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Inside this article, let me share some of my Spring photos of tiny trees and bonsai. Specifically, I spent some time pinching, pruning, and repotting various trees and plants. Below, I will share some before and after snapshots, and maybe a few time progression aftershots.

And of course, I can't resist but to share some of the Spring flowers popping up in the gardens.

Chinese Elm

This is actually after the Elm had already been repotted. The baby tree to the right, I have always replanted it together with the mother tree it came from. It actually broke off from that spot originally, and became a fantastic fanning side branch. So I keep them together, to merge them back into one symbolically and for design effect.

After pruning the roots and refilling the soil, I have the luxury now of keeping the trees inside a protected screened deck area, so no animals can dig it up. It can take a few months before a tree becomes stable enough that it can stand up strong in the soil without rocks or wires to hold it firmly in place.

Japanese Maple Forest

Yes, this is my sailing ship design, with the living trees as ship masts. The neighbor walking by while I was working on the roots said it looked like the pirate ship in Peter Pan. This is the first time the front deck piece has been able to fit in. Not cleanly, but at least it gives a more complete look. I have two other deck pieces. One with a door to the captain's cabin and another deck piece supporting the steering wheel.

A bit of wire here and there straightens out the side branches. It is completely opposite of normal design for bonsai, but it develop the red leaves to look more like the colorful sails I want.

A kaleidoscope of colors here in April. The violets booming along the paver path reminds me of the foamy ocean waves pushing up along the hull. Some of the background plants almost resemble tropical islands.

Douglas Fir

After repotting this evergreen conifer, it would not stand upright. The new soil was too loose. So I used some twine ane chopsticks and rigged up a tight structure around the pot and over the rocks to support the tree angle better. In a few weeks, I except lots fresh yellow green buds to form on the branch tips.

Sweet Violets

Honestly, I forgot what type of tree I labeled this as. It looks like either a cherry or more likely an apple root cutting I saved.

This ring of roots at the bottom were easy to cut off. I decided to leave the rest of the roots mostly in tact, to keep the juvenile tree full of vigor this close to the days when buds are opening.

This looked like a more natural planting angle to me. After a few years, maybe I will return the tree to a more slanted trunk angle, and call it a windswept design. To do that, I need to allow most if the new branches emerging right now to reach up in the same direction to the sun.

Here was the tree back in last November with the Autumn colors.

Mock Orange, various

Mock Orange is a super easy to grow deciduous tree. It ilso roots easily from cuttings. These trees can handle heavy pruning well to encourage new growth. Pinching long gree shoots back helps keep branches from being too pencil straight, and encourage dividing branches. A little bit of maintenance really opens up the tree interior to the sunlight.

This one has a nice thick base branching into a split trunk. Lots of sucker shoots were forming at the base, so I dealt with them.

Looks can be deceiving. After removing suckers and lengthy stems, you can actually see the tree form and where the branches are attached. This tree will probably get chopped much further down the trunk, once I am happy that the lower branches have grown stronger. Previously it is focused on the topmost leaves and branches, so it causes the long trunk to swell evenly.

Bleeding Heart

Apple Forest

Anyone thinking of growing apple trees in a pot, I highly recommend growing them in a basket of any kind instead. Look at how well they grow when the drainage is right. The basket method prevents blanketing the roots in permanently soggy soil during Fall, Winter, and Spring, and also forces taproots to branch and spread into dozens of smaller feeder roots. A basket prevents the roots from binding up around a drainage holes and killing the tree for the first few critical years. These are all rooted suckers I planted together. On this hot Spring day they were extending fast, and looking a bit parched, so I pinched and watered them. They perked right back up.

Apple Blossoms

Iris

Conclusion

Wow! What a sensory overload of colors at the end. Can also smell the fresh foliage and nectar. Thank you for taking this garden tour with me. I promise to share some more in the future when the weather is bright and right. * * *

Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.

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@creativetruth

Various Trees in Spring and Blossoms [Bonsai]