Some Quick Bonsai and Kitten Updates

Bonsai Update

I’m Nigel Saunders and I made a video yesterday with my umbrella tree. I filmed a lot of updates, but the video was getting quite long, so I thought I’d show you the updates in a separate video today.

So I trimmed the top off the ficus bengalensis and it’s looking much better now. I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I cut off the branches here so you can see. I have four branches forming, which is pretty cool. I could remove the leaves, but I’m going to wait so the tree can get all the energy it needs.

The tree is getting a bit older and the bark is starting to change color. The leaves are also falling off more than they used to. The tree is still standing strong despite the changes though.

The aerial roots are growing out of the pot and down to the ground, where they are growing into the gravel.

I will have to bring this tree indoors for the winter, so I’ll have to remove all the leaves. The leaves are fused to the bench, so they all have to come off. But yeah, it’s a pretty big tree. The reason I left it so tall is that these are large leaves.

I think I need to grow my 50 challenge tree as a large bonsai, even though I don’t have room for a large tree. Here’s an update: it’s really leafing out nicely now. All these new shoots are still very small.

The tree is starting to fill out and look more like a tree again with a fuller canopy. It’s beginning to recover nicely and still looks good in the pot.

The moss is growing well. This is my update on my 50 challenge tree. I went to the Canadian National Exhibition yesterday and I picked up three musicians, which are pretty cool. So, I thought they could be playing music under a tree someday, practicing in the shade.

I thought it was pretty cool that my ficus microcarpa grew so vigorously after I repotted it this summer. You can see that there are lots of new roots growing from the tree across the surface of the soil to the edge of the pot.

Horticultural practice, or art form?

My tree is doing much better since I replanted it and it is growing very quickly now. I hope to have a very full and dense tree canopy soon. The other day, I found a mud man figurine in a thrift store.

I found a large fossil on the top shelf of the greenhouse. It appears to be holding a fishing pole, so I added a stick to its hand. Some line or pruners would complete the scene, as if it was going to prune some plants soon. I thought it was a pretty cool find.

Here, all the succulents are doing great. The short, stubby jade is there, the cork bark portulacaria aphras, the rat tail jade pencil cactus, and the mini one jade pas. This is a small leaf, one of the variegated ones, not the dark green one, but the light green one.

I have a new succulent that I got from somewhere, but I can’t remember where. It’s doing well on the top shelf with my other plants.

I am continuing to grow my lemon tree. All the new shoots that have come out are extending. My objective is to grow the tree larger so the leaves are more in proportion and to thicken up the trunk. I have the roots fairly well sorted out, they’re not perfect, but they’re not bad.

Now that they’re sorted out, I’m growing the tree larger. I put it in a bigger pot and this is the first time it’s grown since the repotting. You can see all the new shoots up top looking really good.

I’m glad to see the plant growing and will let it continue to grow until it is thicker and larger. I will then prune it again in a year. The sarissa keeps flowering.

This tree is called the tree of a thousand stars because when it is in bloom, it is covered in white flowers. I am trying to grow this tree, so I pick all the flowers off.

To prevent the plant from flowering, I pinch off the flowers every day. This requires removing about 30 blooms. The plant is very eager to flower, but I am working to stop it. It also needs a good pruning.

Unique & Healthy trees and tools

This person is saying that their plant has grown a lot and is very dense, so it needs to be pruned soon. They are not sure if they will enter any shows with it in the fall, but they may enter it into the Toronto show in the spring.

Looking great! My bullhorn acacia has been doing really well lately with lots of new growth and bullhorn spurs. It loves full sun and lots of water.

This person is happy to see that their pyracantha cuttings have rooted and are growing well.

I’ve had success with simply sticking pyrocantha cuttings into the soil, and they’ve grown well. In a recent video, I pruned the top off one of my elms, making it a short trunk. You can see how well it’s grown since then, with all these new shoots that have come in. Eventually, I think this will blend in quite nicely. I’ll shorten it once again and select my branches, hopefully even getting more branches.

I was successful in topping off my little elm tree and it’s now an interesting tree with lots of character. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on it.

“My nightshade vine is doing very well, as you can see by the amount of berries it has produced. The vine is still flowering and developing more berries, which is exciting. However, there are a few weak branches.”

I think this tree is looking kind of weak. The back one may have died off, so I don’t know how suitable these are to get like a massive ramified canopy. You can see it keeps trying to produce suckers from the base, but so far it’s got a trunk and some character.

This cotoneaster is looking good with its berries and flowers. I did a big prune of the roots, but it recovered and is doing well with lots of new growth. I’ll let it keep growing through the fall.

I’ll prune some of the branches back, letting the leaves fall off, and choosing which ones to keep, in hopes that the plant will be stronger next year. The natal ficus, which was repotted this summer, is doing well and starting to fill out nicely.

