I've mentioned before that part of reason for this blog is to document cheap ways to grow bonsai. To grow bonsai, you will need a bench to grow them on. I've bought wood slats from Home Depot before and I keep my bonsai on 1x12 pine boards. I've also used pallets before for keeping my bonsai on. Both of these are effective, but not very attractive. I wanted something somewhat attractive yet cheap to keep my bonsai on. Ideally, I wanted a short bench about 5 feet long, 14 inches wide, and about eight inches tall. Enter the pallet bench project.
This is not a how to. There are lots of videos on youtube showing you how to do everything from building furniture to building a small shack out of pallets. This is more of a bit of a brag on what we did.
We grabbed a used pallet in somewhat good condition. This particular pallet was about 4 feet long. The length of the boards will dictate how long of a bench you can make. In this case we could only make a bench about 4 feet long. Close enough. We disassembled the pallet to salvage some wood and nails. Most of the wood was 1x4's but we also got 3 spacers that were 2x4. We didn't really use a square for this project and didn't really have a clear plan, so we kinda made it up on the fly. The results weren't half bad, in my opinion:
Yeah, it has a certain 'aesthetic' to it. Shabby chic. Recycled distressed industrial. Put any spin you want on it. In the end, it's just a sturdy little pallet wood bonsai bench.
We were in Silverdale over the weekend, so I swung by Lowe's while we were there. They had a poor little schefflera arbicola in the clearance rack for a buck, so I grabbed the little guy and brought him home. He's soaking in the kitchen sink as I type this up. I'll likely chop him up later. I meant to swing by Bargain Market to pick up a money tree and take some pictures. I might do that during the week or next weekend.
Weather has been rather cool, not very summer like. Good for me in that I haven't had to turn on my air conditioner. Bad for growing trees, as they're not getting a whole lot of warmth and sunshine.
The dwarf rhododendron:
Pretty much the same from last week. The new buds are getting bigger, and there's a few more buds this week. I began fertilizing it with full strength Miracle Grow.
The Neagari azalea project:
Same as last week, same status as dwarf rhodie. Also began fertilization.
The azalea cuttings:
Still looking miserable and sorry. Some are still hanging on. Some have bought the farm. Fertilized.
Seeds:
Acer palmatum
Over the weekend, I picked some Japanese maple seeds off by brother's tree. I might post some pictures next weekend. The plan is to let them dry out a bit, soak them in some water, then stratify them until some time in the spring. I usually wouldn't do so much for the seeds, but I picked them right off the tree and they haven't even begun to break down. I think they need to break down a little before stratification.
Ficus religiosa
There has definitely been some activity here with the ficus religiosa. I haven't seen any new growth with the tray I have outside. However, both the 2 liter bottoms have growth. They're still WAY too small to photograph properly, however. I counted something like 12 sproutlings in one of the the containers. The other container just has the beginnings of sproutlings, so can't really count.
Apple
Whoah! Hey guess what, one of these guys sprouted! Well sorta. Truth is that the container I planted the seeds in fell over right after I planted them, so I wasn't even sure there were still any seeds. I was digging in the dirt and I saw a sproutling just under the dirt. OOPS! Buried it back ad it should be sprouting soon.
The rest of the seeds still haven't given any movement.
That's all I can think of for now.
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