Old Juniper gets a major styling

This Juniper is closing in on 40 years old, and has gone through a great deal of changes since it came into my hands as pre-bonsai material about 4 years ago.   Found a great deal of deadwood on the tree to turn into Jin and Shari work this go-around.  Cleaned it up; some more work to be done on it but this is it for the weekend.  Will soon pay more attention to the pads and also to cleaning the trunk up a little better.

How it started; quite leggy and have not given it the attention it needs to piching..

Found a healthy live vein runing down the back, allowing for the exposure of some great deadwood down the front and worked it into the existing Jins.

Close up, still some carving to do and cleanup, nice living vein down the left here.

Parked the tree for now  Fired the deadwood some, and a good deal of wiring and pinching all over.

Tropical Bonsai of 6+ years still doesn't have a species!

This is literally the 2nd pre-bonsai material I ever bought back in 08, back when the passion was flying and the knowledge was....  Yah..    :)

I didn't even realize quite at the time that I'd picked out a tropical species.  It almost didn't make it's first winter as I debated bringing it inside or not..  Finally I did and it happily survived, now getting routine escapes inside from October to March.

The species..  Well I have looked around and I think I've identified it once or twice, but never actually put a pic of it and the species in a blog post to help me remember..  Maybe now with Google+ someone can help me out in the community..  :)

I wired the branches this spring, and will be taking them off in Fall when it comes inside.  will continue to wind the ranches down to give it this current 'drooping' effect.  Normally, the branches all grow 'up' so this in itself is a bit of a test and possibly a strain on the tree.  Will see how things go, my wife likes it at least..  :)

It's time to breathe!

Today, is the beginning of a weather trend here - finally spring is showing it's face.  The extremely cold and unusually snowy winter appears to have spent itself, and spring is now coming a bit earlier.  Temps are ranging from the low 60's F to high 30's F overnight.  Buds are starting to show everywhere and burst in some instances - junipers are showing new growth eager for pinching..  It's time to come out of cover and see what lived with my new wintering techniques implemented.

I did well!  Only lost 4 small pre-bonsai trees, and I realize why - not the best placing of trees undercover (they did not get enough water during the winter season).  Other then this loss (nothing terrible at all) everything did extremely well and is showing it's health.

Here follows all my surviving items - all pre-bonsai, as I have nothing yet I would consider show worthy.  You may see some of the potential and ideas I have for some of my trees, and the range of material I am playing with.

My big ole' 'precumbens nana' Juniper; you've seen plenty of him on my blog but here he is outside - a healthy survivor indeed.

My Japanese (Or English..) Boxwood, 2nd year in training. 

Large double trunk Privet in another neat looking 'brick' styled pot by my best friend Aaron.  Tree is doing very well; ready for de-leafing and a serious haircut.wiring.

Most everything out from cover, and on the table or in the sun again.  Junipers on the left, deciduous on the right.  (same on the ground as well in front).

A side table with my bigger items, left to right; Azalea, Privet in large clay in rear, 'rose of sharon' rhododendron species front center, smaller privet in long clay pot, and large trident maple rear right.  

A larger nursery Juniper I am training for the distant future.

San Jose Juniper nursery material that I began work on last year.  I finally have the idea in my mind for this tree; some serious branch bending, and will make it a windswept style.

Wild Cherry - it's mostly dead, but has strong suckers growing (you can see they are already as tall as the tree I brought back originally)..  I've seen this done and shown on forums online; I plan to attempt to carve 'growth' channels and wind the living suckers up the dead stump, to take advantage of the really good looking bark and trunk that this tree had.   If nothing else, I will learn some things  from this tree.

The 'other' really large Azalea that I removed from my front yard last year and turned into hopeful bonsai material.  This baby will give me some great air layers on both of the large branches left/right (Thick, aged bark that somewhat resembles pine, oddly).

And a few things not shown: pre-bonsai in the ground in a few areas, my 'tree farms' of trident maple, japanese maple and other things for the future.

Spring is here!

Cotoneaster #1 Informal Shohin

Oddly enough, it's taken some time for a cotoneaster to join my collection.   I think I always had a perversion to the herringbone effect it's branches can do as the tree 'bushes' out.  Well, I found a species (or at least a specimen) that finally called to me.  I've always wanted a few, as I adore the little berries that cause the tree to resemble an apple tree in miniature.  They also put out great little flowers, and grow madly - a very busy tree (Something a beginner like me should have picked up some time ago to keep me 'busy').

