Month: May 2010

Yamadori is a Japanese word meaning “collecting plants in the mountain”, and unquestionably, one of the things that bonsai enthusiasts often get tempted to do but end up restraining himself/herself from doing due to law restrictions, as well as the awareness of the need to preserve our nature. For this reason, Teacher Wong and some senior members of the club – Institute of Lingnan Penjing, Hong Kong – have planted hundreds of trees years ago in the workshop for bonsai material in the future. And many thanks to them all, today many of these trees have grown into good bonsai materials for us to use in our bonsai.

Earlier in April, I have bought two trees in the bonsai workshop and with Yik’s help, transplanted the trees into my land. One of them is Fukien Tea (Carmona microphylla, 福建茶 in Chinese) and the other one is博楠 (I don’t know the botanical name or the common name of this tree but only the Chinese name).

Digging up my 博楠 (the tree that I don’t know its botanical name or common name)

LEFT: Here actually are two Fukien Tea growing closely together.  It was a bit tricky to dig up mine without disturbing the other one.

My trees after pruning the branches and roots – LEFT: 博楠; RIGHT: Fukien Tea

Although the shape of my bonsai material may not be very interesting when I first got it, I will make it into an interesting one! For example, I am intended to make the 博楠 (the tree closer to us) into a semi-cascade style, like a tree that grows over a riverside or a lake (maybe I will elaborate on this later in another post).

Okay, so this is not quite yamadori. Here, we don’t have tortured, bended trees hanging on the side of a mountain cliff. But we have a safe and suitable environment for us to dig up trees and ensure the greatest chance for the trees’ survival after the transplanting.

After reading my earlier post about my bonsai land, a friend, Irene, asked me why I covered up the soil with the black cloth again after all the plowing and pulverizing of the soil. I told her the black cloth is there to avoid weeds from growing. And here, with a few more photos, let me show you how the black cloth is used.

In a 10 ft x 10 ft space, I have planted five trees.  At the top left, there is a Ficus Microcarpa “Tiger Bark” (虎皮榕 in Chinese).  At the bottom left, there is a Eugenia uniflora. Linn., aka Surinam cherry, red Brazil cherry (紅果 in Chinese). In the center, I have a Murraya paniculata, aka Orange Jasmine (九里香 in Chinese).  At the top right, there is a Carmona microphylla aka Fukien Tea (福建茶 in Chinese).  And for the one at the bottom right, all I know is its Chinese name – 博楠 – but neither its botanical name nor common name…  I did a Google search, yet found no luck.  Does anyone know the botanical name or English common name of this tree?

And instead of planting the trees on the ground level, I have planted my trees a bit higher for easier viewing and pruning in the future.

In order to give the root systems of my bonsai trees as much space to grow and develop as possible, I have cut an opening on the black cloth underneath every one of my trees.  While some openings fit perfectly with the bendable plastic sheets that I use as container (like the one on the left), there are some that are cut too big.  To avoid weeds from growing, I covered up the exposed soil ground with some bricks.

LEFT: This is the tree that I have no idea of its botanical name, as well as its common name.  It is called 博楠 in Chinese;  RIGHT: Carmona microphylla aka Fukien Tea (福建茶 in Chinese)

LEFT: Murraya paniculata, aka Orange Jasmine (九里香 in Chinese);  RIGHT: Eugenia uniflora. Linn., aka Surinam cherry, red Brazil cherry (紅果 in Chinese)

Ficus Microcarpa “Tiger Bark” (虎皮榕 in Chinese)