Tag Archives: yamadori

Mar 7 2012

Recreating ‘natural’ branch structures in Hawthorn Bonsai

When recreating the ‘natural’ look in the branch of Hawthorn Bonsai it is important to consider the growth habit of the tree in nature. When we create a bonsai we control the growth and ‘force’ the tree to grow as we wish. Hawthorn in the wild grow in a random fashion (unless they are windswept and the growth is usually in one direction!)

If we were to let our hawthorn bonsai grow in a random fashion then they would look like a shrub with no ‘real’ style or design. So the answer is the create a branch structure that is both controlled yet has a ‘wild’ appearance. Look closely at the branch below and you will notice that the ‘main’ branch is formed in such a way as to support the randomness of the smaller branches however the silhouette remains visually pleasing.

Mar 6 2012

I have been collecting Prunus Spinosa and Crateagus.

Hi followers of this blog and more! I tend to work on the ‘virtual’ side of bonsai and yamadori when I am not working on the ‘real’ side… so I am sorry that its been a wee bit quiet here! RIGHT NOW I am in the thick of collecting Prunus Spinosa and Crateagus. I have collected a LARGE amount trees in the last 10 days, and my farmer friend brought his tractor to help remove this big tree! (that’s cost another bottle of wine!) have been very busy potting up. I have almost finished my Poly Tunnel, all it requires is a warm day (expected soon) and the plastic will be going on. So watch this space and expect a flood of trees soon.

Feb 18 2012

Styling a Scots Pine to create an elegant image

This is a Pine that Pavel brought over for me last November when he came to Burrs with Mirek and Jakub.

I would not normally work on a pine that had only been potted the year before however this pine was responding well PLUS I used a strong strap to hole the tree firm whilst I worked.

The major branches were first wrapped in Raffia then Self Amalgamating Rubber Tape. Minor branches only had Raffia and thin branches no protection. ONLY copper wire was used.

I tend to style from the bottom up, working each branch and positioning before I wire the next. I always have the image in my head that I wish to achieve, this process saves wiring unnecessary branches.

I decided to work the deadwood after styling as I wanted the canopy to determine the size of the deadwood. On this occasion no long jins or stylised carving, only hand tools were used.

Feb 17 2012

Creating deadwood using a blowtorch!

The Yew tree had been stripped and the wood dry for over two years, I was surprised how hard it was to actually ‘burn’ the wood and smooth out the rough breaks etc. I protected the foliage with a wet towel and continually wet it during the process. Using a Chefs blow torch, then whilst it is hot I use a brass wire brush to remove the burnt wood, I use sandblasting on BIGGER projects… prepping the tree is laborious when blasting.

The colour will improve over the years… for now it has had only one coat of Lime sulphur.

Feb 17 2012

Interview in my garden with Social Media giant @documentally

A couple of years ago I had a reporter visit my garden to interview me about Bonsai, listening to it now there are a few things that make me cringe… but listen to the recording as if you knew NOTHING about bonsai or Yamadori… as this was the audience it was aimed at, its an Audioboo Listen here it’s 9 .21 mins long and make sure you turn your sound up. This has been listened to by lots of folk on the web. It was part of a social networking event I hosted as part of my Digital Consultancy Business and the Reporter was fascinated when he came to my house and decided to do the interview.

If you have a lot of time on your hands check out Christian Payne