I mentioned mounting a 20 foot tall ladder to prune a bonsai on
Martina's page, and failed to mention it was not the kind that is confined to a small container! This tree takes up half my front garden, is unfortunate enough to have to depend on me, and therefore has not been pruned for over three years! Originally, my grandfather shaped it into neat ovals, which are indistinguishable, now. Those branches shooting straight up? Not supposed to be there. Some are already over three centimeters in diameter, too large for my loppers. I have to use a hand saw to remove them.
For two days, I have been chipping away at the overgrowth with bypass hedge trimmers, loppers and the hand saw. The photo at left shows how far I got ... not very!
As I look at the photos, I want to try to preserve some of the randomness and airiness of the overgrown look. In a traditional garden, trees are shaped to represent the sky, and I want my clouds a bit less compact and controlled than my grandfather had them (sorry, grandpa!).
*huge eyes* *drooling* *staring at photos*
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting - trees representing the sky. What about bushes? I do not know anything about this. The garden as the world?
Sounds like you have had much work the last two days - sore muscles?
My garden is no longer traditional, but theoretically, everything represents something else. Depending on their structure, bushes can represent individual trees, or a whole forest. Rocks can represent islands, mountains, rivers, even animals. I am not sure of the exact rules, though I think there is flexibility in them!
ReplyDeleteI still have a long way to go on this one tree, and yes, my left shoulder is complaining.