dragon's chrismas shopping

We arrive at Dundry after not too long a delay but as soon as we park up the ribbing starts, and goes on and on and on. I don't think they are going to let me live this one down.
As we arrive Bob the owner of Dundry gives us a warm welcome and invites us to a free run of his vast nursery. Some of the party have been here before, but for most of us it's our first visit, so we get a well recommended leisurely stroll around the nursery just to get accustomed to the layout and a feel for what trees are where.
Phew !! this place is big and even the recce takes the best part of half an hour. By which time us newcomers are raring to go, digging tools in hand and ready for the off, but not before we get some well respected advice from the likes of Chris, Bob and John.

“ Don't just dig the first thing you see. Take your time looking around and decide what it is you want and why ? Get some feedback from the rest of the boys, have a think again and then find out the price before you start digging “
So with those pearls of wisdom embedded deep within us off we all go. Scattering around the nursery to all four corners of the compass. Every now and then you come across a grotesque sight or even humourous( depending on your disposition ) of someone with their head downand arse up on all fours foraging around a piece of yamadori.
The setting is wonderful, it's peaceful and quiet. Surrounded by trees and woodland and an aspect over the valley. What a great way to spend a bright, crisp Winter's day doing a bit of Christmas shopping.

Soon the foraging and discussions are over and everyone has picked and agreed the price with Bob on their Christmas Presents. We meet up and split into pairs to make the job of digging easier. Then off we go again. Let the Digging Begin.

For some of us the job appears relatively easy. The ‘ Presents ‘ we have selected have been field grown in a very gritty medium so the job of excavating a good fibrous root system is pretty easy. Not so for some of the others though.


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Well the big day has arrived. It's Wednesday 26 th November and we are off to do some Christmas shopping. Not any old Christmas shopping though ! We are not going to Cardiff , Carmarthen , Swansea or evenLondon and we don't even have a shopping list between us ! We are off to Dundry and Glenbrook Bonsai Nurseries.
	The day has been planned for weeks and it has finally arrived. Chris will pick up John in Bonllwyn, Gerwyn will pick up Alex from Morriston and Brian from Neath, Bob will pick up Colin in Cardiff and Chris from Abergavenny will meet us all at East Gordano Service Station off the M5. It must have been a miracle but we all arrived within 10 minutes of each other at 8.30am . Time for us all to get our hands around a few cups of steaming hot strong coffee and to just make sure we all know where we are headed first and how to get there. The first complication. Chris has to stop off at Dan Barton's to pick up some Accent pots, so he will be making a detour and he is the only one who knows the way to Dundry and Glenbrook. No worries though, Chris has come prepared and hands Gerwyn his Sat Nav system with Dundry's postcode programmed in. So Gerwyn will take the lead for Chris ( Abergavenny ) and Bob, and Chris will meet us at Dundry. We set off at 9.00am warmed up and ready to go with that sweet lady from Sat Nav chirping and singing out all sorts of instructions. I am sure she is talking Italian because it's not long before we are going around in circles and she keeps shouting "Recalculating. Recalculating, Recalculating". I am hoping Chris,Bob and Colin have'nt noticed the one or two circulations we have completed but no such luck.
We arrive at Dundry after not too long a delay but as soon as we park up the ribbing starts, and goes on and on and on. I don't think they are going to let me live this one down. As we arrive Bob the owner of Dundry gives us a warm welcome and invites us to a free run of his vast nursery. Some of the party have been here before, but for most of us it's our first visit, so we get a well recommended leisurely stroll around the nursery just to get accustomed to the layout and a feel for what trees are where. Phew !! this place is big and even the recce takes the best part of half an hour. By which time us newcomers are raring to go, digging tools in hand and ready for the off, but not before we get some well respected advice from the likes of Chris, Bob and John. “ Don't just dig the first thing you see. Take your time looking around and decide what it is you want and why ? Get some feedback from the rest of the boys, have a think again and then find out the price before you start digging “ So with those pearls of wisdom embedded deep within us off we all go. Scattering around the nursery to all four corners of the compass. Every now and then you come across a grotesque sight or even humourous( depending on your disposition ) of someone with their head downand arse up on all fours foraging around a piece of yamadori. The setting is wonderful, it's peaceful and quiet. Surrounded by trees and woodland and an aspect over the valley. What a great way to spend a bright, crisp Winter's day doing a bit of Christmas shopping. Soon the foraging and discussions are over and everyone has picked and agreed the price with Bob on their Christmas Presents. We meet up and split into pairs to make the job of digging easier. Then off we go again. Let the Digging Begin. For some of us the job appears relatively easy. The ‘ Presents ‘ we have selected have been field grown in a very gritty medium so the job of excavating a good fibrous root system is pretty easy. Not so for some of the others though.
There's more hot coffee and a lot of heroic stories and the showing of battle scars inflicted during the Dig. Then it's a friendly wave from Bob at Dundry and off we go to a well earned lunch at an eatery close to our next stop which is Glenbrook Bonsai Nursery. It's been a great day Christmas Shopping. Chris ( Abergavenny ) has a great Hornbeam, Brian is happy with a Blackthorn, Alex has a super Hawthorn and Escallonia, John has an interesting Yew, Bob has a few Junipers he has been hunting for, Colin is chuffed with his Cork Bark Elm and Chris and Gerwyn have picked up a pair of big Hawthorns each.	Their ‘ Presents ‘ are in a more compact medium and proving to be a little troublesome. However there are enough of us with enough tools to dig another Channel Tunnel so before long all the ‘ Presents ‘ are dug and on their way back to the car park. Once back in the car park we all savour together the ‘ Presents We arrive at Glenbrook at around 1.30pm and the weather is still fantastic. It's still dry, sunny and unusually warm. Jeff the owner is unavailable today but we are still given a warm welcome by the staff who have been expecting us. The recce is not as frantic as at Dundry as Glenbrook is a wee bit smaller and a lot more organised. (no disrespect intended here to Bob at Dundry ). The field grown area is a lot smaller and concentrated in one small portion of the nursery. There are also more ‘ Yamadori ‘ already harvested into large containers and placed onto organised display shelves inside and outside of the nursery shop. So we are ready for the off and once again we all scatter on the search for that special Christmas present. It's not long before you see some of the guys huddled together around trees in earnest discussion and then off to another to repeat the process. Others are inside the nursery shop having similar discussions but not around trees it,s pots this time. And so the browsing goes on. It's not too long before a collection of trees, pots and sundries is beginning to build up in front of the cash desk and I see Chris giving everybody a heads up that the light is beginning to fade and we had all better get a move on as I think the nursery wants to close. Purchases complete we transport everything back to the vehicles for a good old chinwag over how great the day has been and how pleased everybody feels with their Christmas Presents.
It's going to be an exciting Winter back at Bonllwyn. There's lots of material to be worked on and plenty more ‘ Collecting ‘ trips organised in search of that very ‘Special' piece. Cannot wait we are all raring to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For more check out: Yamadori workshop movie