Common Pear

BobbyLane

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quite often you have to build deciduous trees by cutting back hard into old wood, for me this is normal procedure. anybody serious about building quality trees should see this as normal too.
 

Hartinez

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Good call IMO. You’ll be dwarfed by this decision in the long run.
 

ConorDash

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The biggest bit about this tree for me, is how much she is a lady... the curves are great and thats what this was all about. For those who cannot see them, this is how they stand now:

1623340025538.png

This is how I imagine it, near end of next season.

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Here, I have added yellow lines. This is what I see as the flow.. as the trunk curves it sends off "flow", and thus, a branch with flow and movement.

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I'm interested to know what people think of this. This is high perception based, so this is going to be a lot of preference.

A lot was taken off the tree (if you hadn't noticed..) and it was needed. Bits like this:

1623340677143.png - Reason, 3 branches from 1 place, looked ugly and would only get worse in time.

1623340738952.png - Reason, usually you would remove 2 branches from same place but I do not sign up to this reasoning, as its simply "rules". This simply didnt look nice and gives the tree and trunk a much better feel to have 1 nice proportional branch coming out. Less is more, in my opinion.

1623340880545.png - Reason, I didnt have a before pic, these 2 trunks were too much. Too heavy, and messed up that lovely curvy trunk. The highest one was cut to give better taper, hence the shape of cut and nicely moves in to a apex branch. The lower one, could have been removed completely but I kept it. I think it adds interest to the tree and is different.

I think this part is the biggest question mark...

1623341068017.png

I could have completely removed this second trunk part and further increased the taper of the trunk and also simplified it. I am undecided at the moment.. I like the ... insult? I like the thing which people may say remove. I like that difference, that unique "mistake". Bit of reverse taper here too, again I'm not overly concerned. But we will see if I remove this in future..
 

ConorDash

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And lastly, a few other pics.

I should have dug further in to the pot but this guy is hanging on for dear life.. may have to redo!

1623341327452.png

1623341460773.png

Red I may remove to help taper and blue could be some carving in future to help this look good. Green will swell a good bit due to the 2 stubs left and their growth.

This green was absolutely bursting with energy.. such a great green mass of foliage and LONG extensions.. it will bounce back with a vengeance from this.

It was also repot this Spring!

1623341561458.png

Its base stretches out quite a lot under that substrate.

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Ok no more pics or typing.
 

Bu-Jetjet

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Well, this may upset some people but its done now! Most of the tree has been chopped off.
Plenty of reasons for plenty of decisions made here but ill write that at the end.
Had this tree since June 2019, and its development starts now.

14 - 5RrZpwG by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
15 - OVvVrmw by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

DSC_3127 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_3129 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
DSC_3130 by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

What follows is gonna be a load of typing and pics, so you can switch off now!
Who is upset, who is happy? :p
Not upset at all! I think this plan will get executed to perfection!
 

Hartinez

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Good call IMO. You’ll be dwarfed by this decision in the long run.
Hey Conor! A couple things. the message above should have read “rewarded by this decision“, not dwarfed.

Also, I’m on a little vacation and thought I’d do a little sketching. I hope you dont mind i did this of your pear. I’m trying to get better at sketching and drawing trees in the raw with some added detail and mass. I’m no Sergio Cuan but I enjoy this stuff.

Great bones will be a great tree.
 

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ConorDash

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Hey Conor! A couple things. the message above should have read “rewarded by this decision“, not dwarfed.

Also, I’m on a little vacation and thought I’d do a little sketching. I hope you dont mind i did this of your pear. I’m trying to get better at sketching and drawing trees in the raw with some added detail and mass. I’m no Sergio Cuan but I enjoy this stuff.

Great bones will be a great tree.
Hey, thanks.

Its so strange, I saw your sketch in an Elm thread and thought to myself it looks good (I didn't agree with the direction of the tree and end result, but I liked the sketch lol) and I wanted to message you asking what you used to make the sketch, software etc? Its something I want to be able to do. The sketches look really good, but I know it takes practice that I probably wont have time for.

Its a good sketch, thank you. I think it is a little too close to "foliage pads" for a naturalistic style, which I always aim for. It edges a little too close to traditional japanese bonsai, which I dislike.
It'd be interesting to see what a similar sketch looked like, in a more naturalistic style, if you fancy it. Or i'd like to try it, if I can get the same software. It wont look at good as yours of course, but gotta start somewhere!
 

Hartinez

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Hey, thanks.

Its so strange, I saw your sketch in an Elm thread and thought to myself it looks good (I didn't agree with the direction of the tree and end result, but I liked the sketch lol) and I wanted to message you asking what you used to make the sketch, software etc? Its something I want to be able to do. The sketches look really good, but I know it takes practice that I probably wont have time for.

