Spent some time today working on a long-term bonsai project. For the last few years, I’ve been pruning and training some in-ground plants for eventual repotting as bonsai. From left to right, I’ve got crepe myrtle, dogwood, some kind of maple, some random plant I dug up years ago, and one of the hibaku hackberry trees.

I dug all five up and out with a spade, and set them aside, then created a little bed from concrete pavers and some leftover tile.

I then roughly root pruned each tree, and replanted them in their new root training bed. In another year or two, I’ll pull them out and start potting them up.

In other news, a few of the mushroom logs have started to be really active. This particular maitake log is showing signs of fruiting, so I moved it to secluded spot, dug a shallow hole, and propped it up. It’s strange to me that the maitake would grow in the dead of winter, but I’m new to mushroom cultivation, so I don’t really understand fungal rhythms.