Back On The Ledge...

And he's back (I've decided it's a "he") on his windowsill and we had a few days of nice heavy rain so the sun's been off him for a while... Leaves aren't yellowing as much but the soil is still damp! Hopefully will dry a bit more in the coming days, feel guilty for not watering him, but needs more time. The last thing I want is his roots to rot!

Again, the back side of the tree, turning him to even the growth out, I know it's a bit un-natural, but otherwise the front side wouldn't see any sun at all...

And with a flash for comparison... Very dull, dreary days...

And Now For The Trim...

Partway through the trim...

Want the branch on the bottom left to grow so limiting the trimming on that (this is the back view of the tree, though might have to change that in future, prefer the way the trunk looks from here).

And the end of yet another massacre... Didn't realise a tree could have so much foliage!

Much cleaner lines, though a bit sparse... this is the "front" view at the moment... Can see the trunk much better now without the mass of leaves and redundant thin growths...

From an eye-level angle...

And below - the severed limbs and digits with my hands to scale (have quite large hands, will need to do the coca-cola can comparison of the tree someday)...

The Tree Has Thrived...

Look how bushy it has gotten since the last trimming! Really thick foliage and long new growths...

As you can probably see in the pot and marginally in the pictures below there have been a fair few yellow leaves... After researching a bit and testing various scenarios the only real conclusions I could come to are:

a) The tree had a bit of shock from going from a dim garden-centre greenhouse to a windowsill that gets plenty of morning light.

b) The soil in which it is planted is not suited to it and I have been over-watering, even 5 days after last watering a stick in the soil still comes up a bit damp, not good.

The good thing is that it now seems used to the Sun, but I won't be replanting until next spring I don't think, unless the yellowing doesn't stop. Don't want to lose a summers growth unless I have to.

Will need to thin the foliage out a little bit as the leaves near the trunk appear to be yellowing through light-starvation (there are pockets of yellow in the deep shade).

Lets hope the three pronged approach works! Tomorrow I'll post post-trim pics - seems like this will be quite a big one!

Common Larch (Larix Decidua)

My last set of seeds, 2 months in the fridge for these guys, so in they go... beautiful autumn colours on these from what I can tell, but only time will show...

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus Libani)

No stratification or scarification required, they just go straight in the ground...

Only 5 seeds so if all come out might make a nice group planting, 4 a group of 3 and an upright (apparently the aesthetic properties of even numbered groups are limited). If 3 maybe just uprights and a multiple trunk, those are just amazing...

Mango Tree (Mangifera Indica)

I've recently seen some great pics of Mango Bonsai (as well as the wonderful tree below, any idea what the species is?), the leaves are fairly large so I guess the tree would have to be fairly large, but the root structure seems to have a huge amount of potential...

But the Mango trees...

 And...

What do you think of the roots?

Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis Obtusa)

This is one tree that appears to be much more impressive as a Bonsai than it does in the wild... Cold Stratification is recommended, but I'm avoiding it due to impatience and partial stupidity... Already planted these guys out.

Can grow fairly large and has beautiful leaf and bark texture...

Whilst in bonsai form it can be just stunning: