JWP wire marks

Littlejoe919

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Any idea how long it would take for the wire marks on the lower branches to grow out and, or will they?
Thanks


JWP.JPG
 

Adair M

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Oh, in about 10 years you won't notice them!

Don't worry about it. It's kind of like seeing brush strokes in an oil painting.

It appears the tree needs to be wired again.

Oh... I see this one is at Brussel's. So you haven't bought it yet? If the wire marks bother you, don't buy it. They will be there a LONG time.
 

Littlejoe919

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I have not bought it, but I am considering it...Just needed to be sure they will grow out, so thank you for that. In your opinion Adair. is it worth the purchase price?
 

Adair M

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Wow, that's a loaded question!

Let's change it to: would Adair buy that tree? Ok?

The answer: No.

Here's why: it will never have good taper. Look at the section above the first whorl of branches. It's as thick as the lower trunk. It ought to be a little thinner.

Now, the good thing about the tree is it does show s good bit of rough bark. It usually takes JWP decades to transition from the smooth grey bark to becoming flakey. Then another decade to form plates of bark.

I will say I like it better than the ones priced $100 more.

See what Northeast Bonsai (John Romano) has.

I will say this: in my opinion, it is better to wait until a better one comes along than to grab the first thing you see. JWP grow so slowly that it's difficult to "fix" flaws.
 

zelk

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One thing I notice is that the fine branching is vertical. If they were wired to have a more horizontal position then slightly pointed up at the tips like an open hand the scars would be blocked from the viewer. You can bring the needles down and block most of the scaring. I can see this helping with the lower two branches mostly and they might get more light too in the process.
 

Littlejoe919

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Thank you Adair. I appreciate your opinion and didn't mean to put you on the spot. You couldn't have handled it better.
 

Adair M

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One thing I notice is that the fine branching is vertical. If they were wired to have a more horizontal position then slightly pointed up at the tips like an open hand the scars would be blocked from the viewer. You can bring the needles down and block most of the scaring. I can see this helping with the lower two branches mostly and they might get more light too in the process.
Zelk, what you say is true... To a point. An ideal pad of JWP foliage would have the branches showing below the green needles. So, we should be able to see the branch structure below. Just barely see it. The branch structure should not be obscured by foliage.
 

Adair M

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Thank you Adair. I appreciate your opinion and didn't mean to put you on the spot. You couldn't have handled it better.
Littlejoe, take into consideration that I'm rather picky about the trees I want to work on. Wire scars are temporary. That lack of taper? I'm afraid that's a permanent flaw. (At least for my lifetime!)
 

zelk

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Zelk, what you say is true... To a point. An ideal pad of JWP foliage would have the branches showing below the green needles. So, we should be able to see the branch structure below. Just barely see it. The branch structure should not be obscured by foliage.

True! I see your point, it would look strange if you could not see the structure of the branching.
 

Adair M

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True! I see your point, it would look strange if you could not see the structure of the branching.
Here's a picture of my JBP, taken back in May, just after I decandled it. Look at how you can just barely see the grey branch structure under the pads if foliage. image.jpg

And here is a picture taken today. This photo is taken from a higher angle, so it's harder to see the structure of the lower branches. image.jpg
 
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Here's a picture of my JBP, taken back in May, just after I decandled it. Look at how you can just barely see the grey branch structure under the pads if foliage. View attachment 78237

And here is a picture taken today. This photo is taken from a higher angle, so it's harder to see the structure of the lower branches. View attachment 78238
But yours isn't available on Ebay for $550.00, in all fairness. At that price point it's one of the more decent pines listed online recently, in my humble opinion. It has some nice barkand a decent trunk, add taper and subtract wire scars etc. and Brussel would have listed it for 1000 bucks.
 

Adair M

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Quiet, I'm not suggesting he should buy my tree, or one like it! No, I posted my tree to illustrate how pine pads should be built.

If he's ready to spend $500 for that tree, I would suggest saving the money, add a little to it over the next 6 months or so, and buy a far better tree next winter. They tend to ship them in from Japan over the winter.
 

Adair M

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Over on Facebook, in the "Bonsai Classifieds" group, Mark Comstock has a two inch trunk JWP up for auction. Starts at $60.

Worth a look...
 
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Don't you have a photo of your white pine to make your point about white pines? Or maybe substitute a picture of someone else's?

Unless I'm wrong, I think Adair meant all pines should ideally be styled in a similar way.
 

0soyoung

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An example of developed foliage pads (a torture test for apprentices). Oooooooooooooooo, yummy! :)
kokufupineafter.jpg
 

Adair M

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An example of developed foliage pads (a torture test for apprentices). Oooooooooooooooo, yummy! :)
kokufupineafter.jpg
Osoyoung,

It would be interesting to examine the wiring of this one up close. I have seen some that look stupendous from a distance, but up close, they've pulled branches and twigs from the back yo fill in the pads and make them look fuller than they really are. Looks great in the photo, and from the front, but the view from the back is poor.

I'm not saying that is the case here... Can't tell. But a really skilled wire job can trick the camera.
 

leatherback

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the good thing about the tree is it does show s good bit of rough bark. It usually takes JWP decades to transition from the smooth grey bark to becoming flakey.
Wondering.. Could it be that the rough section is actually JBP, with a very well-grafted JWP on top? The graft would then be fairly high, giving swelling which initially would help, but eventually ruin the image?

500 U$ asking price? Are JWP that expensive?
 
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