See the tree how big its grown...

Still repotting bonsais at my place. I have a bit of a pond at my place that has gold fish and frogs and it is a great place to grow Swamp Cypress. This obviously isn't a native plant in Australia, but as long as they are kept pretty moist they grow quite well.


My trick is to slowly pot the trees into bigger pots and then float them on styrofoam discs in the pond. The roots grow out of the bottom of the pot and usually anchor themselves in the pond. They tend to blow over and I just leave them laying in the pond water and they just keep growing. Every now and then I go and chop the top of them off and let them grow some more.


This month I have been pulling them out of the pond and hacking them out of their pots and transplanting them into bonsai pots. My wife isn't a fan of my bonsai, she thinks the only good tree is a tree planted in th eground and it is silly or cruel to stick them in tiny pots. Oh well.


Here is a shot of one I just pulled out of the pond today, you can see by the shovel it is taller than me.


[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/3527.Bonsai_5F00_1.jpg[/img]


So I hack into it and tease the roots and trim them and stick them into a pot and get this.


[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/8780.Bonsai_5F00_2.jpg[/img]


And here it is beside the one I did last weekend. The branches have to grow and these are still obviously in training but I can now wire and prune and start turning them into chunky little swampies.


[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1513.Bonsai_5F00_3.jpg[/img]


These are pretty radical repots the right hand swampy was nearly 8 foot tall when I dragged it out of the water, the main thing now is just to try and keep them alive through Spring and let them grow and grow.


Thanks for viewing.


Steve

very interesting Steve....but what happens to the other 7

Sometimes I take cuttings and start all over again and some just get turned into mulch.


To put things into perspective, the base of those trees are about 10-12 inches and they are just under 2 foot high.

Pretty creative, Steve! You have quite the green thumb!

Steve, Wow, I am impressed. I was stationed in Okinawa for a couple of years and the real bonsai artists always amazed me as have you. Looks like your well on your way to several great bonsai trees.


Nice work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve U

This month I have been pulling them out of the pond and hacking them out of their pots and transplanting them into bonsai pots. My wife isn't a fan of my bonsai, she thinks the only good tree is a tree planted in th eground and it is silly or cruel to stick them in tiny pots. Oh well.

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Steve


Very interesting hobby.


I guess if trees had feelings this might be considered cruel

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve U

So I hack into it and tease the roots and trim them and stick them into a pot and get this.


[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/8780.Bonsai_5F00_2.jpg[/img]

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HDNitehawk

I guess if trees had feelings this might be considered cruel

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If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.


--Jack Handey.

Heh heh nice one, Daniel.


Considering the title of this post I felt sure someone of an older vintage might have added,


"But friend it hasn