Today was another opportunity to collect some great new material. Here are a few of the trees I brought home today.
First up is yet another terrific Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum. This one has a 5″ trunk 5″ above the soil surface, and is chopped at 27″. The buttress is superb, and runs down into the soil. I always bury my newly collected trees deep, to ensure the surface roots don’t dry out. In the case of this cypress, the buttressing runs way down into the soil. When this one finally gets raised in its bonsai pot, the effect is going to be stunning.
How’s this for a great American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)? The base is nice and wide, the taper outstanding, and the muscling is so typical of the species. The basal diameter is 3.5″, and it’s 20″ to the chop.
And last but not least, here’s a really awesome Parsley hawthorn, Crataegus marshallii. I’m planning to keep this one for myself. I just love the fluting in the lower trunk, and it’s got nice taper in a relatively short specimen. The trunk base is 2.5″ above the root crown, and I’ve chopped it at 13″. I’m planning a finished height of about 18″.
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
Okay….you’re keeping the Parsley Hawthorn for yourself. Perhaps that’s good news for me. Now I get an opportunity, if you’re willing to track the progress, to see precisely how a tree develops from a stump to a bonsai tree. Hopefully, you’ll track this one in words, thought pointers and progression photos. This will be an excellent learning experience….ahhhhhhh….but, I know, you’re the one who has to do all the work. Nice.
You can count on it, John. I always need subjects for my blog posts, plus I love progressions! So assuming this guy makes it, stay tuned for some pointers on how to work a stump into a bonsai.
Great starters! Good job! pk
Thank you, Pierre.
Have you been able to locate a Cypress for me yet. Getting excited about it
Sent you an email, Libby.