A balcony tree diary
Small trees from an English hedge, kept in shallow pots above the Thames.
A balcony diary of bonsai grown from British hedgerow trees in south-west London: hawthorn, field maple, blackthorn and hornbeam, collected with permission.
Grown on a balcony in Twickenham, south-west London, United Kingdom, since 2020.
Four trees from one hedge
Hawthorn
Buds back readily on old wood, flowers in May if left alone, and forgives a hard cut better than anything else on the shelves.
Field maple
Small lobed leaves that reduce well, corky bark on older wood, and a clear butter yellow for a week or so in October.
Blackthorn
Suckers, thorns and brittle winter wood. Pruned only in summer, and the most rewarding in March when it flowers before the leaves.
Hornbeam
Smooth grey bark that marks under wire, pleated leaves, and a habit of holding its dead brown leaves until the buds push them off.
From the tree diary
All entries, by season- Summer
2026BalconyA year of native bonsai on a narrow balcony in south-west London
Growing hawthorn, maple, blackthorn and hornbeam on a third-floor balcony: sun, wind off the river, summer watering, winter frost and the neighbours.
Written 16 August 2026 - Winter
2025WiringWiring blackthorn and hornbeam without leaving scars in the bark
Notes from several winters of wiring native trees: wire thickness and angle, the thin bark on hornbeam, brittle blackthorn, and when the wire comes off.
Written 7 December 2025 - Spring
2025RepottingRepotting week on the balcony: field maple, hornbeam and the swelling bud
When and how I repot native bonsai on a small London balcony: reading the buds rather than the calendar, root pruning, soil, and the fortnight afterwards.
Written 6 April 2025 - Winter
2025CollectingLifting a hawthorn from a friend's hedge, and doing it lawfully
How I collected three old hawthorns from a garden hedge due for removal: asking first, choosing the time of year, digging, and the long first season.
Written 23 February 2025
The year on the shelves
Dates shift by a fortnight either way with the weather. The buds decide, not the chart.
Four rules written in pencil on the underside of the top shelf, where I read them every time I bend down with the watering can.
- Nothing is lifted without the landowner's permission.
- Repot when the buds swell, not when the calendar says.
- Wire loosely, and check it weekly once spring arrives.
- A native tree wants its winter outside.