Yamadori blackthorn (Prunus Spinosa)

[@johnarrowsmith225]

My first ever air layer was a blackthorn,, it took very quickly without any special treatment.

[@julycottage]

Hi Tony, I picked some unknown seeds in New York over 10 years ago and grew them in pots. Since I didn’t know much about bonsai, I just allowed them to grow tall and thin in the pots with no lower branches. After watching one of your videos, I did severe trunk chops on a few of them, and they have indeed sprouted lovely branches 😊 I didn’t know that they were actually sweet gum trees until I watched your video 😅Thank you so much 😊 They have these gorgeous red leaves in the autumn!

[@TonysBonsai]

Wow, thank you for that information Elmer. I have been wondering it I can trunk chop a sweet gum, and that sounds very promising. Sounds like you've got some nice potential bonsai now!

[@julycottage]

@@TonysBonsai Definitely! These trees are beautiful 😍

[@paulpowell8207]

I cut my azalea hard a few days before your video and was pleased to see exactly the same result yesterday

[@TonysBonsai]

Excellent Paul. It's a great feeling when you hack a tree back and it buds everywhere!

[@aronwalsh9680]

Another tidy little video there Tony 👍

[@TonysBonsai]

Thanks Aron. Glad you enjoyed it mate!

[@mattbrennan647]

Those liquid ambers are beautiful trees. The fall colors are amazing. I actually have a mature one in my yard here in Connecticut. I’m currently attempting an air layer on it so I’ll let you know if I have success. Good luck with those enjoyable updates. Thanks keep growing

[@TonysBonsai]

Thanks Matt. That would be great! Mine will be a while before I attempt it anyway. I bet a full-size tree looks amazing in autumn.

[@julycottage]

Hey Matt, I picked some seeds from NYC over 10 years ago and I now have two 6 footers in big pots adorning my front door entrance. I agree that their red rich autumn colour is stunning!

[@joegarland4885]

Morning Tony the Blackthorn could turn into a nice tree in the future, I am all for cutting it back as you are thinking, through winter I wired my very large Blackthorn and carved the large chop, the branches can easily be snapped when set and of course mind the thorns I tend to snip them off before working the tree, it rewarded me with a great flower show in the spring and is now needing a prune back to shape. All the best mate stay healthy.

[@TonysBonsai]

Sounds like you've got a very nice tree there Joe. I've yet to venture into the world of carving, but I'm looking forward to it!

[@joegarland4885]

@@TonysBonsai Hi Tony it is a great tree about 30” from top of the pot, been pruning it today will need to rewire some branches, it is the first time I have carved a tree, got my son to buy me some basic carving tools for Christmas as some of the specialist tools are expensive and I didn’t want him getting those, it turned out ok not up to prof standards but much better than a three inch chop. Nearly all my trees are near finished trees I am too old to start from scratch now. I have been there and done that on and off for 35 years, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy your videos I admire what you are doing and takes me back to the 1980s when I got into bonsai with mainly garden centre cast offs and the odd wild tree. In the 1990s I had to stop and sell most of my trees due to serious health problems that left me disabled and unable to manage them, started back In 2000 but buying trees that I could work on easily with the help of my son who I now live with in Nottingham after my wife died as I mentioned before. You carry on making them and I will carry on watching them and comment from time to time. I am a northern lad brought up in Liverpool until I got married nearly 60 years ago. All the best Tony sorry about the length of this diatribe.

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

Thicker gauge wire is also a bit kinder on thinner branches and less likely to cut in. 👍 I also recently bought a liquid Amber from RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate - tree was about 4ft tall. The other half is horrified when I get tall trees and cut off the top 60-70% (I now do it just to see the reaction) and I thought about doing an air layer. In the end my impatience and low success rate with air layers got the better of me. The 4ft tree is now 1ft tall and in training 😊

[@TonysBonsai]

Thanks Jason, so after the chop it sprouted and grew on nicely did it?

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

@@TonysBonsai ask me again in a couple of months as it was Bly a couple of weeks ago 😁 There were some branches/leaves sprouting much lower down for me to make use of, so it wasn’t just a blank trunk.

[@TonysBonsai]

Ah right. Keep me posted on its progress please although it's not urgent as I doubt I'll not be chopping this year.

[@guywatson-bognorregisbonsa7370]

Hi Tony. My Spruce are behaving in a strange way this year also. The older more mature trees are pretty well leafed out by now but the smaller ones, like yours, don't appear to have taken off yet. However, I think that there are signs of budding down the dead looking branches so I'm waiting with fingers crossed for the next couple of months to produce something. Please keep us informed how yours does this year. 👍👍

[@TonysBonsai]

Hi Guy. Yes, of all the species of tree I find spruce to be one of the hardest to look after. I'll keep you updated on how mine are doing, and I have my fingers crossed that yours pull through!

[@Happy_Buddah_Bonsai_UK]

Very cool 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@thenaturecreater8906]

Wierd dosent see hawthorn and this species in norway. But where did you buy this hybrid cutters mate?

[@TonysBonsai]

Perhaps they don't cope well with very cold winters? Otherwise I'm sure that you would have them. I bought my cutters off Amazon. www.amazon.co.uk/Round-Edge-Cutter-Stainless-Multifunction/dp/B075L21JC7/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1JB1E7IBOZ5P1&keywords=hybrid+bonsai+cutters&qid=1656106977&sprefix=hybrid+bonsai+cutters%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-6

[@MikeSmith-yf8dz]

Hi Tony. I've got a blackthorn (I think) that I've been growing for a couple of years. Collected it as a tiny seedling. Grew quickly at first but seems to have stalled this year. Interested in your points about the difficulties you've had in keeping them going....any learnings or theories?

[@MikeSmith-yf8dz]

Actually, looking at your video again, I don't think mine is a blackthorn. Mine is maybe a wild cherry....plant ID apps not too reliable 🙂

[@TonysBonsai]

yeah, blackthorn and cherry are in the same family, so I would imagine they can be treated in a similar way. regarding the issues i've had, I think they have been to do with the shock of extraction from the ground. They don;t seem to handle it in the same way as a hawthorn, so in future I am going to have to be a lot more careful collecting a lot more root mass. I have a few bare root stock blackthorns probably similar to yours, and they seem to be growing fairly well in my normal soil mix just left to do their own thing.

[@potreliefbonsaibatu5035]

👍💚Cutting✂gradually

[@TonysBonsai]

Thank you 🙂

[@thegreenmanalishiyamadori371]

RIP Tony my friend and mentor...so sad you passed away,we will meet again my friend😪😪😪