Maple progression

This is where my $15.95 Japanese maple is beginning to pay dividends , i set the layers just after the first flush of new growth hardened off . Instead of trying to wrap plastic sheeting around the branches i used 1.25 litre soft drink bottles for the tubes . Simply remove the tapered top and neck , slice down the side and cut a circle out of the bottom to suit the branch thickness. Its much easier to fill a solid tube than attempt to wrap in plastic sheeting .

With the layers set i simply wrap with duct tape then trimmed the foliage into a desired shape or style , to water i use a large plastic syringe all up there is around 11 layers , twin trunk , slanting , formal and informal upright . On average the trunk thickness of the layers is around 50mm , once removed i will set another dozen or so next season with trunks up to 80mm . A simple hook and hold wiring method has been used to roughly shape the branchlets

Japanese Black Pine Project

These were a cheap purchase from Jackie who saves unwanted trees from destruction .They cost me 10 bucks a throw and a have some plans for these .I have inarching {side grafted} the lower branches back down onto the lower part of the trunks and plan to do the rest of the whorls the same way.This will produce about 12 new trunks to play with . The apexes were clasped together with twist ties then support wires were added using he ties . I then wrapped the apexes together with nylon sash cord to firmly hold the trunks and to aid in the aged look to the trunks .Prior to addingthe webbing i removed the cable ties and strapped together to form a larger than usual tree for a quickfire aged trunk I will set some aerial layers at each whorl to create new trunks for removal later after the tops have fused .Nothing ventured nothing gained so to speak.Cheers

Collected Montereys

These once again were from a good deed for a friend Chop top MONTY'S .John attempted to eradicate his pine wildling problem and missed by That Much . He chopped off the top and left a shoot or branch on the trunk .The end result was the continued growth and a nice little collection of pines for me . We spent 4 hours eradicating trees however there were around50 that i purposefully cut to regrow and told John i would dig them out for him NEXT YEAR

Yamadori Shore Pines

These area few of the collected Shore pines i inherited after offering my services to a local shire to assist in the removal of noxious weeds . Beautiful weeds

More Collecting

These 2 Yamadori were collected recently on an outing with the family .The big Hawthorn is a monster and a half , the original tree had rotted off and the 2 lower branches have become the twin trunks that will be used for a convincing 2 tree style Bonsai . There is ample material to carve including the original over large side root .

The Pinus Monterey was an original chop top that has grown a new leader from 1 of the remaining branches missed during an attempt to eradicate these noxious weeds . It will make a very nice informal at the least . The trunk itself is 100mm at the base and about 1200mm overall height.It gives good scope for shaping and carving

Prunus versus Stihl part 3

Hi back to the final carving of this huge trunk . I spent another full morning on the saw and dremel to complete this project .Now all that remains is a simple sand of the hardwood after a little drying time and a few shoot grafts to set it on it way .There is a couple of shoots present so grafting will speed up the recovery process

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 .