Silverbirch's first bonsai exam

A 4inch seedling in 2008, harvested from between the pavement tiles at our front door, to the bonsai it almost is, in June 2017. It had its first ever bonsai 'exam' at the club meeting on 17 June 2017.
It got a lot of + and ++. Some things need proper attention (inclination, further maturing the top, and offcourse a proper pot...which is in the making, by my previous teacher ceramics).

Unfortunately I do not have a good picture from the club meeting of 17 june, so this is a picture of the tree in early april.

Malus in flower

This was a picture from april this year I did not post earlier.
After bloom, the flowers were removerd. The tree is still prebonsai, with years of building up and thickening branches ahead

Alder updates june 2017

In the common Alder series... a few pictures from May and June. Most have been pruned by now.
Don't mind leaf size, the trees are obviously all prebonsai, still several years work ahead in building them up. All Alnus Glutinosa.

Common Hazel - update June 29, 2017

Freshly cut, ready for summer.
Still many years of building up ahead.

European Hornbeam - update 29 june 2017

Another update, from today June 29th 2017.
European Hornbeam. It says 'give me another 5 years, then I'll be 30yo'.
Step by step, executing the 'veteren tree bonsai' look for this tree.
Harvested from a hedge, in 2012.

A few pictures of old, gnarly, veteren (european) hornbeam trees. Hornbeams were frequently planted (and pollarded) at the edges of meadows or farmland as indicator, alongside hollow roads, forest edges, and offcourse in rural hedges where pruning was not always frequent and where some ended up looking like old pollarded trees.

Hornbeam - update may 4th 2017

Just an update, a picture
After some late frost a good week ago, it has restarted its spring.

Somewhere end of May I'll check for pruning and wiring.

Downy Birch - prebonsai²

most likely Downy Birch (betula pubescens), or a natural hybrid between Silver Birch (betula pendula) and Downy Birch.

Harvested in from between the tiles alongside the border of a pavement and a building plot, in 2012.
It did not really recover good in the next 2 years, but suddenly it regained vigour. Second year in trainingpot now.

I've cut a top brach (sacrifice branch) and bent the remaining bracht into a new top last week.
Two days ago I carved the old trunk chop cut a bit. Just roughly, and then I put some perforated microwave plastic around the wound, to prevent it from drying out too fast. It will stay on 1 or 2 months, this will also help faster callousing.

Obviously, this is a prebonsai² (pre pre bonsai)