Gordon Duffet | Bonsai & Yamadori from Tony Tickle

Way back in 1992 over 20 years ago I bought this yew tree off Gordon Duffet, it cost me the two weeks wages and Kevin Willson said I was a brave guy to take on this tree as it did not look very well at all. The tree was positively sick; the needles were yellowing and much of the deadwood rotten. The box was an old beer bottle crate that was held together with a rotting strap… the whole assembly ready to fall apart at any moment. The tree appeared to be planted in garden soil, BUT I could see potential in the tree.

This is a tree much admired by Dan Barton and… at an Event that I held in 2006… I gave the tree on permanent loan to Dan, to be returned to me at some (indeterminate) point in the future. Good trees take time, great trees take years…Here is how the tree looks today.

The car is packed and I am ready to leave tomorrow morning. I am picking up Mikey in Leeds and then onwards to Hull and P&O ferry to Rotterdam. We dock about 8.30 and then its about 3 hours to The Noelanders trophy Centrum voor Duurzaam Bouwen, Marktplein 1 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. Last year I was the first trader to arrive so it was easy for me to unload, sit back and watch everyone else struggle. Peter Landerloos has been kind enough to accommodate Mikey and Me for the weekend I am showing the raft beech that won a Ginkgo award in 2007.

The tree is owned by David Barlow, over the last couple of days we have been putting the final touches to the tree. It looks great.

I know that this will be the biggest and best Noelanders ever and it is great to be part of such a high class show.

On the way Home I will be calling in to see Hans van Meer my old friend who will be one of the visiting artists a the Burrs workshop in November Mikey and I are getting the ferry back to the UK on Monday evening.