I will not give up. (yet)

As with a lot of things you can not buy experience and I have got at least one year old tree, the hawthorn and my stocks have been bolstered by rogue sapling in grow bags and a small oak from the edge of the lawn. So hopefully the survivor's of this winter will be given a generous helping of manure and a moderate water. This picture is from the middle of summer at the height of bloom before things started to deteriorate

Sycamore_2

Unfortunately my green fingers are not preforming as after surviving the winter the sycamore has perished. Not 100 percent sure why but I am going to use more fertiliser in the pots next year as there quite small.
starting to wounder if this one needs the top pruning to stop it becoming disproportionated. but it play the waiting game to see how it grows during the spring. in all a successful crop with all three ex-wild trees surviving through to spring which should be easy to keep now , just water and a weekly feed, through to winter. Whereas the bonsai from the garden center only lasted a couple of months tops. if anyone fancies a tree for keeps give me a shout ill hook you up.

Ash_2

As with the sycamore the ash is no longer alive. I blame over watering causing the nutrients to drain.
its taken a lot longer to come into leaf than the other two but know its showing life at last. it must be due to different species of tree growing in different cycles and i should be looking into the tree type rather than writing about it but i am on a mission to update this which i can edited down the line.

Hawthorne_2

Management did me a great favour and brought me some bonsai food which i feed to the trees, giving me the confidence to make my first cut. as there's not a lot of body to the Hawthorne Ive pruned the top branch to give the sideways branch's a boost. hopefully it will have the desired effect, even though there is a bud with leaves lower down already. i don't want to do too much pruning as its still only in its second year but if i wait too long ill leave to great a mark on the tree where its supposed to look as natural as possible. its nice too know they made the spring as they were outside in a very harsh winter.

Sycamore_1

Again no leaves after the winter but some promising green buds on both sections of trunk which is a encouraging sign. the growth of foreign none tree specimens is encourages by me , not by management, as i think it will help to limit the growth of the tree by taking some of its resource, as if in the wild. i will be trimming them back to look in proportion with the tree and because I'm itching to start cutting.

Ash_1

No leaves left! Thhe winter has reduced this back to a small trunk with a bud at the top. its had the same treatment, new soikl and a root trimmed. hopefully with some nice weathwer and some bonsai foods from the garden centre well see some branches.

Hawthorne_1

After the winter its lack of branches is a worry as i don't want a big tall tree, so I'm going to try and promote branch growth by cutting any more upwards growth. i have added some bonsai soil and trimmed the roots to keep them tightly packed, helped by my niece. Its already got a small spike on the trunk. there is a slight slant to the trunk which is a worry but i can sort that out next year when trimming the roots by making sure the trunk is upright when placing it.