Awaiting winter

With the very mild autumn and still no arrival of winter i am unsure which trees are still fighting and which are past the point of no return. There was at least one I've topped up with soil as its got buds which are prominent compare to others which still have very green leaves so it will be interesting to see what sort of crop appearing the spring

Birch

One of the grow bag trees with the most promising growth, as it was quite large before i re potted it i will try to keep its size to a minimum in the spring but for now its getting it through the winter which is the main objective.

Oak

This is the oak from the verge of the garden I saved from the mower. I had a small oak before as my first bonsai which didn't survive. I potted it in early autumn which isn't ideal but fingers crossed with lots of manure and sunshine it will grow small and strong. I had to clear out the gutters which had lots of moss in and I've put in on the top of the soil to hold in moisture and prevent weeds and grass.

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.