uk bonsai
BONSAI BASICS  ADVANCED TECHNIQUES  SPECIES GUIDES  ARTICLES  BONSAI GALLERIES   HOME
 

Trees by Mike Konig
I live in Leicester in England and have started with Bonsai about 5 years ago.
Working as a catering manager, this hobby is the ideal antidote to the stresses of the job.
As with most newcomers to the hobby, I accumulated a lot of "potential" bonsai from all sorts of sources.  This has now reduced to about 15 trees that have serious potential to make nice bonsai (although they may never be masterpieces).

 

Acer palmatum Bonsai

The Arakawa Maple was grown from a cutting and is 5 years old.  I chopped the main trunk in spring last year and this is the first year in a pot after growing in a large box. It is about 25 cm high.

The Japanese Larch is my biggest bonsai and stands about 1.2 metres high.  I acquired this from a workshop with Harry Tomlinson at Greenwood Gardens in Nottingham in September 2000.

Japanese Larch Bonsai
Cotonester and Spiraea Bonsai
The Cotoneaster is one of my original "potensai".  i have been working on this for 5 years now. I found it growing on the tufa in our rockery and thought that it may some day make a decent tree. Up to now its nothing special, the branches grow to fat and the trunk just does not want to thicken.  it may have to go in to the ground for a few years.  It is about 15 cm high.  Just included it here for sentimental reason. 
 
The Spirea is my first attempt at a palm sized bonsai.  the variety is Spirea japonica 'Snowmound' and it stands about 10 cm high in the pot.  Lovely flowers in the spring!

 

These two chinese junipers are still in development and have both been started from Garden Centre plants (I got the two of them 4 years ago for a fiver for both).  the Literati is about 40 cm high and the informal upright about 25 cm.  The accent plant is black mondo grass in a pot which I made.

Chinese Juniper Bonsai

 

Copyright © 2004  Mike Konig. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without permission of Mike Konig prohibited.