bonsai – Page 6 – The Bonsai Blog of Hans van Meer

SOME PICTURES OFF THE WORK I DID LAST MONTH!

Hi, everybody,

it’s has been a while

These roots, on one of my Acer palmatum’s, are begining to look nice.

Here the tree is back in it’s old pot, as soon as it is settled down and showing lots off new growth, I will start to wire it again and bring it back into its desired form. I am glad this tree recovered from it’s ordeal so well, it holds a lot of good memories for me!

Look how flat the football, consisting of only small feeder roots, is now! This means I can plant it deeper into it’s pot and that the tree will look more balanced in it!

Here I am removing more off the old rootstub that was left for safety the last time this old Yamadori “Yew’ was repotted. This “Yew” I found in the U.K, many years ago now and it is the first tree that I ever collected. This tree lost a lot off its vitality 2 years ago and some lower branches on the left were lost, but now it slowly recovered and it was safe to work on the roots again!

For now this “Dancer” has a new home, were it can grow into a beautiful lady! 🙂

Some promising roots were redirected with wire. Thicker roots were cut back, right up, to about half a Inch away, from were strong, but smaller roots emerge from it. This simple, but sure technique, will be repoted, until the overall roots size, fits inside the planed design for this tree.

For now she is planted in a deep pot, with plenty of room to grow. I want a vigures tree, that produces lots of new growt to fill out and style the top section of this future Literati Bonsai.

Now I am left with a nice flat rootbase, full of fine feeder roots. This means that at the next repoting, I will be able to plant this tree in a much shalower pot. This wil make here, more elegant and smaller…she is a bit tall! 🙂

Here I am removing the extra roots I left on for extra security when I collected this Dutch Yamadori “Hawthorn”.

Here the tree is planted back into it’s small Brian Albright pot.

Here the same tree is planted back into it’s Brian Albright pot.

Not me!:) Here is a other Hawthorn with only small feeder roots.

, I know! But I had to take a few steps back from the keyboard and try to focus on the more important things in life, mainly my health! These last few month’s, my back problems have become more severe and kept me more or less away from any real Bonsai work. But I did do some important small styling work and some repotting that could not wait any longer! At this moment I am gladly posting these pictures in the knowledge that there might be a solution for my back problems in the near future. I have found a great Doctor in Belgium that uses a new kind of operating technique! So now I only need the O.K from my insurance company and I am off to Belgium! So keep your fingers crossed for the next couple of days for me! 🙂

Who sad that you could not get, a easy to repot, root system on a Hawthorn?

Who said that you could not get, an easy to repot, root system on a Hawthorn?

Not me!:) Here is a other Hawthorn with only small feeder roots.

Not me!:) Here is another Hawthorn with only small feeder roots.

larix-zondag-23-februari-2009-012-web

Above: This “Larch” has been completely wireless during the winter months. So, considering the short time I have been working on this tree, I am pretty pleased with how quickly the, mostly new branches, have already settled in their position. Only the (Youngest) top section (A) needs to be repositioned. I had left the Large stump (B) alone for a few seasons, to prevent the risk of dye/dry back in the main trunk. So now it was safe to remove most of it with power and hand tools and then style it in harmony with the spirit of this tree! The white dotted line is more or less the line of the trunk, so a lot of work had to be done to get there!

Above: This is the first transplanting for this Dutch “Hawthorn” Yamadori. As you can see the pot is full of healthy roots, so it was safe to remove the too thick root (red arrow) you can see in the second picture. The green arrow in that same picture, show some nice positioned strong roots. The next 2 picture s show how I removed that root. The last picture shows the tree in its new pot for now. For the next couple of seasons, I will concentrate on the growth of the relatively young branches, the need to thicken and mature. And of course, I have to work on the total ramification of the tree. This ugly duckling is quickly becoming one off the favourites trees to work on, in my collection! A couple of years ago I offered it for sale, still as raw material, during a big convention. For a very reasonable price, but nobody seemed to notice this oddly shaped tree, so full of natural mistakes. There and then, I drew a design on a small piece of paper, and afterwards, I gladly took the tree home with me, to style it myself! I have to admit though, it took a lot off imagination and even some optical tricks. But I seem to have overcome, some major design problems. Creating a thing of interest or even beauty, out of not too good material, is something I really love. Because these trees are not too obvious to style, you really have to look for that hidden Bonsai! But when you find it and everything turns out well, you will have a Bonsai that is often so much more interesting than the prefab ones. I enjoy it when a plan comes together! 🙂

Of course, I know, this tree has a very long way to go, but it is growing nicely into a “Mother and child” tree, with a twist. The mother leaning into the wind, protecting the little child that clings to her side, from the prevailing winds that torture the Dutch coastline were I actually collected this tree! I will keep you posted.

Above picture: This small tree is also a Dutch “Hawthorn” Yamadori.

Before We go any further, I would like to say, I am sorry that this post is dragging on so long. But it is the only way I am able to post anything new on my blog!

Hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

——————————————————————————————-

NOELANDERS TROPHY 2009.

Hi, everybody,

here are some pictures I shot during the “NOELANDERS TROPHY X” last weekend.

The above picture of the winning tree, an Acer buergerianum by Udo Fischer from Germany, is courtesy of my friend Andy “stone monkey” Pearson.

Above: My Mugo Yamadori. Although the current pot is too big and will be replaced by a smaller one in the near future, I do feel that “BIG RON” looked pretty good during this show! This old Mugo Pine can only be repotted into a smaller and more suitable pot when in the future there are enough new small roots. Then I can safely remove a bit more of the large root clump that is hidden under the ground! For now “BIG RON” will be left alone for a few years to grow and mature, he deserves it! 🙂

Above: I was proud to finally be able to show my Chamaecyparis obtusa that I have worked on for so many years. Although it is an imaginary tree, Chama’s don’t grow into this style of a tree or any kind of tree for that matter, I do feel that it’s image of an old and bettered tall spruce-fir like tree is believable. To take full advantage of the lovely fan-like shape of this kind of foliage, I styled it not too strict. The wild foliage together with the many different shades of green creates the feel and image of a tree in the distance. This tree has come a long way indeed!

Above: Resident photographer, W. Evenepoel hard at work to shoot a bird’s eye view picture for the commemorative book of this anniversary edition.

Above: 4 stupid Bonsai friends in Belgium. Left to right, Ed van der Reek, Me, Jeroen Huivenaar and last but not least a close-up view of Rune Kyrdalen.

noelanders

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

——————————————————————————

SOME LAST WORK IN FREEZING WEATHER!

Hi, everybody,

Today finally, after more than two weeks of temperatures below freezing here in Holland, the temperature reached above O! At last, I could open the winter shelter and let some fresh air in there. I am so happy for this spell of warmer weather, now I was finally able to do some last touch ups on the 2 trees I am showing in the “NOELANDERS TROPHY” this coming weekend. Because of all the trees that are jammed in close together in this small shelter, I had not much room to move around. So I had to be careful not to knock anything over, while I worked on “BIG RON” my Mugo pine! But I managed to adjust some of the deadwood with hand and power tools. Then, with the help of a straw, I had to blow away all the sawdust from the bark, branches and foliage in the interior of the tree. This is a very effective way when you cant reach into the branches anymore, but it makes you quite dizzy after a while! 🙂

Then I managed to get my Chamaecyparis out of the shelter, so I could clean it up and replace some thick guide wires, with 0,3 mm copper wires. They are almost invisible and placed in a way that they are hidden by foliage or branches. With a copper brush on a small power tool, I removed the hard whitish resin that this Chamaecyparis produces on the edges of where the bark meets the deadwood and rolls/grows over it, like a slow flow of lava. Although this resin is perfectly natural, it doesn’t look too good. It is like lumps of dried up lime sulphur on the beautiful bark. So I cleaned it all off and next to the deadwood I cleaned just a fraction deeper to reveal the deep red colour a Chamaecyparis bark has just under need it’s rough dark brown outer shell. Now the line between the weathered deadwood and the live bark becomes more prominent, showing the struggle, but also the perseverance of this strong and proud tree! The rest of the beautiful old and rough bark I live untouched to show the true age of this tree. Then I replaced some weathered moss and tried out some different accents for the first time. Then I called it a day, even do it was above zero, the very strong wind made me feel way colder than I felt during the last couple of weeks! Who said that Bonsai was only fun? Just kidding, this is all part of this beautiful art form. Just a few more days until the show. I can’t wait!

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

—————————————————————-

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

————————————————————————————————

My chamaecyparis obtusa “nana gracilis”.

Hi, everybody,

yesterday I finished the final styling of my “Hinoki cypres” Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Grasciles’ 95 cm/38 inches.
About 12 years ago, I was very lucky to buy 4 or 5 of this old “Hinoki’s” directly from a professional grower in “Boskoop” (Holland). He had planted them together with his father some 50 years ago when he was still a young boy. He seemed to like the idea of having them restyled into Bonsai! All these long years, the small scrubs were used as “Mother plants”, every year all the strong growth was cut off to be used for grafting or as cuttings. So the trees had remained small for all those years and most of the foliage grew close to the trunk. But this was not the case with this tree, it was tall, straight and all the foliage was located in the top part of the tree. So I only had some branches in the top that I had to bend down and let grow for many years. So I had to style the tree in a way, that made those hanging branches believable. This “Hinoki” would be a fantasy tree (they don’t exist as large trees) and styled as an Old Pine/Larch/Picea solitaire, that lost its top section somewhere in the past and all of its bottom growth and all of the branches were forced down by the weight of the winter snow. I have seen examples of those old soldiers on many a high mountainside in the Alps. So, to give the trunk more interest, I made a Shari over the full length of the trunk. And then waited for all these years, until now, for the foliage to grow and the branches to thicken, in the meanwhile the Shari aged very nicely and the bark grew beautifully over the deadwood in some places, making it all look aged and mature. I really love the foliage of these “Hinoki’s”, you can create wonderful foliage pads, without it becoming too overly styled, it looks really natural, like a tree in the distance. I think this fantasy tree gives off a good impression of an aged mountain dweller now and I decided to enter it into the “Noellanders Trophy” next January! Although this species is not so commonly used in Bonsai anymore, I do believe they are wonderful material for good bonsai! Even this, not so good starting material, turned out into a believable old looking tree. This tree has become a good representative of what I seek for in my designs and styling, I hope you like it to?
I found this wooden slab to place it on in the show, do you think it goes well with this tree?
Regards,
Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