My crown of thorns plant is still flowering and it looks great. I’ve been pruning it once a year and it’s doing very well. It’s an unconventional bonsai, but I really like it.

My portulacaria afroforest is doing great, it’s really filling in this space. The one I scarred the trunk to look like an elephant? Tusks have damaged it, yeah it’s doing really well. Needs pruning again soon, getting quite a canopy on it.

A Little Love Goes a Long Way

I love my yucca forest and the way it looks. I especially love the fact that it is unique and that I can say I grew it myself.

This part of the tree is still alive, as you can see by the leaves. The rest of the tree is dead, as you can see by the brittle, dry wood.

So I just pulled it off with my hand, and this is what I have for the trunk now. It used to be a scar that looked something like this. You can see some of the other scars where they’re cut off here, but these ones have live tissue around them.

I don’t have any other good examples, so that’s really nice. It healed itself in this section, so it will just improve over time. It might even eventually close up. who knows, so I’m glad to get away from that.

It always looked a bit artificial cut on the angle here. So now that’s gone. So it looks a lot more natural, which is another step forward for the yucca forest. Repotting my norway maple here really invigorated the tree.

It’s been really gratifying to see how well this tree has grown this summer. It’s got a great root base and trunk, and I hope it will be a show tree someday.

Hello, I am out on the front porch giving you an update on all of the kittens. We have the mottled one. The one that is sort of orange and gray. Oh, they are purring. Hello. This is the male sort of black and white one. Uh, over here.

This person is surrounded by friendly gray and white cats. There is one male, one female, and one cat with stripes.

This is another black and white cat with stripes. This one is very friendly and likes to play with other cats. You can see it licking me in the face.

Hello, I have one on my shoulder. Oh, don’t fall off! There you go! That’s the great mail. Who else do we have here? Here’s the great female hello, she’s very nice too, the mama yeah.

The catnip is for them to play in, and the mother wants to go inside for some reason. They love playing with each other, but they’re getting close to the age where we’ll have to give them away.

Hi there! I’m going to miss you all when you go. It’s been great having you around, and I’m really going to miss playing with you all. You have such great stripes!

“Don’t show us your belly, yeah? See, yeah, that’s pretty cool. Yeah, you’re a wonderful cat. Ow! What are you doing? Yes, I can’t believe you’re chewing on my neck! Up here, which one is that? Let me see. Oh, it’s the male gray. Oh, we’re gonna miss you guys. We’re gonna miss all you rascals. And after that, the mama will get fixed. No more kittens for you. You’ve had enough already. What is going on here?”

The speaker is saying that all the kittens want attention, and they are taking it easy, just purring and attacking him. He is asking what they are doing, and saying that they are attacking his neck again.

It’s licking my neck. I have to go. Off you go! That was quite a jump. Hey mama, hello!

What, you don’t want me to go? Oh now, you’re purring! Oh my goodness, how can i leave now? They’re climbing up my legs, i was standing and they’ve been climbing up my legs now they’re on my shoulders.

These cats are like parrots in that they love to climb up and stay with humans. When they get tired, they get cranky and just want to sleep in people’s laps.

Cats are so cute, especially when they’re playing around. It’s so funny to see them running around and climbing on things. They’re just so full of energy and life.

These kittens are so adorable, I can’t bear to leave them! They are so fluffy and beautiful, I’m mesmerized. I don’t think I could ever leave now, they’ve made it impossible.

I can’t resist picking up cute kittens when I see them. I now have five cats in my lap and two in my face. They’re all so cute!

What are you doing? You’re trying to get as close to me as possible. Hi. How are you? Right? You look very good, very fluffy, very fluffy cat. I don’t know these ones are all looking at something. Oh, looking at the reflection of the cameraman on the wall and chasing it. You’re a cute one, yes you’re very cute, actually there’s one nibbling on my earlobe over here, yeah guys, oh yeah, oh yeah, hello, yeah! You can just chew on my chin! Yeah! That’s great! That’s just great. Just you know, feel free to come over here and play with me.

Right now, it’s the time of year when the older needles on Scots pines are starting to fall off. You can see that happening all over this pine – some of the needles are yellowing and dropping off. This particular pine is my 60th birthday present.

The person is saying that they can see the mushrooms on top of the soil, and they are letting them compost. They mention that in some areas there are a lot of older needles, and the mushrooms look a little yellowy. However, they can see that there are a lot of new buds forming.

The health of the tree is good and the person is looking forward to spring to see how big the candles on the shoots are. They also want to cut back some of the dead wood before winter to make the tree more compact.

So I’m hoping to get that done before winter comes. That’ll be in an upcoming video. I wanted to give you all a look at some updates of some of my trees. And that’s all for today.