So this little nursery stock tree came home with me, for $6+.  For species interests, it is cotoneaster adpressus or 'Little Gem'.   Alot less of the herringbone effect on this one, just alot of long branches, with a great deal of good growth close to the tree as well.   The trunk is what caught my attention; Usually I don't pay attention to certain species in Nurseries, as they grow them multiple plants to a pot (or raft them out) which may then sometimes 'fuse' with age into 1 trunk - or more often than not the young trunks are at the far reaches from each other 'in' the pot, making it almost uselesss for bonsai (outside of a forest setting)   This was one large trunk (Well, compared to it's mates!), all by itself, with a nice lean to it.  Wasn't as busy as the other multiple trunk ones - it was calling for some work!

Cotoneaster before any work

View from the top

Fun plant to work on, think I will have to find a few more cotoneasters with good trunk movement to add to the collection.   Pretty easy to wire, alot of branch options to work with.  This took about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish.

Trimmed and wired

Slightly higher view from the Front

I can see myself that I'm catching on to the old bonsai saying 'Less is More'.  I have a few pre-bonsai trees from last year that are aching for a little 'less' so that they have 'more' of a future - I'll have to cycle around to a few of these soon as well.

So this little guy will stay in it's pot until next spring, when I will repot possibly into a large 3 gal pot.  Looking to increase the girth here for another 2-3 years, and then it will begin working it's way into a pot.  (I'm going to be persistent and patient with that decision!).   This was a bit of early styling to get things where I want them and to direct the tree's energy where it would be best for branch building - then let it go wild for a while!

CBS Morning Show - What Bonsai means

If you missed this, you'll appreciate this production from the CBS Morning Show.     All hail John Naka the father of Bonsai in the States, and every bonsai artist who openly shares their knowledge and art freely with others.

"They are important to me, I care.  I care..."
"Transforming a small tree, can transform your life."
"It's trees yes, but the beauty of it, is art."
"Bonsai is an artistic representation of nature, in miniature."
"They are not special trees; any plant with a woody trunk can be a bonsai.  Bonsai is the technique applied to the tree."

The drive didn't die

My bonsai drive didn't die, but a good number of my starter 'sticks' did!  We had a rough winter, with numerous snowfall events where we had snow on the ground for many days (freezing, remelting, freezing - terrible for any potted plant, even worse for bonsai with shallow pots and root systems, that are also above ground.)  Most of my 'stick' bonsai in pots, died because they were so young their foilage did not protect their 'earth' properly so snow fell directly on to the soil and root systems - melting and refreezing a few times.  Also I did not winterize them fully as I'd planned.  (Lessons learned - the hard way..)   But..  there's alot to share as I've not been idle, and there are alot of things to show off!   Wintering lessons learned, this year will be different indeed.

Left garden box - future bonsai privet, sweetgum maple, red maple, boxwoods

With the help of my best friend Aaron, who's joined me on this bonsai and pottery adventure (more to share on that later), we built 2 garden boxes, this is one (will save pictures of the other for later in the season, you'll see why then!)   In this box, are many large girth trees and bush/tree species that I've collected from my back woods last year, and were placed into the ground and allowed to grow 'wild'.  These are some big babies, that are all thriving as spring as arrived.  We built and moved these trees from one side of my garden to the other, which allowed the reduction and 'shallowing' of their root systems - priming for the future!  It's hard to capture this, but it's exciting to see the future branches thickening before my eyes (the real secret to good bonsai - is allowing for proper growth and thickness of branches in the early stages!  A lesson I've been shown and now produced on my own with terrific results.

Nice form from a Privet Bonsai

Just a quick picture of one of the survivors from winter - it was not exposed to snow (much) but was also in a deep training pot, which kept it alive.   I love it's movement, this one will be a project next spring, letting it stregthen and grow out it's future main branches.  This will remain a shohin bonsai, with it's great trunk movement.  I'm excited about it, as privet are generally a straight 'upward' growth plant, only snaking when forced by other growth to fight for sunlight.   This one was found literally partly crushed by a downed tree, and forced into extreme cicrumstances to get sunlight.  Privet, are extremely hardy..  When winterized properly.. *sigh*

Large Azalea begins bonsai life

This used to be an azalea bush that was nearly as tall as me (over 6 foot) that was in front of my house.  My wife and I are in the middle of a transformation of our front yard and landscape, so a few old azaleas became my 'babies' for some truly inspiring, large flowering azalea bonsai.   This is a beast!  It is approx 12" girth, and is sitting in a large garden container, after much reduction already of it's roots.  You can see it's size slightly in comparison to my children's swing set that it currently sits next to.   Azealas can produce new growth even on extremely old wood, and as I've already found in many places, it is already beginning to send new shoots out in all different directions for future branch selections..  This will be alot of work, and much for me to learn in the process.  Species?  I'll work on this, but it puts out beautiful large, white flowers.

