks kc if you follow the rules its ok , fortunately i dont , maybe i should write some Aussie Rules and styles for myself .Someone once said , "In order to do Bonsai One must understand the rules" .Well i have never read the rules LET ALONE UNDERSTAND THEM and i chop and hack and make miniture trees , is this Bonsai ??? . What ever i'm doing i've been doing since i was Knee high to a grasshopper in some shape or form .No i look at a plant or tree and if its pleasing to the eye ,all good . I have trees with bar branches , lousy narebri and all the other problems one can have with the Japanese Style , but i'm not Japanese and there is a lot of Japanese trees i dont like .Each to his own after all i'm an indivdual artist , not Shari intended to all the Bonsaist that follow the rules .Even a few so called Guru's have bent the rules of old .Cheers Alpine