AusBonsai

Gday folks!

Yesterday was the coldest, most miserable day in a very long time: the mercury managed to sneak all the way up to 8C out here in the foothills. The bleakness of the day was compounded by the fact that I am broke and somewhat housebound due to a 'lateral tibial plateau fracture' I sustained at work about 6 weeks ago. I should be enjoying the time off and blowing my holiday pay on new Bonsai acquisitions, but I'm left in limbo as I eagerly await reimbursement for my medical expenses and compensation for my injury.

So, what is a broke and injured Bonsai enthusiast to do with his time off?

I could spend all my time drinking coffee and playing Words With Friends on my "smart" phone, and generally getting flabby and depressed, or I could grab a shovel and dig up the clump of Japanese Quince in the driveway (you know the one that the neighbour is constantly ring-barking with his whipper snipper? )... Well, yesterday - as the temperature reached its peak - I decided on the latter course of action.

Here are the pics of it as it came out of the ground:
As I dug, I broke off a handful (7-8?) of old, dead canes, and the 'clump' seemed as though it would likely break into a number of smaller plants. I removed as much soil as I could, then set the whole mess into a tub of water with Seasol, and left it overnight. Today, I hope to get in and see what's happening in there. I don't expect any instant masterpieces from this one, but you never know...

[EDIT] As a reference, the spot where the timber finishes and the fibro starts on the wall is about 500mm from the deck. [/EDIT]

Updates to follow...

Thanks.

Fly.

Good to hear you are keeping active in the cold. I nearly froze here in Melbourne so I can't imagine how it felt up there.

I did a similer thing last year with a flowering plum that has since been separated into two nice sized trees with single trunks. As with yours its not going to be an instant masterpiece.

Nothing better than a bit of digging to lift the spirits are you planning to keep as a clump or divide it up?

daniel.

G'day Fly, what colour is it ? Yes yesterday was very glum, I spent the day splitting fire wood, not too much action in the nursery in this weather.
Craigw

G'day Mr. Fly,

I'm glad you decided to dig this up because reading a post about you getting 'flabby and depressed' would be pretty boring!

I'm looking forward to installment 2.

Regards,
Steven

Gday Nick, Daniel & Craig!

I've had a bit of a poke around, and already the clump has shed 2 smaller 'trunks' with roots - seems as though the centre of the clump had rotted out some time ago. (When I dug it, there was a large section of soil which was dry, powdery and full of decomposing organic material, despite the wet year we've had.) Once I attack the larger roots, I should get some idea of how well the clump will hold together. As for now, it's about 1° warmer than at the same time yesterday, and I'm not really keen to get my hands back into that cold mud...

The flowers on this one are dark pink from memory - white or deep red would have been preferable, but beggars can't be choosers.

Thanks folks!

Fly.

PS: Gday Mr Steven! Just got your post - I might continue my "flabby & depressed" story on the Open Table. What do you think? I hope you're doing well!

DIGGING? WITH A BROKEN KNEE? AT 8C? QUE????

(Nice tree...)

Gavin

Gday folks!

I spent most of yesterday sorting out the Quince, and now only time will tell if it was worth the effort...

First up are the two 'trunks' that fell out of the clump early in the piece. Both had plenty of fine roots, but were severely one-sided, so I screwed them together:
Next are the two major clumps that I wrenched apart after removing the bulk of the major root below:
Here's a neat little root cutting (the pic doesn't show it, but it's quite twisty with a strip of deadwood that runs the entire length):
Finally, here are the results of my day's work. Back row, left to right: two large clumps and a tray of (hopeful) root cuttings. Front row, left to right: a thick root cutting, the aforementioned screwed trunks, and the twisty deadwood root cutting.


Thanks!

Fly.

PS: Gavin - the break is quite minor, and I tend to favour the other leg when doing any kind of shovel work. Thanks for your concern!

Ah yes, the slightly broken leg...

Gavin

Nice work Fly