FredL

Adam, I promise to send in a picture or two. Gosh, by this time I should have sent in alot of pictures, especially of some of my trees that really are at a stage where they should be getting initial styling - and Heavens knows, I could sure use some help with that! The thing is, at the point I finally got out of Computer Systems Development, I found myself "technology aversive". I think I burned out certain critical neurons or thinking centers in my brain and I now just hate to figure out anything with any technical difficulty at all. It's a major effort for me to chnge the battaries in my garage door opener, much less figure out how to get digital photos in to Bonsaitalk!

However, a promise is a promise and I now owe you a picture or two of my rather large bonsai growbed.

As to how I do it: I got all my ideas from my years vegetable gardening.

First, I collect all our kitchen garbage, shrub clippings, weeds pulled from the garden, old newspaper.....basicly anything organic. This includes (I was almost lynched on another site for saying this, so it's just between me and you) meat scraps from the kitchen, dead mice the cat brings home and fish entrails or even fish from my fishing trips that we don't get around to eating (I based this on the use of fish in Native American corn farming). So, it is just about everything. I then dig the soil out of 3 or 4 feet of my bed to a depth of about 18" or so and pile everything into the hole, up to about level with the previous surface. Then, I replace the soil. Which results in the soil, at least for awhile, being mounded into a sort of "raised bed". I keep doing this, progressively moving down the length of the bed untill it has been entirely composted. I try to repeat this process annually. I think this process is called "trench composting".

When I am ready to plant my newly collected trees, seedlings, whatever, I use a cultivator to break up and level the bed, then plant.

Actually, it takes a couple or three seasons for this to produce really rich beds. The first year, about all you've accomplished is to bring the subsoil to the surface so I guess it's questionable how much good you've really done. Ah, but Bonsai is not really about the next 12 months. At least, not for me.

I've found there is quite a difference between those parts of my bed that gets watered regularly and those that rely on natural rainfall that the sprinkler doesn't reach. So, regular watering between rain falls is the only other thing that's of real importance. Well, except for dealing with insect damage. That's a pretty big issue here in NW Arkansas and while not often really critical, can make a difference.

I guess that's about all there is to it.

Fred