Alex Serban - gardening and bonsai

  A month and ten days of dormancy for my bonsai forest. I'm very worried about the news spread nowadays and thinking of my personal safety and goods - in any case of a disaster 80% of what matters is life, but...every time I leave home for long is quite difficult because I must leave the trees behind, not because somebody said to me I can't, but logistically I can't - lack of transportation.      Fig.1.My forest as of mid February 2023        Just imagine taking that potted trees on all my travels - it'll literally kill any chance of survival of it. I'm always thinking of how it will (might) react to the countryside air and direct sunlight, noting that these trees were stored mostly in the balcony and damages could occur with this major change of environment. Also, taking that on foreign transport can withdraw attention, I don't want everyone get concerned about my forest in an unwanted way. I remember once I had had a long walk in a ...

   It's mid to late winter. The days before were soooo cold (-14°C) and now weather seemed to warm a little bit.    Recently I spotted the local gardeners trimming the trees outside, so I decided it's the right time for it. Furthermore, the forest will stay dormant for next month and a half, but now I can rest a bit knowing the chosen branches will develop in the desired direction, but respecting the Negundo's integrity.      Fig.1.During pruning     Fig.2.Final and remnants of the pruning      The pruning didn't take long. It was only few branches that grew up in a way that scratched my eyes and it was too late to correct it last year. I appreciate a lot Acer Negundo as a tree, even though it isn't suitable for bonsai at all - especially the specific procedure to keep trees as little as possible which mainly fascinated me long time ago.    What was left after pruning were just few long branche...