I was busy replacing some knackered benches over the holiday and whilst clearing up and poking around in the back hedge I turned up an old brake disk. This rusty bit of iron came from an MG/Austin project from the late fifties I did years ago. Not too sure how it found it’s way into the hedge. Seeing as recycling is so fashionable I figured I could use this. It’s now made a nice home for this POS privet.

The wind won’t blow it over and i prefer it to plastic for sure.

The ‘pot’ is older than the tree by about fifty years.
Next week the Shovel-head piston pot.
The Honda crankcase landscape planting.
Kawasaki sump pan pot.
Ford brake drum pot.
The Chevy’ exhaust cascade pot.
Matchless headlight bucket mountain planting……. In fact the more I think about it there are endless possibilities for all the old scrap I have cluttering up the place. Most garages have more of this crap lying around than they can cope with and it’s pretty much worthless as scrap. Considering ceramic bonsai pots are largely made in coal or diesel fired kilns and have to travel half way around the world perhaps some creative thinking could….. A: Save us money. B: Re-use some waste. C: Improve our public image. D: Give the planet a break. E: Give us all something to smile about…..
G.
Hi Graham, would the breakdown of the iron ore in the disk be detrimental to the tree? Ceramic pots being inert have no affect. Just wondering if larger concentrations of metal would affect the roots?
Let’s hope not seeing as our drinking water may still flow through cast iron pipes.
G.
Lol love the “urban bonsai” it actually looks great to my eyes, shows your good skills and artistry
At work we have a massive CHP and every now and then they replace the pistons and liners, if I can I acquire them I use them to make great bonsai stands or plant stands as there huge and very cool if your into that industrial kinda look !
And to the op no damage happens if anything the trees get more iron so stay greener
Agree with you except for using the word planet. It’s the Biosphere that is under threat form human industrial activity as in the section of land, ocean and atmosphere where life exists, which can be up to a mile underground or several miles up in the atmosphere. Every other part of our planet is unaffected by what we or other life firms do or don’t do.
I write long and everyone moans. I exercise a little brevity and this happens. Have to wonder why I bother 😉
Stick to it Graham, it gave me a good laugh reading some of the replies!
I’ve got a couple of nicely turned wooden bowls which I picked up for a couple of quid. There’s a Prunus in one and a Cotoneaster in the other and they look great.
I once had an incredible alpine larch that was growing in an old weathered dead larch stump. A tree in a tree, that’s value!
Life has been found deeper than 1 mile down ? Also just because we haven’t found it yet does not mean it’s not there !
Also to say that we are not affecting our “planet” is a very strong statement to make, we humans might think we know everything but we sure don’t ! Just as most people don’t know everything about bonsai, knowledge is a NEVER ending search as the more you look the more you find.
Certainly a novel idea. I wonder if they would ever be accepted on the show bench. Some landscapes might need a forklift to shift though.
When starting out on the bonsai route and the money was tight, I was always on the look out for suitable material to replicate expensive bonsai pots. Charity shops were a good source for bowls and basins, that just needed a few holes drilled. These shops do occasionally have actual bonsai pots sometimes for sale at low costs. Old pate containers were another substitute.
Nice chuckle for my day. That’s one reason I have watched your videos many times, for the beauty of the bonsai, the instruction and the banter. Happy 2020 and onward.