I have been working on these 3 coteneasters for a few years now,will post more photos when they have grown a bit more I have pruned then recently
[img]https://i26.tinypic.com/2cql836.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i30.tinypic.com/2b7bch.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i30.tinypic.com/qwx554.jpg[/img]
The last one is the oldest at about 11 yrs, it has lost its shape a bit but I will prune it back into shape next year.
I'm surprised you didn't get more replies on this thread when you first posted it because you really do have some nice trees. The one in the square pot without the small rock has really filled in and is fruiting nicely. The one in the oval pot has also filled in well too. Cotoneaster is one of my favorites and I am dying to get one of my own (the landscape company I work for in the summer is supposed to remove an entire bed of them this Fall so I'm going to try to snatch as many as possible). This is one of those cases where you don't need a massive trunk to have a great bonsai. Your delicate trunks make the rocks look bigger, especially regarding the one with the large square rock. Keep us updated in the future.
Hi pkok,
Outstanding!! Beautiful trees. Some of the best examples of Cottoneasters I've ever seen. I've never really even considered working with Cottoneasters before because most of the ones I've seen haven't really impressed me. I can no longer say that. I am impressed and inspired. I will certainly be thinking about a Cottoneaster during next springs buying frenzy. Excellent work. Trees like that are why bonsai is considered an art form and not just 'growing something'. Thanks for posting.
Allen
Outstanding!! Beautiful trees. Some of the best examples of Cottoneasters I've ever seen. I've never really even considered working with Cottoneasters before because most of the ones I've seen haven't really impressed me. I can no longer say that. I am impressed and inspired. I will certainly be thinking about a Cottoneaster during next springs buying frenzy. Excellent work. Trees like that are why bonsai is considered an art form and not just 'growing something'. Thanks for posting.
Allen
When I went to lunch from work earlier today I ran by the nursery to grab some cheap clay pots and a bale of pine straw. I didn't even think to ask if they had anything like that on sale. Oh well. It's barely fall here so I can hit it again this week.-
The Helpful Gardener
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Hey pkok
Very nice trees with lots of potential, and cotoneaster is a very forgiving species. A wise choice...
Are you familiar with the work of your fellow countryman Peter Adams? In his development of trees he plants them inground in a poly-covered row (on top of a slate or such); this helps to develop roots in particular and would be very beneficial for root over rock species.
My old sensei used to plant them in a standard nursery container with the rock and all buried, and do the same thing that way. Indeed, if you think about the style, that is how they are created in nature; soil slowly erodes from around the tree and rock, et voila! Perhaps a year or two in training in one of these fashions might help accentuate the nebari element so important in this style? It develops trunks and roots so much faster...
Remember, cotoneasters are very weak wooded, so only wire new growth and watch that for scarring. Repotting should be done in late April/early May according to Mr. Adams, so I would take that as your UK date. You otherwise seem to have done a fine job of care and pruning...
I think you are doing famously so far, but are exhibiting the tendency we all have to want to put our trees in presentation pots earlier than perhaps the tree warrants (I too am guilty, but am reforming my ways). We can often do better jobs of growing and developing in ground or in a nursery can than we can in the restrictive confines of a presentation pot. The Japanese do not consider a tree a bonsai until at least seven years of development, a rule we would all do well to remember and emulate...
HG
Very nice trees with lots of potential, and cotoneaster is a very forgiving species. A wise choice...
Are you familiar with the work of your fellow countryman Peter Adams? In his development of trees he plants them inground in a poly-covered row (on top of a slate or such); this helps to develop roots in particular and would be very beneficial for root over rock species.
My old sensei used to plant them in a standard nursery container with the rock and all buried, and do the same thing that way. Indeed, if you think about the style, that is how they are created in nature; soil slowly erodes from around the tree and rock, et voila! Perhaps a year or two in training in one of these fashions might help accentuate the nebari element so important in this style? It develops trunks and roots so much faster...
Remember, cotoneasters are very weak wooded, so only wire new growth and watch that for scarring. Repotting should be done in late April/early May according to Mr. Adams, so I would take that as your UK date. You otherwise seem to have done a fine job of care and pruning...
I think you are doing famously so far, but are exhibiting the tendency we all have to want to put our trees in presentation pots earlier than perhaps the tree warrants (I too am guilty, but am reforming my ways). We can often do better jobs of growing and developing in ground or in a nursery can than we can in the restrictive confines of a presentation pot. The Japanese do not consider a tree a bonsai until at least seven years of development, a rule we would all do well to remember and emulate...
HG