Embraced (7/18/2024)

In the more recent posts, I have mentioned that we had a contractor install a fence around our backyard. It was finished a little more than a month ago and we are really enjoying it. I have always been somewhat against fencing the backyard; however, now I am a convert. Our dogs Jasper and Radar enjoy the freedom of being able to roam our albeit small back yard chasing squirrels, howling at the trees that the squirrels escape into, as any good treeing coonhound should, and at deer outside the fence. Radar dapperly joins in, although he does not howl. In addition, the dogs have rip-roaring wrestle matches. I think at least three or four per day.

Since part of the backyard is in the shade we had a lovely cover of moss instead of grass. Well, that was completely torn up and destroyed by our canines and their wrestling matches. Oh well, as they say; we all enjoy a good fight. Us watching it and the dogs performing it.

We built an additional fence with sticks that fell out of all the trees in our backyard. It serves somewhat as a divider in the yard and a place for birds to hide and hang out. We planted pollinator plants along a path that I put in along the stick fence in the hope that one day it might resemble something like an English cottage garden. The area is being overtaken by a gourd of some kind. It was in our compost and based on our dietary habit, I expect that it will be acorn squash. Our green tunnel is being colonized by tomatoes and green beans. We have been eating grape tomatoes and snacking on the miscellaneous green been. It is an experiment that we will repeat next year.

I have noticed that we spend a lot more time in our backyard, now that we have a fence. The major reason is that the dogs can be with us. Jasper the hound is a runner and hunter. Radar cannot be completely trusted, and we were afraid that would attack people and other dogs that wander by. Before the fence we would either put them on a running leash or leave them inside when we went out. Inside, they would be barking to let us know that they wanted to join us. Outside on the long leash they would constantly wrap themselves around our seats, shrubs or trees. Now they are free to roam and wrestle.

The other night I had decided to go outside to urinate and was struck by an epiphany. Like every other full-blooded man, there is nothing better than pee against a tree and ruminate at the same time. Yes, I announced recently that we had a powder room again and my forays into the backyard to micturate were over. However, I still enjoy going wee-wee in the natural environs. One evening while taking a leak against a tree I had a flying squirrel scamper down the tree to see what all the rustling noise was all about or maybe it was protesting my use of its tree as a urinal. We met eye-to-eye and after further inspection the squirrel climbed back up the oak.

Back to the subject at hand, the epiphany. So, what was that realization that I had? Sitting on the concrete garden bench in the dark in front of our Buddha statue, for the first time I felt like the garden was embracing me. While I could not even see the statue in the dark, I felt one with nature, the world, with the yard and everything in it. I suddenly realized that without a fence our backyard had no limits; there was no cohesion to it all. Somehow that night, the fence gave me a feeling of a hug, of keeping me in her bosom and not letting my mind and spirit wander all over the place.

Now you all know that I am a strong believer in and practitioner of “Forest Bathing.” I have given a sermon on the practice and written 54 posts on the subject. I love wandering in the woods behind our home and absorbing nature. In other words, this feeling of being embraced by the fence came as a surprise and I have not been able to shake it. Three of four times per day I enjoy walking a circle through the yard, inspecting things; pulling a weed or just sit on a bench or a chair to take it all in, fantasizing bout what to do next in the yard or just meditating. It is an amazing feeling and I guess it is still forest bathing since the yard has many trees and we still border the woods. I am enjoying it; let’s hope those feeling does not go away.

Our volunteer gourds

Night in the yard, it was at that time I had the feeling of being embraced!

Black-eyed suzan and the stick fence on the left.

Bonsai update (7/8/2024)

I realize that I have been teasing a lot of you about my hobby of growing bonsai trees; at least that is what I try to do. Most of my trees are in the pre-bonsai stage, but that is the fun of it. Recently, I had to move things around a bit because of the fence we put in, I briefly mentioned it <here>. In this post I want to discuss my hobby a little more by answering some basic questions.

How long have you been doing this?

I fell in love with bonsai the first time I saw them. This was in Longwood Gardens (PA) in 1977. I was fascinated by them ever since; however, because of our travel I was unable to pursue the hobby. A few years later we visited the National Arboretum in Washington DC where I saw some more examples of the art of miniaturizing trees. Finally, in the late 1980s when studying in New Mexico could I start playing with them. Our friend and colleague Daniel owned a plant nursery and at one time he gave me at least 7 seedings for me to work on. Later I bought another tree, and when we moved to the Four Corners region, I took a class by John Naka and purchased two more trees for his course. So, you could say that I have been doing something with bonsai for 36 years or so.

That long! Do you have any of your starter trees?

All seven trees that I got from Daniel are still alive. This includes three Siberian elms, three New Mexico privets (aka NM olive) and a Japanese black pine. The hackberry that I bought died some 20 years ago. I did not do much with the trees for a period of 10 years (1994 to 2004) they were terribly pot bound and barely hanging on. The two Naka trees also survived. One of them (an azalea) died two years ago.

What are some of your strangest or more interesting trees?

It seems that a lot of people who are into bonsai concentrate on one type: junipers, pines, maples, or deciduous trees. I never had that luxury and tried the techniques on anything I could get my hands on. The craziest tree that I have is a mimosa. It is what is called a yamadori or a plant collected in the wild. I collected in my yard, so technically they call it a gardendori. I had cut the darn mimosa and it kept growing back. Eventually I had enough of it, and I stuck a shovel into the soil and yanked out a foot and a half (40 cm) of root. Thinking what the heck, I stuck it in a pot with soil and that spring it started growing. The root was too long, so I planted it sideways in a pot and it is thriving (five or six years later).

The general answer to the question would be that I like them all. As any proud parent should, I have no particular favorites. I have over 100 trees in various stages of development, and I need to slow down and reduce the numbers a little. It is a lot of work, and I am sure that this is why none of my trees are show worthy. I once heard that having 25 trees or so is a comfortable number.

Do you have any mentors of people who you learn from?

I have always felt terribly inadequate in my bonsai knowledge. I have a lot of books and I used to prescribe to the magazine. Again, I really did not know what I was doing, even after an afternoon of Naka. It really was YouTube where I eventually gained the confidence to experiment and have some fun with my trees. I became a member of our local club three years ago and I became a member of Mirai, a training school. This finally gave me some more design prowess.

I have a few favorites on YouTube. These include Mirai, the Bonsai Zone by Nigel, Dave’s Bonsai, Bonsai Heirloom, Bonsaify, and Growing Bonsai by Jelle. I watch others as well, but these are my go-to at the moment. I think I now feel much more comfortable growing bonsai, shaping them and even advising on the craft, thanks to these channels.

If you have more questions for me about bonsai feel free to contact me and I will address them somehow. Also look in the label section on the right side of my post. With this post it seems I have 64 posts with the keyword bonsai, or posts where I at least mention the art of bonsai. Good luck browsing through them.

Photos from the top to bottom.  My crazy mimosa, the back of my table, the new layout, the cherry and privet, one of the benches in a new location.