——————————————————————————————————————-

REMOVING NEEDLES, BEFORE WIRING, ON MY PINUS UNCINATA.

Hi, everybody,

A few days ago, during a short sunny dry spell, I removed all of the last years and some of this year’s needles. To control and promote growth and to make it easier to wire the branches.

When I feel up to it, I hope to start to wire the tree! This picture is a rare shot of the backside of this old Pine.

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

————————————————————————————————-

MY ULMUS IN WINTER COLORS.

Hi, everybody,

because of my back problems, I have not been really able to do the major styling I had planned for some of my bigger trees. But I have been able to shoot a nice picture of my “Ulmus” in early winter colours. The light wasn’t perfect to do this really good, but for the last couple of days, we have had some really nasty weather over here! Hope you like it? This is one of the first Bonsai that is still in my collection and I have been taking care of it for some 17 years now!

Regards,

Hans van Meer.

Chinees Elm “Ulmus parvifolia” November 2008.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

—————————————————————————————————–

THE FIRST STYLING OF ED’S PINE.

Hi, everybody,

last Thursday my student Ed van der Reek brought his latest find, a Pinus uncinata, to my garden to give it it’s first styling. This small Pine showed all the typical Yamadori futures we look for in good Bonsai material, But on the other hand, it showed just as many typical Yamadori problems, that needed to be solved, or better yet, incorporated into the overall Bonsai design, in a way that would actually make the tree look better. There is a lot of beauty to be found in imperfection!

More text to the pics will follow tomorrow!

Left picture: Sorry for this poor picture against that bad background. Those two chairs were there for me, I had to go sit down every now and then! Point A: Shows one of the only 2 branches on the battered Pine. It is a to long branch, that grows from an ugly spot on the back side of the tree. It will be a major problem, to use this weak branch in any design we might come up with! Point B: Shows the second (Cascading) branch. This is a very hard to bend straight and thick branches, from which, way down 3 secondary branches grew. 1 strong and long and 2 smaller and weaker once. Above this branch, you can see a large dead wood stump that needs to be reduced and shaped in the future after the tree has its new image!

Right picture: A: Close up of the weak back branch.

Left picture: Side branches B and C are the weakest 2 of the 3 growing from the main branch, and they are placed to low down. ED uses wet raffia to tightly wrapped the place where the thick branch endures the most pressure when it is brought into the desired position. Than 2 lengths of copper wire are, with the help of pre-cut small pieces of thin wire, placed lengthwise along the side of the outside curve of the branch. The small pieces are there to help you attached the lengths of wire along the side of the branch, even if you work alone. Just hold them in place with one hand and use the other to swing the little piece around the area you are holding and then tighten it by hand and then by pliers. You repeat this process along the rest of the branch, very easy this way and it ensures that the lengths of wire are very tightly bound to the part where the branch needs protection from breaking! Then, as tight as possible, another layer of wet raffia was applied and over that layer normal wire was applied to hold everything tightly into place!

Right picture: A normal wood clamp was used to, very easily, bend the thick branch, bit by bit, into its desired position. The 15 minutes break we took in between the bending of this all-important branch, were used to wire the rest of the smaller branches and to drink some more coffee.

Left picture: Point A: The base of the branch was secured by a piece of copper wire to the dead stump. To prevent it from being torn off at its base! Here you can also clearly see the large deadwood stump that hides most of the main branch. This deadwood needs to be reduced and shaped in the future. In a way that fits the tree design as well as hiding the straightness of that same main branch.

Right picture: WOW! Look how far it has come and without any problems. Ed still can’t believe it! 🙂

Left picture: Side branch B is bent down and appears here from under need the trunk.

Right picture: Here Ed is carefully bending the cascading (side) branch into position.

Left and right picture: The now useless side branches are removed by Ed.

Left picture: without hesitation, Ed removes the useless branch on the right (back) side of the tree. Leaving a stump for a future Jin.

