One of the drawbacks of living on a property surrounded by forest is the nightly visitations from various furry critters. Very cute to observe but destructive to the garden, in particular those plants we are trying to nurture. For some reason, after 17 years of being ignored, they decided at the beginning of winter to dine at the bonsai buffet. The brush-tailed possums are not petite creatures and inadvertently damage branches while feasting. We immediately created some temporary protection while searching for a more permanent solution. Not pretty but it did the job.

When our new cover arrived (Amazon to the rescue), we moved the bonsai inside

and set about modifying the stand so the cover would fit.

We removed the shelves and trimmed off one end of the top level,

placed a new base to support the frame

and replaced the original shelves.

Supporting brackets were added to the new base

and the frame sat perfectly in place.

We fit the cover and tied it to the frame and the base,

the front opens up for easy access.

The small birds would enjoy a bath and drink from the shallow water dish when it was on the open shelf so we created a new spot so they don’t miss out.

Michael is a happy camper once more

and we are hopeful the Japanese maple will recover.