Whilst pruning this quite vigorous Japanese flowering Apricot today, I came across this one solitary scale insect. I was quite concerned as these are one of the few tree species that will not tolerate systemics (others include some elms e.g. Hokkaido and Chojubai (Dwarf flowering Quince)). 

Scale insects present as hard shells of approx. 2 to 4mm in length, with a cotton wool-like fluff underneath. They suck the juices from a tree and unchecked can do a lot of damage to a small tree in numbers. 
I searched the rest of the tree and found only two more. They can be tricky to spot and do a great job blending into this bark.

When spotted, they are easily removed with tweezers, scissors, or the tip of some wire. Once the shell is removed, the vinegar on the cotton buds works great at removing the powdery / fluffy remains. 

Pruned, cleaned, a little wire and back on the bench.

This tree is very much still a work in progress.
2 years ago I reduced it in height by almost a half, and am working on building branch density and ramification.  P. mume are often seen with long straggly branches due their unwillingness to back bud. It is essential therefore to keep shoots in check and pruned before they get too long. 
The tree is planted in a hand-signed Gyouzan & I have very high hopes for it!

I have decided to let go of my much beloved Firethorn bonsai. 
Height 14"/36cm. 5"/12cm trunk base.

This tree has been with me for four years now. The carving and initial styling was done with Harry Harrington, and the tree has been refined by myself and Lee V. 

Above is tree as I received it in 2014. I thought it an attractive tree, with potential but it needed some work. Over time the trunk was cranked in and down to compact the overall height and add to the movement of the tree. 
I pruned and wired the entire tree, and Harry Harrington did an amasing job of laying out the branches and creating this image below.  

Although I love this image, and it was a vast improvement, the taller apex bothered me, as it was too far from the tree's centre of gravity and made the tree look unbalanced. It was decided in 2017 to remove this apex / trunk, and work with the smaller of the two, which will also make more of the trunk and superb (ne agari) exposed roots.

​The larger trunk was skinned by Lee V and the dead wood burned and repositioned closer to the apex. It is still in the process of 'setting', so the deadwood will spring back a little when the bracing wire is removed. Once settled, the deadwood will be treated with lime sulphur. 

The tree was bare-rooted in February '18, with all of the old soil removed (I usually do within a year of getting a new tree). This will vastly improve the drainage, watering capabilities, and aeration of the soil, and the tree will thank me for it! This new round pot with eight exquisite incised 'corners' is by Yukizyou Nakano, 'Gyouzan'.

I am very happy with this new image and once the foliage pads fill out and the jin are lime sulphured, I believe this will be a wonderful tree!

I got this tree just over 2 years ago now, so it has been 3 or 4 years plus since collection. It has put on lots of growth, and is healthy.
In 2015, the only work done was with Harry Harrington to the deadwood and live veins. None of the foliage was touched at all. 
Last summer (2016), one large branch was removed. It was later styled with Taiga Urushibata at the Spirit of Shohin exhibition workshop at Wisley, U.K.
 
Generally a Juniper should be re-potted before styling, in case a root is damaged which kills a branch essential to the design, or a large root is discovered which stops you getting the tree into the pot required for your design. In this case, the opportunity to work with Taiga couldn't be missed. 

In a year or two, once the tree has put out more roots, this long root will start to be reduced. This action will encourage more rooting from the underside of three, and in time (perhaps 4 or 5 years), this large root will be eliminated all together. 

​Good after care is vital after re-potting. Not only should a vulnerable tree be protected from frost and strong sun, but also importantly from wind. Wind causes evapo-transpiration from the leaves, depleting the tree of water, which puts a strain on the recently disturbed, or cut roots. 

This tree will now be left to grow till June/July. Then gentle pruning will resume to create denser foliage pads. The foliage will also be rotated more to the left, to reveal the live vein. The trunk will be re-cleaned, and the deadwood re-whitened to create contrast. The pot will also be cleaned and oiled by July! 
Next year will be another full wiring and styling, and the tree should be show ready by 2019. 

On the weekend, I helped out at this workshop, and was really impressed by the material and passion the guys in Dublin have. A big thank you to Leinster Club and Harry for inviting me along, and for your hospitality & a great weekend.  

