Peter's Bonsai Blog
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“Big John” This is the story of a large larch bonsai which I call “Big
John”. I acquired this tree in February 2023 from a longstanding acquaintance,
and fellow Ayrshire Bonsai club member- Mr John Lechti. John is over six feet tall and as his tree is
also very tall, it seemed natural that I
should refer to the tree as “Big John”. John had owned the tree for over 25 years and so most of its
development should be credited to him. I
have therefore known this tree for all of my Bonsai journey, and I was very
pleased to get the chance to be its keeper for a few years. When I purchased the tree, it had been a bit neglected and came in a broken pot. However
finding a pot that was 24 inches wide and 15inches deep was quite a challenge
and so I ended up asking Springwood
ceramics to make me one. Nick Payne of Springwood is based near London and so I
agreed to collect it from him at the Bonsai Expo in Crawley. This was the 14th April 2023. I had to transport it back to Scotland on a
train and came up with the idea of wiring it to a board, inside a large wheeled
suitcase. When I did get it home, it
was a bit late in the year to be playing about with the roots of the tree and
so I simply “slip” potted it into the
new pot. The following pictures tell the story. Later that year I decided to display the tree at the
Scottish National Exhibition in Troon.
The tree and its new pot were looking good and it was voted as being the
most popular tree by members of the public. I was well chuffed, but acknowledge
that most of the credit should go to John Lechti. The following year I decided to submit the tree for
selection to the Bonsai Expo2024. This
is now the largest and most prestigious Bonsai show in the UK and I was
delighted that “Big John” was selected for display. The tree is 44 inches tall and to large for my car, so I had
to undertake the 500 mile journey in a hired van. All round it was quite an expense, but I was
delighted to take part and the event has become the highlight of my bonsai calendar. The following picture was taken at the even in April 2024.
The development of a larch group created from collected material.
(Scroll down to see all the images) |
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The original trees were collected in spring 2005 and planted as a group in a wooden box for 1 year. |
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In the spring of 2006 the group was transplanted to a mica training pot. |
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By June 2010 - The vigourous growth needs to be trimmed.
June 2010 - the benefit of a simply hair cut ! |
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By January 2011 I was unhappy with the tree on the right hand side of the group. I felt it was to straight, and needed to curve outwards and upwards. The solution was to take the tree out of the group, bend the trunk as required and to secure it in position. I used a copper wire wrapped around the top of the tree and secured into a screw at the base. The tree was then wired back into the pot at the new angle. |
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The following pictures show the process. ........... |
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Some of the branches need to be repositioned with wire and the foliage needs to fill out a bit but I' happier with the current image. |
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January 2011 after repositioning the tree By May 2013 the group was filling out again.....
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By July 2011 The foliage is filling out again
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“Big John” This is the story of a large larch bonsai which I call “Big
John”. I acquired this tree in February 2023 from a longstanding acquaintance,
and fellow Ayrshire Bonsai club member- Mr John Lechti. John is over six feet tall and as his tree is
also very tall, it seemed natural that I
should refer to the tree as “Big John”. John had owned the tree for over 25 years and so most of its
development should be credited to him. I
have therefore known this tree for all of my Bonsai journey, and I was very
pleased to get the chance to be its keeper for a few years. When I purchased the tree, it had been neglected for a few
years and came in a broken pot. However
finding a pot that was 24 inches wide and 15inches deep was quite a challenge
and I ended up asking Springwood
ceramics to make me one. Nick Payne of Springwood is based near London and so I
agreed to collect it from him at the Bonsai Expo in Crawley. This was the 14th April 2023. I had to transport it back to Scotland on a
train and came up with the idea of wiring it to a board, inside a large wheeled
suitcase. When I did get it home, it
was a bit late in the year to be playing about with the roots of the tree and
so I simply “slip” potted it into the
new pot. The following pictures tell the story. Later that year I decided to display the tree at the
Scottish National Exhibition in Troon.
The tree and its new pot were looking good and it was voted as being the
most popular tree by members of the public. I was well chuffed, but acknowledge
that most of the credit should go to John Lechti. The following year I decided to submit the tree for
selection to the Bonsai Expo2024. This
is now the largest and most prestigious Bonsai show in the UK and I was
delighted that “Big John” was selected for display. The tree is 44 inches tall and to large for my car, so I had
to undertake the 500 mile journey in a hired van. All round it was quite an expense, but I was
delighted to take part and the event has become the highlight of my bonsai calendar. The following picture was taken at the even in April 2024. |
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