There is no 'right' way to try to add conifer style jin and shari to a tropical tree. Tropical trees do not involve deadwood in most cases instead utilizing uro and hollowing. Deadwood ROTS on tropical trees in nature and in a Bonsai pot. And no matter what you do to treat a vine with wood hardners etc. the wood will still rot in Florida. You like to reference Graham potter and his carving work but that is being done on actual hardwood trees that would slowly rot naturally not tropicals. In order for these things you've collected to have a chance at looking decent you need to imagine them with no 'dead' sections and work towards those designs. Sometimes you have to take a couple years and regrow some structure before you have enough to work with after collection. This is something you are missing big time - the ability to collect and leave be for a time to get the tree ready for work.
I was referencing G.Potter in terms of *carving-style* and technique, I'd never used grinders before bonsai and I'm able to learn a lot from his
technique. I'm
well aware that bougies (and tropicals in general it seems, though most of my collection is bougies) don't have long-lasting deadwood. I'm also well-aware that there are people who see things as "right" in bonsai, and I know you are certainly one of them. I feel like you
already know that I simply disagree with your aesthetic preferences but this post reads like you don't so want to be clear.
Yes, I'm fully aware that deadwood on bougies requires special care above&beyond regular deadwood, but that certainly isn't something that's stopped people like Adam Lavigne or Erik Wigert from creating beautiful bougainvilleas
that have deadwood features. I get that it's "not traditional", I know that and frankly just don't really care about "traditional" I care about making a particular piece of stock as great as it can be. That is my primary concern, not whether it's "the 'right' way" according to tradition or rules.
How do you feel about ume bonsai, stuff like this:
Do Umes of this sort drive you nuts? Maybe they're OK because
this particular species is "accepted" to be grown this way? Despite your attempts to downplay bougainvilleas as "vines", they can be trained in almost any way, and frankly I love the types of Umes that I just posted, and I cannot fathom a reason why me trying to make similar specimen w/ my local species (bougainvilleas) is so bothersome to some people, I mean in the end this is about *art* and aesthetics and I'm not intending to "try to win a contest" I am trying to grow my trees in the way that I expect will make them most-desirable to me when they're done.
I get that you want to be 'traditional', and I've got some trees I'm growing in very traditional styles, however I actually prefer "funky" trees and if it's "breaking a rule" that bougies shouldn't have deadwood, yet it's fine on Umes, I can't see any reason I should care unless I were planning to compete and I'm not!
And FWIW, in my other thread where you and M.Frary wanted push the "SU2 doesn't listen" line, if you want to look-back at the thread there were two points of contention and both were addressed, the "didn't listen" is completely the opposite of what happened, I literally linked the thread where I'd asked for advice on doing just what I did, I linked pics of zack's 1st-year trees and tagged him to get his OK, it just blows my mind you can read that and accuse me of "not listening". I don't know if it's meant to be a generic jab or if you actually believe it, but if the latter I just don't see what reason *anyone* would spend asking & researching things if they were indifferent to the answers they found....the insulting implication that I'd ask Q's, just in hopes that someone would agree with
my preconceived notions, and that I'd ignore any replies that weren't what I wanted to hear, is just such a silly assertion on its face that I'd find it worthless to address
except for the fact that I'm getting it too-much from a trio of users who always seem to find and sign-on anytime one says it, in my BC thread m.frary was there to 'like' your post before he replied and then, after I made-clear how I DID follow instruction as it was given, he then quoted you to make the vague assertion about "beginners" (clearly implying *me*) RockM used to do it alongside m.frary though he seems to have realized I'm not some person who spends all this time posting for no practical reason and that any seeming discrepencies are in no way the result of me trying to operate thinking my judgment supercedes professionals, to accuse me of otherwise is just nonsense and insulting.
Bottom line is I removed those BC branches *after* serious thought, after asking on reddit and here, and then proceeding based precisely on this. So much is already made-clear in that thread (though that was after you'd posted, but not before m.frary got in to quote & further imply I was just not listening) It sucks because I have literally zero ill-will towards a single person on any bonsai-board and I just can't convince myself you truly believe what you say about me not listening but anything besides that would mean you're doing it to try and insult me....I hope you can realize I am legitimately asking Q's in the expectation of learning from & implementing what I'm able to glean from replies and these accusations can stop because they're frustrating and just entirely off-base :/
Sorry for length but it's just really bothersome being accused of something so far from the truth and I feel I've unfairly become a "poster boy" in your and a couple others' eyes despite threads like the current BC one where I literally linked the things that proved I'd asked before doing and DID go on advice, yet still get accused of 'not listening'.. Am not planning on stopping bonsai or posting here so really would like this to be resolved but don't know what else I can do if this appeal, and my *proving* I was going on-advice in the BC thread, are insufficient to convince you otherwise :/
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