Welcome to Cape Ann Rail     home of  the    Wormwood Point Garden Railway

Almost Bonsai
CapeAnnRail Home Page

These trees are actually shrubs. A very common juniper, (procumbus nana). Around here a 1 gallon pot is $20. I've managed to find them for $8 at home depot in the late fall. They spread about 6 feet and grow about 6 to 10 inches tall. I create the trees by training a shoot to grow upward. When the bush/tree is planted I drive a 6 foot stake in the ground leaving 4 feet exposed. I then grab the best looking branch on the bush, usually about 12 inches long, and tie it to the stake. As the branch grows it tries to head back to the ground. So I tie the new growth to the stake, and so on. I get about 10 inches of growth each year so in three years I'm at 40 inches. After another 3 years of waiting the trunk of this new branch is thick enough and hard enough so that I can remove the stake. After that it's a matter of keeping them pruned. The bonus is that the rest of the plant continues to cover the ground. I have trained as many as 3 branches off of one plant.

Best example 42 inches tall. 48 feet in 7/8ths scale (1:13.7)    101 feet in 1:29 scale, 71 feet in 1:20.3 scale. The trains look great when they pass these guys..
 

Tree with yard stick. This one needs a little pruning.

Trees in training.

The grade to the garage. These kids need serious haircuts. The trees on the right side of the picture are all in the 40-42 inch range.

CapeAnnRail Home Page