Dan Robinson made a career out of leaving dead branches and not sharpened pencils. He says all trees deserve deadwood. I like his work.What style? Half dead?
In all seriousness....a bonsai that looked like that tree would be an OK bonsai, I guess or its not my cup of tea.
Why?
All the branches are angled up, making it look like a young tree, not an old tree.
Although judging by the lack of foliage, it is half dead.
More of a broom style.Not all old trees have branches that angle down, that is species/location dependent. That tree looks pretty old to me!
Trust me, they don't prune on this road. I would think its more natural than classic style. Natural style bonsai are tampered with.The issue I have is the tree is next to a road. This means it's been pruned, topped, wrecked in to and who knows what else over the years. My point is, it's not natural.
Not all old trees have branches that angle down, that is species/location dependent. That tree looks pretty old to me!
I'm not saying natural style bonsai aren't tampered with. I'm saying I wouldn't want to use that particular tree as inspiration to style a bonsai after. Maybe it hasn't been touched by humans in some way but it looks like it did. IMO I don't think it would make good bonsai.Trust me, they don't prune on this road. I would think its more natural than classic style. Natural style bonsai are tampered with.
It's an illusion. The dead branches help with that. Bonsai is an illusion as well, a copy of nature. Nature is probably what's killing the tree. It's a fungus.It is a twin trunk oak growing along a road, in full Sun. It is less than 60 years old, probably less than 50.
Oaks grow quickly when grown in full Sun. I have seen oaks that are over 75" DBH that are less than 140 years old.
There's a fungus attacking oaks around here.That tree looks just like a flame Ginkgo!
And if there's a style that could use some deadwood, like all deadwood, it's that one!
That one in particular looks too much like the dying ash around here...
So for me, it is "already dead".
If it were an oak.... is it an oak?
If it were like OUR oaks...
I don't think I'd see the death in the future.
So it would work.
I am fond of these trees.
The power line ones too!
Sorce
There's a fungus attacking oaks around here.
I would argue there's at least a few people here who have NEVER even seen a tree without the city's influence.
So what is your point, exactly? The actual age doesn't matter, it's whether the tree looks old. This one does. Now, it doesn't look like a thousand year old mountain juniper or even a hundreds of years old live oak, but it still looks aged/old (and appearance of age is a relative thing).It is a twin trunk oak growing along a road, in full Sun. It is less than 60 years old, probably less than 50.
Oaks grow quickly when grown in full Sun. I have seen oaks that are over 75" DBH that are less than 140 years old.
Would it inspire you to do this?I'm not saying natural style bonsai aren't tampered with. I'm saying I wouldn't want to use that particular tree as inspiration to style a bonsai after. Maybe it hasn't been touched by humans in some way but it looks like it did. IMO I don't think it would make good bonsai.