We have updated photos of our Japanese Maple Garden. The photos are organized into a four season garden tour. I hope you enjoy: Four season garden, The Japanese Maple Garden Here is a link to the photos used in our Dwarf Conifers presentation for the Master Gardner's of Ohio. It is a condensed group of photos with names of conifers: japanesemaplegarden’s albums | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Both include a progression of the garden from the photos when we bought our home to the present design.
Absolutely stunning and a great source of inspiration. I have always liked your use of bonsai as another way of getting more from your maples, something I'd like to try.
Thank you for your positive feedback! I think you will find bonsai very fulfilling and therapeutic. I would recommend 'Sharp's Pygmy' as your first bonsai. Get a pot that is deeper to increase your margin for error as an insurance policy against drying out and removing too much of the root mass. Consider a pot that is at least 3.5" deep and 12-14" x 8-10". Try to find a tree grown by Iseli Nursery in a 3 gallon pot. They always have a nice graft and a trunk thicker than your thumb. Also their tree is always well grown and very healthy with very healthy roots. Their potting mix is very free draining so the tree makes a smooth transition to bonsai soil. When you remove the tree from the pot be sure to remove all excess soil from the surface to bring out the root flare. Then rake out the root ball working the bottom and sides removing all long and leggy roots. Decrease the root mass back to the fine feeder roots. The fine feeder roots are the most valuable roots to keep in bonsai as they take up water and feed the tree, where the thicker long leggy roots anchor the tree in the ground but are removed for bonsai because the tree is anchored to the pot using wire. Here was my first bonsai that I did 5 years ago with no experience, just doing what I said above as I understood how trees grow in the landscape and I applied that knowledge to growing them as bonsai. Now I have over 70 different bonsai that I created from 3 to 5 gallon nursery grown evergreens and deciduous trees. Acer palmatum 'Sharp's Pygmy' Bonsai
Thank you so much for the comprehensive tips. I am in the UK but have a local source of decent grafted naturally grown maples. Any tips with the bonsai potting mix you use? I remember seeing pictures you posted showing how you display your collection which looked like a great way to add something different to the garden.
Thank you Emery, I was curious to know what you might think of our garden. It makes my day to hear that you think its amazing & quite a journey! My design in the back along the path was intended to feel like a journey into another world of beauty and peace / serenity.
For your first one, consider buying a retail bonsai soil mix. If it's from a good source, then it should be blended with components available in the UK and a blend that is perfect for your environment. Then dissect the blend, source the components locally, and start making your own. My blend consist of pine bark fines, pine bark mini nuggets, haydite, sharp silica stone the size of a match stick head, and a little bit of composted peat. Peter Adams book bonsai with Japanese Maples discusses soil mix and components for the UK. Everyone thinks drainage, but a less obvious thing to consider is root growth and the kind of root growth that is desired, and how to achieve it. My theory is that the roots must be met with resistance when they grow and must be divided into a complex system of feeder roots. The haydite and mostly the sharp silica stone help achieve this result as the root grows it hits the stone and divides repeatably creating a complex network of healthy feeder roots. The opposite would be a soil mix of only peat with no resistance and very little root division. The roots would be long and leggy as they run circles around the pot, compromising the health of the tree. As with anything, I warn that too much of a good thing is bad too, for example, if your soil was mainly haydite and sharp silica it would drain too quickly, dry out too fast, and lack organic matter creating an environment that would cause a Japanese maple to decline and eventually die.
For those who love fall or those who could not make it through the long four season photo tour to see the fall pics; I have a link to our new Fall photo tour: Fall Garden
What à marvelous collection ! But that is not enough, there is also your art to make live the things together. Thus you know how to make exceptional your ordinary.
Thank you for the advice. I can't wait to get started. I installed a drip watering system in the garden last year for the plants I have in containers which are mainly Japanese Maples. We have a new lawn amp path laid and I took the opportunity to bury the deeded pipes. I am sure this will help with the bonsai.
It is other-wordly in the best of senses, I think it is both transporting and transcends the confines of its space, not easy to do given the surface area. A labor of love, and it shows! Hoping you and your wife are well, John. All the best, -E
Yes, i imagine the lot of care and the attention witch is necessary to organise and maintain such a jewelry of garden ! You tell well better than i do, "transcends the confines of it's space". Thanks John for your kind attention. We are well. I wish to visit the "Vastrérival", probably in may. If you are at home i would take pleasure in meeting you and seeing your arboretum. I will warn you some weeks before. pierre
@opusoculi Pierre, I'd enjoy meeting you in May: we are not too far off the route to Vasterival if you are coming up the A28 from Le Mans we are not too far from where the A88 splits off. I'm sure we can arrange to meet. I know you won't mistake my garden for John's (JT1) they are very different birds indeed! -Emery
