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Hartinez

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That activity is on my bucket list, working to get to that point some day if the good lord is willing and the creeks don't rise! There are some amazing artists and trees in the PNW.
Oh yeah. Bit of a Bonsai Mecca up there. Getting a tree in to The National show in my lifetime is also a goal. I’d love to see the high desert represented a bit more. Such a unique landscape here in Northern NM. I’ve got some serious work to do! At 36, hopefully I’ve got lots of time to figure it out!
 

amcoffeegirl

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I was terrified that Jerry was going to hate my tree after listening to Al and Sorce.
But he said yes, yes, yes.
So I think I am on a path - to greatness or destruction- we will see. Could go either way. Lol
 

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Cadillactaste

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I was terrified that Jerry was going to hate my tree after listening to Al and Sorce.
But he said yes, yes, yes.
So I think I am on a path - to greatness or destruction- we will see. Could go either way. Lol
Having validation by one who is so respected with the species is pretty much of a high in and of itself!!!

So glad you shared...so we too can learn here from one of the best.
 

amcoffeegirl

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Having validation by one who is so respected with the species is pretty much of a high in and of itself!!!

So glad you shared...so we too can learn here from one of the best.
Reality is that I do grow them for my own enjoyment- as long as they are healthy then I am happy.
I do what I can but I am not a bonsai master. Lol. Still trying to learn- everyday.
 

Cadillactaste

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Reality is that I do grow them for my own enjoyment- as long as they are healthy then I am happy.
I do what I can but I am not a bonsai master. Lol. Still trying to learn- everyday.
True enough...But...to know you did right...and didn't set the tree back. Must be a good feeling. Jerry's guidance is vault worthy.
 

BobbyLane

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About 8 years ago when i started in the hobby, i started with this Carmona, at the time it was my favourite and only tree...bought from a hardware store
I remember showing a picture of it to Peter chan at his nursery, he said if i could keep it alive for more than 6 months im doing good while bellowing in laughter(theyre known in the hobby as being finnicky)20190509_154742.jpg😂

i dont think it even lasted 3 months😂

ps ive learnt a lot since then and most of what ive learned has been from online resources and sort of doing my own thing, studying nature, studying many progression threads and studying what pros and serious enthusiasts are doing with their trees.ive joined numerous forums and not always participated in 'other' forums but read loads of content.
 
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sorce

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It is attached to the tree, and no apology necessary! It’s a fair criticism regardless of wether it’s attached to the tree as my wiring can be a bit messy at times.

Here’s a better shot. You can see how I twisted the wire out first, then starting bending the wires at spots in order to bring the branch down a bit further.
View attachment 265747

Seeing these next branches already improved that quite a lot!

Sorce
 

Hartinez

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Seeing these next branches already improved that quite a lot!

Sorce
Thanks Sorce. What color pot would you make for a tree like this? My initial thought was a lighter clay with a glaze that was similar in color to the flowers.
 

sorce

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Thank you, the initial styling was with the assistance of Michael Hagedorn, Bobby Curtright, and Matt Reel. It was a group wiring and styling effort in the fall of 2013. Matt and Bobby helped rewire it in 2017.
Since then I have reworked it several times as it matures. Most recently the tailgate bonsai group i work within has provided assistance with wiring and styling. We have all studied with Michael Hagedorn and two of us have graduated from Boon's program as well. Two other members have completed Ryan's intensives. So there is no shortage of advice. :eek:

A tree like this can take me a week to wire on my own. I am slow and find that i get more careless if i try to wire for too long at a time. But then it takes from size 4 to 20 to complete a collected Hemlock. Now that the primary branches are set, i work primarily with # 10 to #20 when rewiring. After the most recent session, it was decided that the trunks could move a bit closer and the movement between the two would improve, as well as create a more unified flow. This was after thinning and separating pads, allowing for negative space and future pad growth. Needs to fill in again.View attachment 265749

This is wonderful.

My only feeling is the small tree should have a bit less green.
As the trunk size dictates green size.
The trunks are 70/30 - 60/40.
The foilage should match.
It is however 60/60.

The bottom right branch gone could fix the amount. But it's the wrong branch.

Sorce
 

sorce

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Thanks Sorce. What color pot would you make for a tree like this? My initial thought was a lighter clay with a glaze that was similar in color to the flowers.

I love the blue.
Standalone that works well for me.

In a shohin stand. Something more stupid like orange may work, yellow to really stop an eye.

Sorce
 

sorce

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I was terrified that Jerry was going to hate my tree after listening to Al and Sorce.
But he said yes, yes, yes.
So I think I am on a path - to greatness or destruction- we will see. Could go either way. Lol

If I may....

I love Jerry, don't know him. Respect for his work with ficus.
But what I am feeling is he maybe not as blunt a teacher as a Smoke would be.
Being more concerned about your feelings than your tree, I could understand he may say that's good, when he would do something different, but may not have the words to explain it.

