The larch is a charming tree for Bonsai creation. As it is a deciduous conifer it is a special case in botany and offers a lovely autumn color and a nice leafless look in winter. The European, the Japanese and the hybrid larch are used for Bonsai. The hybrid larch is a crossing of the other two and is especially sturdy.
This Larch bonsai was bought from the field of a Bonsai nursery in February 2007. The rootball was wrapped in a cloth.
At home I planted it into a big plastic training pot and cut off a lot of unnecessary branches.
During the growing season of 2007 the larch grew very well. In November the tree was pruned and wired.
In March 2008 the larch was repotted into a new pot.
Nice green foliage had emerged in May 2009.
In 2009 some of the branches were shaped with guy-wires. In October the needles had a very nice color.
During repotting in April 2010 I decided to incline the tree to the left. When I had removed the old soil and pruned the roots I put the tree aside to reach for the pot. I saw that the larch stood in this slanting position all by itself and I liked it! The nebari looked as if it was made for this position and even some of the branches I had pulled down with guy-wires before and went up again later looked better now
Some little gravestones I made of modeling clay turned the larch into a cemetery tree in October 2010 for a Halloween picture.
Pretty color in October 2011 again.
In November the needles have gone and you can see that the bark is getting rougher now.
In November 2012 the larch has matured a bit more.