The club has only existed for 4 years, yet 10 guys with great material and loads of enthusiasm turned up & did some fantastic work, and with Harry took their trees forward to the next stage. 

A huge Berberis with some beautiful natural deadwood 

The best Hawthorne raft material I've ever seen. The owner wanted to move it from a training pot to this slab pot, and to solve the issue that some trunks hide others. After much discussion and different ideas from everyone, it was re-potted with the centre raised, and the front opened up. This will make for an incredible tree.

A huge Hornbeam that had an 'Owls's face' that just wouldn't stop staring at the owner, Owen.

Some more great trees .. 

I also got to meet a talented bonsai and accent potter that I have been aware of for a while thanks to Ian at Bonsaieeijit.com. 

This is the work of Maciej of Magic Cermamics. He also loves his trees, and is a really nice guy! 

Thanks again to Leinster Bonsai Club!

The last show of the year for me is the Heathrow Bonsai Show, which took place today at the new, much larger location at Harlington Sports Centre. A huge thank you to Mark and Ming Moreland for all their hard work in once again putting on such a great event! 
For more on the pot display Richard and I were asked to put on, please click here.

Some great traders .. 

Did I mention there was a pot display too?

Congratulations were well earned by Duncan Hield on creating a fabulous tree and winning the UK New Talent contest. Duncan will be representing the UK at the EBA's next year. A great artist and a true gentleman. Best of luck!

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When I acquired this tree from Harry, it had been 2 years since it had been dug up. These photos, taken by Harry Harrington, show the tree's development from May 2015 to August 2016. Height 20:/49cm, trunk base 11"/27cm. Currently potted in a vintage green Shuhu pot. 

These photos were taken in 2014 in Spain I believe, and the tree was collected / dug up the year before. 

In 2015, the tree was wired and de-wired twice.
To build a start building a ramified branch structure with dense foliage pads, I let shoots extend some to thicken and produce energy for the tree, then cut them back hard to 2 pairs of leaves, to promote the opposing side buds to develop into bifurcated (forked) shoots.
​Another technique is to strip the inner leaves of a long shoot, thus encouraging buds down the shoot to extend into side shoots.  
I lost one branch which I snapped during the second styling - but not a problem, more a 'happy accident', as some say! Bonsai design and building is a never ending process, and new growth is always needed to replace dead branches, or those that have lost proportion. 

Some carving with HH, to introduce taper into the thick top 'stump', and to give an aged effect to this part of the tree. This is the first stage, the rough work - now the tree will season, dry out, and start to become naturally weathered by the elements. Next year more detailed carving will be done.

The tree required pruning quite hard, to let light into the inner portions of the tree, and to create some more definition to what has become one large pad of foliage. 

On arriving at Noelanders on Saturday morning, I was overjoyed to discover that the two pots I had my eye on, by Andy of Stone Monkey Ceramics, had not yet been snapped up! Andy had hidden them from the traders during Friday's set up; a smart move, as I'm sure there would have been little left come the start of the show!

In addition to these fantastic pieces, I couldn't resist bringing home these 3 superb Stone Monkey accent pots. I believe his lovely and very talented wife Marie helps/makes these.

Andy's stall had a constant buzz of admirers gathering up his wares. He recently won gold in the un-glazed category of the 40th Gafu-ten, and I was fortunate enough to meet him recently at Maidstone bonsai society meeting, where he gave a very insightful talk on pots & selection called '50% of the enigma'; a lovely bloke and a superb artist!

The above pot is by Makisada ceramics of Belgium. Jurgen & Veerle were kind enough to bring this along to Noelanders for me, which was much appreciated! I was looking forward to meeting them, as I recently acquired the next 2 pots from them, which ooze quality and attention to detail and are amongst my favourites; great guys!

Another ceramic artist I wanted to meet was Thor Holvila, Sweden. I had recently acquired a couple of his pots and I love his rugged masculine pots and glazes. The first of these is a 'Nidhogg Dragon pot', which depicts the world tree Yggdrassil as guarded by the dragon snake Nidhogg. The design is based on an old Scandinavian pot from the 12th Century.

And finally, although unfortunately not at Noelanders, a post on my favourite pots would not be complete without some of Vic's pots from Erin pottery. The first will house a large Arakawa maple, and the last a Pyracantha.

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