Its a good sketch, thank you. I think it is a little too close to "foliage pads" for a naturalistic style, which I always aim for. It edges a little too close to traditional japanese bonsai, which I dislike.
It'd be interesting to see what a similar sketch looked like, in a more naturalistic style, if you fancy it. Or i'd like to try it, if I can get the same software. It wont look at good as yours of course, but gotta start somewhere!
Glad you like it. You had commented on my oak drawing as well at some point and this pear of yours had me inspired. It’s a great tree and will only get better after this big move you took!

Yeah my artist skills are ok, and I wanted a more natural look, but that’s just how it wound up! My biggest challenge is trying to create depth in the image which is hard enough in a picture let alone drawing! I too am favoring more natural looks than refined pads but do fancy more of a blend of the two looks. Natural and traditional (Japanese). I just enjoy the relaxing nature of these little sketches even if they don’t always come out as intended.

The program I use is called ProCreate on my iPad Pro that I use with my Apple Pencil. It’s a free program I believe, If not it only cost a few bucks. I use it a lot when doing quick sketches for clients. I build furniture and other carpentry based installations and it helps for initial meetings and conceptual imagery.
 

ConorDash

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Glad you like it. You had commented on my oak drawing as well at some point and this pear of yours had me inspired. It’s a great tree and will only get better after this big move you took!

Yeah my artist skills are ok, and I wanted a more natural look, but that’s just how it wound up! My biggest challenge is trying to create depth in the image which is hard enough in a picture let alone drawing! I too am favoring more natural looks than refined pads but do fancy more of a blend of the two looks. Natural and traditional (Japanese). I just enjoy the relaxing nature of these little sketches even if they don’t always come out as intended.

The program I use is called ProCreate on my iPad Pro that I use with my Apple Pencil. It’s a free program I believe, If not it only cost a few bucks. I use it a lot when doing quick sketches for clients. I build furniture and other carpentry based installations and it helps for initial meetings and conceptual imagery.
Ahh cool. Ill try it. I dont do tablets much, but have an older iPad. Unlikely it'll be ideal, and no smart pencil, just 10 fingers but will see how it goes.

Shame you aren't closer, I need to get a built in wardrobe created for my bedroom lol. Thanks for the sketch, heres a pic of the trees response after 11 days.

Basically, the Pear doesn't care.. it just keeps growing and pushing..

Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
 

Hartinez

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Ahh cool. Ill try it. I dont do tablets much, but have an older iPad. Unlikely it'll be ideal, and no smart pencil, just 10 fingers but will see how it goes.

Shame you aren't closer, I need to get a built in wardrobe created for my bedroom lol. Thanks for the sketch, heres a pic of the trees response after 11 days.

Basically, the Pear doesn't care.. it just keeps growing and pushing..

Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear Response by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
That’s bad ass. It really is such a great tree and one I would kill to take home!
 

ConorDash

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That’s bad ass. It really is such a great tree and one I would kill to take home!
Appreciate it. Its got a long way to go yet but it draws similarities to WPs pear, in its trunk movement. Unfortunately not as good a nebari as WP but I still like its base anyway. In time, I will aim to have it just as good or better than his (except the base... that won't be changing any time soon!)
 

ConorDash

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Its been 6 days since the last pics and the shoots have grown about 10-15cm..

It has popped buds all the way from the nebari, up the length of the trunk.. which I have never seen before.

Pear response to drastic prune by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear response to drastic prune by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear response to drastic prune by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr
Pear response to drastic prune by Conor Dashwood, on Flickr

Seems a shame to do nothing with those buds popping but they do not fit the design and they don't serve a purpose. I will have to work on this tree again, removing unwanted growth and maybe pruning back these shoots.
Its so odd to think about doing major work on a tree then in 2 weeks time, having to prune back that new growth cos its getting too long!
 

ConorDash

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This tree is still early in development but it is one of the few trees that genuinely excites me for its future.

Its moving fast, as usual, having pushed out cm's of growth already.
The large wounds are starting to heal but I don't plan for them to ever heal over, I'll be looking to carve them in to something interesting, at some point in the future.
This needs close watch and pruning when ready, to try and get as many flushes out of it as possible.

DSC_3216.JPG

DSC_3217.JPGDSC_3220.JPGDSC_3221.JPGDSC_3223.JPG
 

ConorDash

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It was time to prune this tree... It grows very fast, if I have not said that previously.

Teaming with aphids too. 2 branches left to thicken.

PXL_20220421_120632027.jpgPXL_20220421_120654659.jpgPXL_20220421_121127038.jpgPXL_20220421_155732329.jpg

Just standard clip and grow, most all cut back to 2 nodes.

PXL_20220421_155826114.jpg
 
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