Large Azalea #2

Here is another, and posibly more attractive flowing trunk on this azalea and nearly as large girth-wise as 'The Beast'.  I was able to reduce this one's root system a little closer, and as the other - both are healthy, thriving, and showing new groth already on very old wood (Both date from the building of the home originally in 1991, and I"m sure even at that time, they were a few years old.  That puts both I'd estimate at around 22-26 years old, in my opinion.  (They are really big!!)  This one is approx 11" girth around.   I'm seeing a great tree in the future!  I don't recall if this one was one of the white flower, or pink flower azaleas from the front - not sure I will see with this season, as the flowering time is already upon us, and I reduced these really right as they were beginning to send out buds.   Time and patience..  :)

SO much more to tell, but this is a blog - not a novel..  The drive didn't die, if anything it's increased.  I've learned so much through trial and error - and experience now.   I'm not pleased that my little trees died, I had alot of hope for producing 'trees' years from now that I could say were my 'originals', but..  Lessons learned.   My azaleas and garden trees have bright futures ahead of them.  :)

Elk - Parson’s Juniper; Informal Juniper #3

Informal Style Parson’s Juniper

Sometimes, the ‘bug’ to sculpt a tree can backfire; if you’re always looking for the ‘perfect’ tree while you’re hunting for material. A quick stroll through typical nurseries generally results in the ‘worst’ looking plants being the ‘best’ material for bonsai (nursery plants are usually clipped and grown in forms for landscaping – not developing miniature trees). Often the finds in the half-off areas, are the ‘bulky stumpy’ plants that generally aren’t great to start with for landscaping. For instance, this Parson’s Juniper! What the heck did I see in this pot when I decided to buy it? Well, I certainly didn’t see the ‘perfect’ tree – what I actually saw was more spirit and energy than a vision of what it might become. After 20 minutes and half an acre walked, I returned to pick up this $5.98 ‘landscape’ material from the ‘toss’ zone in the corner of the nursery.

I did see a tree in there; a different kind of tree for me – a chance to try a few new techniques. Here I’ve removed a great deal of foliage to expose the very strong trunk, which has very strong motion (I was torn between taking it towards a cascade in 2-3 years – or a unique form right away). I removed many weak branches and start to eye up how the tree will shape. I drilled slightly into the branch cuts forward facing in the picture to the right; as the wounds heal, this will give it a ‘circular’ heal that is slightly hollowed which will give the effect of an aged appearance to the trunk as it heals.

So, you can see the effects of wiring, and a great reduction in the existing growth; Where is the tree you’re thinking? As I said this was a unique work for me, I never thought I’d give a tree a name, but this one is going to be called ‘Elk’. Many strong branches that I redirected to spread out the future pad zones I saw in the image of this tree. There are not many branches that are not wired; I wanted to give ‘Elk’ the instant power and presence I felt as I worked on it. Very healthy tree, for such large branches they were easier to move than the Blauuw Juniper I last worked on.

Elk – Informal Style Parson’s Juniper (Juniperus Parsonii)

A little Jin and shari work in a few places - now you may see what I felt, when I decided to call it Elk. It looks horrible if judged against ‘classic’ styles. The raised branches near the shari, gives the impression of antlers sweeping back from the face (shari) of the Elk. Oh well, at least it sounds good on paper.. :) This tree may stay ‘ugly’ for a while until it fills out, but I believe it will have a powerful presence in a few years with a little thickening of some of it’s ‘antlers’.

Japanese Boxwood #1

Japanese Boxwood #1

Informal Style

Well... The bug bit me again today while out shopping today at a local hardware/gardening store for a few things for the house. This Japanese Boxwood nursery plant is going to become my next project today. For $5.99, the hours of work I put into it and enjoyment of the finished product are priceless, in my opinion. Oddly enough, many of the boxwoods of this size today looked like great 'potensai' - or, 'prebonsai' as it's termed by some. This little tree has a nice trunk already developed and looks nicely aged with rough bark deep into the top branches. Boxwood species are much like Holly; they can get 'sticky' after the branches mature past the fresh 'green' stage. They can be more difficult to Jin as the branches thicken. This tree has good motion hidden underneath these leaves!

A few hours of pruning, deleafing, bending and wiring (even got a guy wire in on this one) I can see the vision that the Boxwood was giving me the vibes of; The beginnings of a stately informal style tree. I'm no stickler for 'forms' or 'styles', but when one suits decidedly what I'm aiming for - I properly label it. An 'Informal' style tree means that for the most, the main trunk aims upward, but not 'straight' that it has some degree of bend or 'taper' in the main trunk(s).




