My Bonsai

My bonsai won't win any awards; I doubt it will ever make it into any sort of bonsai show. I am not sure it would be classifies as a real bonsai!

But maybe it is. I have treated it as a bonsai, sort-of. I think I will call it the lazy gardener bonsai. 

The plant in question is a Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Blue Boulevard.' This is a pyramidal semi-dwarf evergreen shrub that features soft, silvery blue-gray foliage. It is slow growing, and planted in the ground it will eventually reach a mature size of 12-15’ tall. It is easily kept smaller with minimal pruning. When young it has dense growth, but as it matures it has a habit of loosing many of its interior needles, a tendency that turns a lot of gardeners away, but which can give it character perfect for a bonsai treatment. 

I planted my Blue Boulevard in a shallow pot about five years ago with plans to maintain it as a bonsai. The thick, frost-proof pot has a good drainage hole. Each spring I take the plant out and prune the roots so that they fit easily into the pot without crowding. I refresh the soil at this time. One can buy special soil for bonsai, but a good rich mix that will retain moisture but not allow the roots to get too wet is fine. I put some large pebbles in the bottom of my pot and mix some pine bark with the soil to insure good drainage. 

It is important to keep the shallow pot watered but not over-watered. I stick my finger down into the soil on a regular basis when I am making my rounds of the garden. If it feels dry, I water it well. I apply fish emulsion fertilizer two or three times during the growing season. The plant stays outside year-round and is remarkably low-maintenance.

But artistically I have failed. Most bonsai enthusiasts spend a lot of time training and pruning their little trees to mimic larger trees.I have allowed my Blue Boulevard to do its own thing with only occasional pruning and certainly no wiring of branches to shape. I realize I should do better. In fact, looking at the photo I took for this post, I see branches that need pruning, others that could use a bit of wiring to pull them into a more pleasing shape. 

I have been negligent, but next spring I am going to start a new regimen! Bonsai can be a fabulous hobby, and there are on-line instructions and books for those who want guidelines for creating truly wonderful specimens. One can choose a real tree such as an oak or maple, or one can choose a shrub such as an azalea or a juniper, whose thicker trunks can give the illusion of age while still young.  

But one does not have to get caught up in rules and regulations, unless one wants to. The main thing is to have fun with it, and put your specimen where you can enjoy it. Remember outdoor trees should stay outdoors, though you may have to protect them from freezing in winter. Indoor specimens should stay inside. 

Time to Get Moving!

The air feels fresh. Fresh, not stale, moldy, not hot or stifling. It is a gift sent by tropical storm Lee, still a few hundred miles away but headed our direction. Gentle soaking rains, so badly needed after a dry August, have fallen all day, and we should get heavier rain and even cooler temperatures over the next several days.

September has arrived, and some of the plants have golden tints which glow in the afternoon light. A few days ago I took the following photos of the front garden. The second one is a good overview, showing how the front garden wraps around the lawn. I probably feature this view too often on this blog, but I never tire of the changing moods as foliage and and flowers transform through the seasons.

More moderate temperatures means it is time to get back into the garden. Every year I take a critical look to decide what plants need to be moved. Some of my plants have been moved multiple times before finding the right spot. I once dug up a seven foot tall crepe myrtle and transplanted it, for the third time. 

Fall is the best season to plant new perennials, shrubs and trees and to transplant existing ones in my garden. Our ground doesn't freeze in the winter, so plants have months to establish their root systems before the growth spurt of spring and the heat of next summer puts stress on them. This year the list of transplants is long, and I am looking forward to starting. In fact, I started this weekend by dividing and moving some purple salvia plants in the front garden. It's a little early, but I figured the rain would help it settle in nicely. 

I was inspired to move the salvia because I had to make room for a new bench in front of the parking court. It's a small bench made of twisted iron and a slab of flagstone, just large enough to hold a heavy, frost proof pot. After a difficult summer, this area was looking stressed, so I wanted to do something to enliven the spot. I planted a 'Blue Boulevard' Chamaecyperis in the pot and surrounded it with creeping jenny, stonecrop, and some sheet moss. The Blue Boulevard is a small tree, and I am planning to root prune it every spring to make it into a sort of bonsai. A stone rabbit completes the composition. The rabbit is also a new purchase. The Kingdom of the Three Rabbits now has four!

A small assortment of flowers are blooming in my garden at the beginning of September, but as temperatures cool, roses and other flowers should find new life and put on a show until frost arrives. Meanwhile, a few decorative elements add some color to the garden.

A metal hummingbird flies amidst annual purple fountain grass:

Another metal stake, this one with a ladybug, is surrounded by garlic chives. Below the top picture are a few shots of some other spots of color in the garden:Clockwise from middle left: Garlic chives; The Zephirine Drouhin rose beside the front arch almost disappeared during the summer but is now making a comeback; Japanese maple seed pod; The berries of dogwood 'Cherokee Chief' are beginning to turn red.

A birdhouse stands out against a background of cosmos, zinnias, and other naturalized flowers in an area I am calling the wild garden:Above left: A bee doesn't mind the tattered state of a cosmos flower. Right: Cigar plant, Cuphea ignea, is an annual with interesting orange flowers.

I know that we are not finished with hot, humid weather, but these few days are a nice respite and a promise that fall is coming. Time to get moving!