tool images

Digging Tools

I went to this incredible antique store by my place.  I picked up this draw knife and two different styles of Pulaski heads, and a few other rusty bits for the blacksmith shop.

Here are the Pulaski Heads.  The top one is stamped with FSS and was used in wild-land firefighting. The one below is a bit more obscure and I didn't get to far in the way of research.  I soaked them in a bin of vinegar for a few days and then washed them up and used the wire wheel on my grinder.   

Started off with some hatchet work to get the rough shape.

Moved on to the draw knife, which is supper fun to use.  Too bad the workbench I have is not anchored down...that would make it a lot easier.  This is black locust which is really hard wood and invasive, which I had collected by the river.

To prevent it from cracking as it seasons, I put some wood glue on the ends.

I cut three large branches of black locust.  Then I tried to rig them up on my bike rack...that was a some trip biking back up the hill. Anyway, none of them were large enough in diameter to fit a double-bit head, so I grabbed this hickory handle at ACE.  I ran it through my forge to char it up for some visual interest.  

Root Hook Project

I did some work in the forge to make a couple of "chopsticks" for repoting.  I sketched up a few ideas and got working on two.  One is drawned out and tapered waiting for some feedback, as it will be a gift,  This one is a multi-function tool.  Half chopstick and half root hook.  It is about 8 inches long.

Potting timeline

Potting Timeline

Tree-----------------------------Last potted -----------------------------Next Re-pot

Olive                                Spring 2018                                2021

Ginko                               Spring 2018                                 2021

Sand Cherry                      Spring 2019                                 2021

Willow                              Spring 2019                                2020

Willow 2                          "                "                                  "   "

Cranberry cotoneaster         Spring 2019                                2021

Cotonester Horizontals       Spring  2019                                2021

Pine                                    Spring 2019                                2021

Barberry                             Spring 2019                                2021

S.Elm #2(s.cascade)               2018                                        2020

S.Elm #3 (beast)                    2019                                        2020

S.Elm #4                                2019                                        2020

Decidious trees   1-2 years

Boxwoods 1-2 yrs

Conifers 3-5 yrs

Maple  1-3 yrs

Olive  1-3 yrs.

Winter storage 2019 - 2020

Winter storage 2019- 2020

Here is the plan:

Everything except the Arctic Willows I'm going to put in my raised beds surrounded by cedar mulch, or in my garden soil. I wrapped them up in burlap and then used twigs to pin the burlap down against the soil to hold it in place. Once the leaves drop, I'll use a diluted lime sulfur spray to help keep fungus at bay.

Photo taken October 2nd after our first freezing night.

And the rest of few days later.

Boise Bonsai show 2019

End of summer deals 3 conifers for 5 bucks.

 End of Summer 2019

3 Conifers =$5

I was right by the big box grocery store and I knew there would be some of theses small conifers I saw earlier in the spring. They were 70% off and it is the last weekend before school starts back up again, so I figured they would be a good chill project to take on. All are cold hardy to -40f. and were in 1/2 gallon containers and will be designed as small sized trees.

Here is an arborvitae that had a small section of dead wood and hints at a root spread.  When I was poking around the nursery I saw it would make a nice clump style tree.

I cut it back and wired it out with guy wires into the plastic pot edge. The largest trunk I cut back and did a Shari on the top. I wired a few branches, including the leader, which I curved up above the Shari section. No root work was done.

Juniper (Blue Rug) Tanuki

This tree was naturally bent over in a semi-cascade growing style.  I thinned out just a few small branches and cut straight into the root ball with scissors, kinda like butterflying a chicken breast. I tried to not mess with the roots too much, and kept most of the bark soil in place.  I put 3 screws into the trunk to attach it to a cool piece of drift wood I found on the shore of Redfish Lake.

The image above and below shoes the underside of the tree.

Below is the proposed front from a birds eye view. It is potted in a 50/50 blend of my bonsai soil and the bark it was planted in.  I sprinkled in beneficial mushroom spoors to aid in recover and growth.  I wired the downward growing tip to the drift wood

Juniper (New Blue Tam)

My approach was to shorten the branches and wire them into place. 

New bench

I made a second bench for my developing trees.  It is made out of redwood 2x4x10 boards and is 4 cinder blocks high, about the same height as my bonsai table.

I also moved the location to where the bonsai will get more hours of direct sunlight.  The old spot had two huge shade trees and was really getting only a few hours of direct light.  The new location will get afternoon light.  This location is right my the sidewalk and in the public eye, which I don't love but is ultimately the best location.  

March 2019

March 2020

End of March 2019

End of March 2019

Cotoneaster from a 2gallon can

The cuttings that I put in sphagnum moss in a cat litter bucket in the basement had rooted like crazy. 

I used the large boxwood stump (that I wish I didn't have) to make a Tanuki.  I threaded about ten cuttings between the holes in the stump roots. I used electrical tape inside out to hold them in place.  I placed it in a deep pot I tossed in some of the moss and tried to keep some attached to the roots from when I gently separated them.  I tied it in using jute twine.

I also planted two of the largest cuttings, about as thick as my pinkie each into old nusery cans.  I mixed in the soil from the cans with my bonsai blend, not wanting to use too much good soil.  

I did the same with three that I had arranged in a wide grow box.  I arranged them horizontally to see if I might develop a raft style.  

Lastly,  I untangled and arranged my irrigation system.  I tried to keep it as tidy as possible.