More dead wood on a mugho

Shibui

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I originally grew this mugho from a cutting I took home from a club meeting. That was a few years ago.............
It is now just over 30 cm (1') tall.
You can see that a few large branches were killed off a few years ago and converted to jin. There were already a couple of dead patches on the trunk that I've been preserving with lime sulphur.
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It appears that the jinned branches had a direct link with the roots below because last week I noticed the bark peeling off the trunk. Further exploration reveals the entire lower (left) side of the trunk is dead and, in fact, rotting under the bark.
I peeled off the dead bark and scraped way all the soft, rotted wood. One good thing about natural rotting of a bonsai trunk is that it gives some good texture as the wood rots unevenly.
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The clump f dead branches was always just a bit too large. Now it is way too big for the remaining trunk so I've started carving to reduce the visual weight.
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The carving has reduced the impact but I still think there's too much at the point where those 3 jins are.

It can be hard to objectively assess a tree you have been close to for nearly 30 years so I'm having just a little trouble working out where to go next.

None of you have a vested interest in this tree so you can probably be more objective. I'd like some feedback and suggestions on where to go next.
 

TomB

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I think your instincts are right.

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The foliage pads also need defining of course, I'm sure that's on your list. There's something a bit off about the balance of the tree, but you can probably address that through foliage placement/development. Maybe need to increase the mass/movement to the left, or shorten the branch on the right. Maybe take the apex a little to the left.
 

Woocash

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I might be tempted to thin the trunk down too. It looks a little deadwood heavy compared to the live wood. Maybe not quite hollow it out, but turn the beer belly into a six pack, so to speak, to make it more delicate or almost literati in style. Just my thoughts.
 

sorce

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A cutting!? FFS!

That Deadwood ain't growing.

That live tree is.

When the DW is 1/3 the size of the trunk, it'll look great.

Leave it!

FFFV.

Sorce
 

Shibui

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Forget about the deadwood, tell us about those root grafts!
;) Working on a frankentree.
A couple of nearby maples provide plenty of seed and these pop up in many pots. Often I leave them until spring repotting and pot up separately for another generation of possible bonsai.

When the DW is 1/3 the size of the trunk, it'll look great.
This is a mugho pine, not a trident maple!! Will I live that long? I would bet that by the time that trunk increases that much all the dead wood will have rotted away despite any preservation techniques.
 

sorce

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Will I live that long?

If you want to!

Hell, I figured if you got this far from a cutting, this to that ain't nothing!

How long HAS that been?

Sorce
 

clem

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None of you have a vested interest in this tree so you can probably be more objective. I'd like some feedback and suggestions on where to go next.
hello, maybe giving a little more movement to the long jing ? Not sure
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or

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M. Frary

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I think your instincts are right.

View attachment 284751

The foliage pads also need defining of course, I'm sure that's on your list. There's something a bit off about the balance of the tree, but you can probably address that through foliage placement/development. Maybe need to increase the mass/movement to the left, or shorten the branch on the right. Maybe take the apex a little to the left.
This looks like a good solution.
 

clem

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for me those jins give more dynamism and character to the tree ->
The lower long jin is straight, lack of movement but i would keep it (maybe reduce its size)
 

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Shibui

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Thanks for all the suggestion. As usual there are lots of possible answers to how to style a bonsai and all the above would all make great improvement to this tree.
One thing you may not have been able to see in the photos was the great shape and texture in the middle horizontal jin.
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In the end I decided to try to keep it instead of the longer, lower one.

Lower dead branch removed and part of the upper lump reduced to lighten the weight there. i also followed the dead bark up to another dead stub above. I'll consider extending it right up to another higher jin at some stage.

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Still not perfect but lots better than before.
Also not really happy with the live part but that can wait for another day.
 

Shibui

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Thanks TomB. It is a smaller jin I was referring to but our idea would work too and may even be more dynamic with the jin extending through the top of the live foliage. There is actually a second vertical leader among that left side foliage that would provide the apex for your virt.
 
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