Prunus versus Stihl part 2

This is the end result of the first part of the carving .I will attempt to finish the trunk over the next few days then sit back and relax The apex of the tree will sit directly above the base to maintain the informal upright stance . The final smoothing of the carved wood is complete for now .

Prunus versus Stihl

This is a quick re style for my huge Plum .With a paint brush in hand i marked out the design for cutting and carving so i didn't go overboard and ruin the trunk . The design concept is for an informal upright although the trunk is potted it will of course be altered when placed into a bonsai pot .This will take place when a new root mass or Narebri is obtained . Armed with the chainsaw i used the tip to carve the curved cuts required to removed the unwanted branch stubs . With that complete the carving was quite simple , again the tip of the saw was used to scallop out the heartwood to a happy medium were a dremel could be used to smooth out the wood .

It took 2 tanks of fuel and 2 hours on the saw to remove the unwanted material and a further1 hour armed with the dremel to smooth things out . This excercise removed around 25 kg of wood and whilst it looks the part this is only the first stage of the major carving .I estimate another 20 kg of wood will come out to improve the taper shari and hollow the trunk to the desired finish

Instant bonsai Hawthorn

This is my latest find on my ramblings through the bush .I noticed the outlook of a group of Hawthorns and thought this would make a nice group . On closer inspection i revealed the group was actually a raft and a very impressive one at that .I whipped out the pick and excavated around the roots , severed and into the car in 10 minutes flat . This tree was potted and washed with a high pressure hose to remove the mud and decay to reveal the very impressive naturally sculptured trunk .I will have to build another custom made training box long enough to enable me to stimulate a raft root network

Urban yamadori Prunus Cerasifera "Atropurpurea"

This was a blessing from the Big fella upstairs . After a storm in town several trees were damaged and the cleanup resulted in yours truly with a massive purple plum .The lovely bride spotted the devastation on her way home from work and commented on the big flowering plum that had been blown down , so i whipped out for a bit of a looky- see and sure enough the tree was down but the trunk was gone .I shot off to chat with the caretakers hoping to gain the info on the trunk .

They were very helpful , using the crane truck they slipped it into my trailer and i was off like a "brides nightie" to pot the tree . With a quick trim of the roots i slipped the trunk off the trailer and into a custom made training box and filled with 150lts of potting mix .This monster will carveup a treat with the trust Stihl mini boss . The overall measurements are 370mm x 470mm at the base 260mm trunk and stands around 1100mm high

Urban Yamadori Maple Part 2

With the tree safely home i set about making a large wooden box to cater for the root-ball .Using untreated pine i knocked up a box 750 x750 x300mm with large drain holes .I attached wheels to the back of the box for ease of moving when required .With the assistance of a couple of people we slid the tree out of the ute down a wet plank and into the box and potted up as per normal bonsai .The tree was then trimmed of all the access foliage and the terminals styled into future trainers where they will be layered off into starters with a view to the future.All up 16 layeres will be removed ranging from upright , windswept , slanting , twin trunk and raft .This is by far the best collected tree and the most rewarding one i have done .Cheers and Happy Bonsai

Urban Yamadori Maple

This is the latest edition to my collection , it will be a stock tree for a couple of years for layering purposes . I purchased the tree for $15.95 basically for the trunk ,but as i arrived to dig the mother out it was so ramified on the terminals i immediately had second thoughts and decided to remove the tree complete .An excavator on site was the ruling factor as the owner offered it to lift and load the tree .We hand dug it out as the services to the house were in front and behind the trunk ..Starting at around 1.5m around the base i worked my way int to root-mass to find that it was only around 900mm x 350mm and no tap root to speak of . With a drag chain placed around the roots ,the machine simple dragged the tree into a position where he could simply sling the base and lift it into the ute . With the tree loaded i slipped extra large plastic bags over the foliage and then wrapped the canopy with shade-cloth to prevent damage from wind burn for the 4 hour trip home . The tree in all its glory measured 2800mm high 2100mm wide and has a 165mm trunk

Yamadori Black pines

Out and about after a long spell from collecting .Whilst i have gathered a few different species i have not uploaded for a while .These are a few of the trainer trees i have in the wild that have been trimmed for a couple of years , so i thought i had better get my act together and bring them home . The wild life have had a party with the trunks but they now look old and weathered .The larger pots are 250mm diameter so the trees are good quality and size . All up 8 Nigra's and a Ponderosa were retrieved in a matter of 2 hours .It has paid big dividends trimming the trees in the wild as the ramification is good to very good for the time frame apart from the Wallabies have a chew on the trunks . This is part of a large discovery of self sown Pinus Nigra Austriaca that i discovered several years ago .Some of the trees trimmed are far to big to safely remove so i will leave them to mother nature for another year to improve the root mass, they will be regularly trimmed by the wildlife in the area The Ponderosa is a nice little specimen as far as Pondarosa's go .