Hello all,

So I pruned the apple tree and I pruned it hard. It was growing very tall and encroaching sideways towards the driveway. It was hard work because I'm still recovering from surgery and have to take things easy. Having finished the pruning, however, I was faced with more work because I couldn't possibly throw away all the lovely branches when I could use them for ikebana. Above is one arrangement with camellias in a self made vase.

The next arrangement, above, was quite challenging because of its size - 2m across. The weight of the slanting branches called for some serious mechanics to be employed. After trying a number of different methods to support them, I settled on screwing pieces of split bamboo onto the branches to help wedge them into the container. I confess, I worried that the actual weight of the branches would break the ceramic container. So far, so good. The photographs, below, show the bamboo pieces screwed onto the apple branches. I had the main branch hovering above the container the way it would sit inside it. The smaller branch to the left required only one piece of bamboo.

The last arrangement was much easier because the branches were positioned upright with the centre of gravity going straight down the container. So, a kenzan was all that was needed.

Apple branches and Green Goddess lilies

And here are some arrangements just for the fun of it.

Fresh and unconventional material. The mesh
ribbon is metal

Using only one kind of material. Fern

Arum lily and stem of taro leaf

Bye for now,
Emily