Here is what will become the 'back' of the tree. Well honestly - I'm not sure yet which is front or back, there are strengths to both views (which means it'll look good from any angle, good radial of the branches as long as they all live through their Jinning!) Good exercise in wiring for me, I need to go back and re-wire and add wire to some existing trees to give them more direction - this tree certainly has shown me how much direction you can truly give with wire. The end goal in this Informal style, is for a very heavily rammified Crown to the tree. This will cause the leaves to grow smaller, and will also create thick, healthy growth that will thicken the crown of this Japanese Boxwood nicely.

All fired up

Bonsai Pots all fired and ready to go

They all made it! A bit brighter than we figured for some, but this is our chance to figure out what we want to do and to 'not do' when the pot making winter season hits us.

Mame pots

2 from Aaron, and my contribution on the right. These came out actually rather nice, 3 different styles of pot and painting - 3 new pieces of art. :)

Mame pots

Another side view of the nicer Mame pots that came out.

Log Pot

This will soon have a Juniper planted into it, pictures of that tree soon to follow. I like the textures on this pot and how the colors fell into the grooves.

Log Pot

Side view - no it's not perfect - it's hand made, not poured mold. It has 'character'.. :)

Aaron's Round Pot

This came out really well - great texture and aaron's selection of colors gives the impression of the pot sitting in a field of grass.

Aaron's Round Pot

Another view, this pot is fairly deep; not sure how it'll be used but whatever goes into it will certainly be enhanced by this creation.

Fired and Painted

Painted and ready for glaze

Previously fired pots - have been painted and are awaiting glaze. Hope to have finished pots by this weekend, as I have a few things I'd like to move into new homes.

Shohin Privet #1 - Patience is a Virtue?

Virtues of Patience - and Styling

Before Wiring

We will see if loss of patience wins out over early styling - or if it even matters towards the final stages of this trees creation. I had such a great vision for this tree that I went ahead and put some wiring on it - .5 and 1.5mm's were used.

Early Wiring Complete

This wiring will not stay on more than a few months; likely around late October as things cool here I will remove the wire. Privet thickens quickly; wire left on a tree too long will leave scars that may take years to heal properly.. There are still many things left for this tree to get it in shape to be Bonsai; a better revealing Nebari, future work on the deadwood at the base of the trunk. continual thickening of the main branches, shortened internode length in future growth - and time and patience. Less or more of which? :)

Fired Bonsai Pots

Fired Bonsai Pots

These are mostly Mame sized Bonsai pots, created by myself and my friend Aaron. Will be painting and glazing this week and hopefully firing and viewing a finished creation next weekend. Winter will be full-on pot making season, this is just 1st runs to get the creative juices flowing and experience for what works - and what doesn't.

Shohin Privet #1

Shohin Privet Bonsai #1

The Dig

So, I got an itch this AM while my 2 girls were spending time at their cousin's, to go yamadori collecting (that is, to collect a tree or plant from nature). Not as difficult for me as for some, and I'm not 'too' hard to please at the moment - the free time being the decision maker! So - I took a wander down my backyard hillside into the wilderness. Lots of 'edge' plant material, and one that is hardy that I'm having fun working on that I have alot of - Privet! Here I find a specimen I'd already chopped earlier in the year as part of my 'clear the lot' project at the bottom of the hill. Time to collect my prepped Yamadori!

Yamadori Found!

Here you can see the previous 'low' cut I made earlier in the year, and also that I have completely cleared the root ball of soil. Privet are extremely hardy, not many species would I treat in such a manner, but that is the nature of Privet. Notice the thick growth this plant exhibits after being chopped, due to growing in the ground vs chopping and moving directly to a pot.

Reduction

Much reduction of the root system and deciding how to layout it's future Nebari development at this point. Also reduction in foilage, to cause the re-growth to focus in places of Taper development. All 'downward' roots have been cut, thick roots reduced. The lead branches are not cut yet - I want them to thicken a bit more close to the trunk before I begin creation of it's crown.

Front View

The last pot I have from The Monk Monestary in Conyers, GA. from a run there months ago. Perfect fit for this future Shohin Bonsai. Shohin or 'Mame' Bonsai are the ultimate miniature powerhouses - ultimately they are the best examples of bonsai size reduction in all species in the Bonsai art. I am using a 70/30 Inorganic/organic mix of Sphagnum Moss, Turface, and Lava Rock.

Rear View

The cuts have been covered in cut sealant, the tree watered, it's held in with wire through the base to allow stability as I wire it's branches in a few weeks. Again, I take my time; I allow the plant to re-establish, allow new branches to develop, see which ones die from the root reduction and cut-back; then I begin light branch shaping. (Mainly with cuts to form taper)