Repot - Chinese Juniper

I have this tree in my collection for around a year now, bought it for wiring practice unsure of the final image and regret paying the £30 I did, as with a greater amount of knowledge I have come to the conclusion that it is a very poor tree with no real pros and a lot of cons. Since purchase it has put out very little growth, put this down to poor medium and pot bound roots. Recent advice has told me that October is a good time to repot coniferous trees (I was due to repot my juniper in the coming spring but it was root bound, so decided autumn would be the better option, also providing it with better winter protection).

This current growing season (2011) the tree hasn't put out much growth and has, instead, been producing juvenile foliage (unsuitable for bonsai) so to develop it I decided it would be potted up into something bigger allowing it more room to grow, this would also mean I wouldn't have to do too much root work before winter. I also wanted to change the potting angle as the tree leaned forward too far.

Front View (before repot)

Potting mix (decided to go for 3 parts cat litter : 1 part compost. I like using some organic medium in my mixes as it helps hold onto more fertiliser and water than inorganic medium.)

Growing box, plenty of drainage holes to ensure free draining mix.

Front View (after repot, and a good soaking)

Reasonably pleased with the outcome and will be on a high feeding regime this coming growing season in the hope that it will be rewarding me with tons of new growth that I will be able to work on in the coming years.

Bonsai Progression - Acer palmatum (Sango-kaku)

In early August of 2011 I came across this small Acer palmatum at Lee verhorevoort's bonsai nursery, which I can highly recommend to anyone going that way as he has a wide selection of imported Japanese trees which are at bargain prices, and decided to buy it for a mere £29. After some maintenance and light pruning to get some foliage lower down on the trunk the tree was beginning to take shape. I then decided on a new front, here are some images of the tree when I bought it.

Back View - August 2011

Front View - August 2011

 New Front View - August 2011

Tree before, during and after repot into it's new angle on the 20th February 2012. It was repotted into a bigger pot to allow for more growth.

 Front View (before repot) - February 2012

Nebari View - February 2012

New Front View (after repot) - February 2012

Back View (after repot) - February 2012

Bonsai Progression - Ficus Retusa

I acquired this Ficus in Novemeber 2008 for a birthday present and is the only tree I have in my collection (alive) that I have to bring indoors during the winter for protection. It came to me like many other Chinese mass produced mallsai i.e it has various wiring markings, rootbound, and was potted in fully organic compost. Sadly the tree was neglected over the next few years as I lost interest in bonsai due to various reasons (change of schools, has exams and I was lost on how to improve) but remained alive.

In early spring of 2011 it had its first repot in at least 3 years -probably many more- and was potted into another fully organic soil moxture. During that time I examined the tree and found it has a serious case of scale insect so I allowed it to grow freely for the majority of spring and summer and treated it with systemic insecticide.

In early August, after many months of free growth the tree had recovered from its scale infection so I decided it would be ready for its first styling. Some how I seemed to have lost the before pictures but this the picture after a really hard prune, basic wiring and some guy wiring on the heavier branches.

Side View - August 2011

Stolen Bonsai

Copied from MKonig's profile, Bonsai Stolen!

 

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Mike Jones

Korean Hornbeam stolen overnight at the Bath and West garden show. This fine Bonsai belongs to John Trott, aka Mendip Bonsai.

Please do get in touch if you believe you have any knowledge of its whereabouts, or indeed if you hear anything that may assist John to recover his tree. I have included a picture below for reference purposes.