Right picture: After an afternoon of fun, Ed can really smile with the outcome of his work. The deadwood carving will be don later when Ed is more used to the trees new image. He has to charge his fantasy first for a while, so to speak. I am sure this tree will turn out just great in the future!

Most of the times I make a drawing, but this time I made this virtual of this future Bonsai for Ed. There are no back branches visible in this drawing, but there are 3 of those in the real design. Out of experience with my own trees, I have learned, that when the proper technique to stimulate back budding are applied on these Yamadori Pines, a design like this can be visual in 7 to 10 years. I know it sounds like a long time, but every step in the life of a Bonsai is worth taking, believe me!

Ed is happy so I am very happy, so it was a good Bonsai day again!

Regards,

Hans.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

————————————————————–

The styling of my new Shohin Yew, “Little Terry”!

Hi, everybody,
a few weeks ago, when I was in the UK to do another “BURRS” weekend, I stayed as a guest in the warm home of my dear friends Charlot and Terry Foster. Every year they spoil me half to death when I visit them and this year I even was surprised with a real Halloween party (my first), with great food and light refreshments! 🙂 All too soon this weekend with my talented friend ended and I probably won’t see him until next year, for the next “BURRS” event. But he took care of that problem as well for me! The last morning, during a wonderful breakfast, he surprised me completely again! He gave me this lovely little Yamadori “Yew”, he collected himself 6 years ago. He said, here is something to remind you, of this fun time we spent together. Once again this modest man had struck a nerve in me and I just had not enough words to take him for his wonderful gift! You got to love him!
I am because of my back problems, still not being able to do much work at once, so I decided to work on this little gem. Trying to honour Terry’s design, but with a little twist of the Hans. 🙂

I removed unnecessary foliage and some branches that did back, then wired every branch, which, because of the dense foliage, was not so easy as it sounds. I had to be extra careful with those big hands of mine. I put all the branches into there desired place. I cleaned the deadwood and live bark with a toothbrush and some water then applied lime sulphur to protect and whiten the deadwood. Took these picture for my weblog and of course, I named this Shohin: “LITTLE TERRY”!!!
Thanks, Terry!!!!

Above picture: Before the work began.

Above picture: Here you can see how small she actually is.

Above picture: Left side of the tree.

Above picture: Back side of the tree.

Right picture: Right side of the tree.

Above Picture: A branch has died back, so the live bark will shift more to the right in the future, but this is something the tree will do by itself!

Above picture: Close up of the deadwood.

“LITTLE TERRY”

Hope you like it?

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.

Info: karamotto@hotmail.com

————————————————————————————-

SOME CLOSE UP PICTURES OF THE DEADWOOD ON MY PINUS UNCINATA.

Hi, everybody,

My back is a little bit better today, but I am still not able to work on any tree for a while. So I decided to take some close up pictures of the beautiful deadwood on my Pinus uncinata.

I can look at it over and over again and get totally lost in the beautiful random patterns and the 50 shades of grey on this wooden history book of this very old tree! This is just the thing I like to see in a yamadori, the wonderful beauty of nature! This wonderful main focal point of this tree should only be enhanced by the artist, to bring out the best of both into one Bonsai. 🙂

Hans this I dedicate to your tree.

This is from my heart what I saw in your tree.

It is yours now forever and ever.

Mom.

” The Whisper of the Wee Tree”

Come closer my friend and hear me speak

My old and gnarled bark is just the outside of me

Many tales can be told of how old I really am

But the life of me runs strong and deep

The battle from seed to what you see

tells the world the story of me.*

Thanks, Mom!

Hope you like them?

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

*copyright is freely given to Hans Van Meer November 15th, 2008 by Irene I Britton

———————————————————————————————————

THE ” BURRS TURKEY CATS ” GROUP PHOTO!

Hi, everybody,

Here is the “TURKEY CATS” group picture that Kevin Baily made at “BURRS”.

You can find more pictures here: http://www.dragonbonsai.co.uk/burrs.htm

And a picture of some typical “BURRS” humour! 🙂

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

———————————————————————————————

Hi, everybody,

Left picture: without hesitation, Ed removes the useless branch on the right (back) side of the tree. Leaving a stump for a future Jin.

Right picture: After an afternoon of fun, Ed can really smile with the outcome of his work. The deadwood carving will be don later when Ed is more used to the trees new image. He has to charge his fantasy first for a while, so to speak. I am sure this tree will turn out just great in the future!

Ed is happy so I am very happy, so it was a good Bonsai day again!

Regards,

Hans.

Above picture: Before the work began.

Above picture: Left side of the tree.

Right picture: Right side of the tree.

Above picture: Close up of the deadwood.

“LITTLE TERRY”

Hope you like it?

Cheers, Hans van Meer.

Cheers,
Hans van Meer.