catfish chapstick
Chumono
I started learning about bonsai in 2005 and now, 8 years later, I am still struggling to understand how exactly to structure a deciduous tree.
I heard Ryan Neil say in a critique say that deciduous trees branch upwards and out, implying if the bonsai doesn't do this it's trying to look like a pine. I have seen the deciduous bonsai that are structured like a pine with horizontal branches and triangular foliage so I know what he means kind of, but when I am out looking at old deciduous trees I have noticed that they don't always grow branches reaching upwards and out. I passed a tree today that was very old and looked very much like it would have been a nice bonsai if it were shrunken. The branches and trunk were a bit contorted and generally emerged horizontally. I started observing the branches of other old trees and it appeared that they were more than capable of going in any direction as well as displaying lots of movement. I also feel like trees in nature are rarely as compact as people try to design bonsai to be.
Can anyone give me any insight or examples. I don't want to be sold on the idea of creating fantasy trees, I want my future trees to look like realistic trees. Am I thinking about this all wrong? Have I missed the point of bonsai somehow?
I heard Ryan Neil say in a critique say that deciduous trees branch upwards and out, implying if the bonsai doesn't do this it's trying to look like a pine. I have seen the deciduous bonsai that are structured like a pine with horizontal branches and triangular foliage so I know what he means kind of, but when I am out looking at old deciduous trees I have noticed that they don't always grow branches reaching upwards and out. I passed a tree today that was very old and looked very much like it would have been a nice bonsai if it were shrunken. The branches and trunk were a bit contorted and generally emerged horizontally. I started observing the branches of other old trees and it appeared that they were more than capable of going in any direction as well as displaying lots of movement. I also feel like trees in nature are rarely as compact as people try to design bonsai to be.
Can anyone give me any insight or examples. I don't want to be sold on the idea of creating fantasy trees, I want my future trees to look like realistic trees. Am I thinking about this all wrong? Have I missed the point of bonsai somehow?