Blogs

- Repotted Cork Bark Elm into green tokomane pot. Soil mix was 3 parts pine barks, 2 parts akadama, 1 part haydite, sifted. Root ball was a hairy basketball. Several minutes of raking revealed a 4" stump below the air layer point. Once this stump was removed it fir nicely into the relatively shallow bonsai pot.

Almost ready to move the Drupal site to the front. As much attention as the primary site gets the Drupal upgrade is probably ready now. I'm starting to double post items on both sites.

repotted in gran-i-grit, oil-dri, pine bark mix
- small collected hackberrys that were wired in the ground last year, 1/2" trunks with movement.
- Jap. Maples, some very tiny, some with trunks, movement and proper branches, need wire

took 12" trident maples cuttings, bundled, sphagnum moss on cut ends, fine haydite in 1 Gal pot., clear plastic cover

Planned
- wire Jap Maples
- repot cork bark elm
- twin trunk bald cypress
- prepare 3 large elms and 2 trident maples for collection Nov 09
- repot med. literati pine
- cut back Yaupons
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This blog entry is really a test of the new system but... Today i did pick out a bald Cypress for repotting. The base is about 7' at the soil line. It's probably the only one I will keep of the 7-9 collected over the last 2 years.

Discussion- review of pot color selection, soil composition
To-do - Use more Akadame and Clayite. Air layer vs cutting- cutting produce roots on one side due to unavoidable crushing of tissue on one side. Roots will not emerge from crushed tissue. Air layer produces roots all the way around.
Worked on Saunders Select boxwood- Use sharp chop stick to evaluate buried trunk. Establish primary and secondary branch structure by pruning and wiring. Tertiary branches and foliage will benefit.

To-do - wire Elm , Maple, Hawthorne and Hackberry branch tips and air layer them next spring.

I joined Silver Creek Bonsai Group lead by Shane Carey. This was a fabulous experience! Other members include Bob Specian, Tim Shields and Paul Iforgothislastname. Shane has the most wonderful studio. He teaches in a way that makes things I've heard before suddenly make sense. We had a classroom session where we learned about soil and how plants interact with it. I have an understanding of soil that I've never had before and I no longer fear Acadama. I'm sure my new knowledge will save many trees in the furture.