Not much to show here yet, just getting started on projects that will hopefully provide valuable material to work with later. My parents are allowing my to re-purpose the family garden into my bonsai tree farm. I will be starting quite a few trees and growing many of them over tiles to encourage quick growth in the ground and horizontal root systems that will make for nice nebari later on. Now for pictures!
The plot to be re-purposed:
After raking up the garden debris and burning off (some free charcoal for the soil):
Then I began tilling the ground so that it will be easier to work when time to plant seedlings comes:
As for the trees, I began stratifying several species of seeds over the winter and started planting them a few weeks ago. Until this week they have been indoors under by little set-up because Ohio couldn't figure out how to stop being winter until just recently:
A few things are starting to sprout. Trying to keep a close eye on them to prevent some of the damping off issues I dealt with last year (using a fungicide this time around). Zelkova and Trident Maple:
Some of the Red Pine:
All of these will stay in the trays until they are a little bigger and then I will transplant them into the ground and several over (through) the tiles I have prepared:
I'm going to thread the seedlings through the holes of the tiles. As they grow the trunk will thicken to the point it girdles itself on the tile and hopefully sends out nice horizontal roots across the tiles. I'm hoping to do something similar to the Ebihara style I regularly see discussed here. I've done a few for forest plantings as well there those root systems will intersect and eventually fuse into a clump like planting.
Anyways that's all for now. Hopefully will remember to provide a photo update when I do the actually plantings.
The plot to be re-purposed:
After raking up the garden debris and burning off (some free charcoal for the soil):
Then I began tilling the ground so that it will be easier to work when time to plant seedlings comes:
As for the trees, I began stratifying several species of seeds over the winter and started planting them a few weeks ago. Until this week they have been indoors under by little set-up because Ohio couldn't figure out how to stop being winter until just recently:
A few things are starting to sprout. Trying to keep a close eye on them to prevent some of the damping off issues I dealt with last year (using a fungicide this time around). Zelkova and Trident Maple:
Some of the Red Pine:
All of these will stay in the trays until they are a little bigger and then I will transplant them into the ground and several over (through) the tiles I have prepared:
I'm going to thread the seedlings through the holes of the tiles. As they grow the trunk will thicken to the point it girdles itself on the tile and hopefully sends out nice horizontal roots across the tiles. I'm hoping to do something similar to the Ebihara style I regularly see discussed here. I've done a few for forest plantings as well there those root systems will intersect and eventually fuse into a clump like planting.
Anyways that's all for now. Hopefully will remember to provide a photo update when I do the actually plantings.