This is why I like @Smoke it's too bad people are too sissy to get what he's giving.
It would make for better trees.

I think of Jerry had the time and words, he'd dive into something different with you and that tree.

Sorry to semisidetrack this thing, it's just all so related and relevant.

Sorce
 

PABonsai

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In an attempt to do a markup, here is what I envisioned moving forward. The foliage cutting came from the instructor's advice to trim everything pointing up and everything pointing down. I think now that's bad advice for something so early in development. However even there in the class it had backbudding and now the backbudding has come forth as foliage, so it's just a matter of time.

Regarding your advice to get more....after class that day I walked around the nursery I picked out these two 🤣
 

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Cadillactaste

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@sorce if you use the search engine...Al has not done ficus but a few years.
I have seen Jerry tell people if they did the wrong thing. On his ficus group. He surely was concerned about my too-little when I first shared it. So...I call BS. That Jerry didn't want to hurt her feelings. He is kind and tells you what you need to hear. I should know. Been there. 😉 And I think highly of him because of it.

That one of Jerry's wisdom would be passed over for one with less years of experience with a particular species. I guess I have been away here longer than I imagined.
 
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River's Edge

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This is wonderful.

My only feeling is the small tree should have a bit less green.
As the trunk size dictates green size.
The trunks are 70/30 - 60/40.
The foilage should match.
It is however 60/60.

The bottom right branch gone could fix the amount. But it's the wrong branch.

Sorce
I would like to see a Sorce tree. Been waiting for his cooperation along with Smoke! Unless i missed one of their trees in this thread they seem to be missing! I thought that was the purpose of this thread?
 

amcoffeegirl

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If I may....

I love Jerry, don't know him. Respect for his work with ficus.
But what I am feeling is he maybe not as blunt a teacher as a Smoke would be.
Being more concerned about your feelings than your tree, I could understand he may say that's good, when he would do something different, but may not have the words to explain it.

This is why I like @Smoke it's too bad people are too sissy to get what he's giving.
It would make for better trees.

I think of Jerry had the time and words, he'd dive into something different with you and that tree.

Sorry to semisidetrack this thing, it's just all so related and relevant.

Sorce
I do really appreciate it and smoke is correct.
I did defoliate out of season. I did shear it.
I appreciate him way more than he knows- Al
He personally drives me to go work on my trees. I am not joking. He challenges people to do the work. I love that about him!
 

VAFisher

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One of my favorite trees is this Mountain Hemlock. It is a collected tree that i have been training for the past six years. I will post the beginning and the current stage. The beginning stage is immediately after purchase and still in the nursery pot used after collection.
The challenge with this tree is the distance between the two trunks initially, successive wiring, bending and application of Bonsai Jacks has improved the distance and movement. The tree has been styled on four occasions, and wired consistently over the past six years with wire removed and reapplied as needed. Repotting was accomplished over five stages from collection to present pot. The tree requires further pad refinement and the process involves regular pruning of new shoots and further detailed wiring in areas that are extending!

This is one my favorite trees that I have seen on the site ever. It's right up there with @ABCarve 's Eastern Hemlock. I think I mentioned this one other time, but the only little thing that I see is that second pad of foliage on the left tree. To me, I think it would look nice if that extended a little further left and filled some of that negative space. Then again, maybe that would make everything too uniform. Any way you look at it though, it's an awesome tree.

Here's one of my favorite trees - a red maple (Acer rubrum). I've posted a lot of pics of this tree in it's own thread but it doesn't get a ton of comments, so I would love to get some thoughts. I purchased it 4 or 5 years ago from a member that no longer posts here. It looked like this shortly after I got it.

50f5c6f9-807e-4412-9200-5eaf726b03e6_zps1szau5u1.jpg

I will always love that pic because my old dog got me with a photo bomb in the background that I didn't even notice until later. Over the last few years, I've worked it into a much shallower pot and tried to develop the branches to make it a little taller and provide a fuller canopy. I feel like it's slowly improving

Here it was this summer after defoliation:

2019-06-29 07.38.38.jpg

And then about a month later after the leaves grew back.

2019-07-21 17.42.47.jpg
 

River's Edge

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This is one my favorite trees that I have seen on the site ever. It's right up there with @ABCarve 's Eastern Hemlock. I think I mentioned this one other time, but the only little thing that I see is that second pad of foliage on the left tree. To me, I think it would look nice if that extended a little further left and filled some of that negative space. Then again, maybe that would make everything too uniform. Any way you look at it though, it's an awesome tree.

Here's one of my favorite trees - a red maple (Acer rubrum). I've posted a lot of pics of this tree in it's own thread but it doesn't get a ton of comments, so I would love to get some thoughts. I purchased it 4 or 5 years ago from a member that no longer posts here. It looked like this shortly after I got it.

View attachment 265778

I will always love that pic because my old dog got me with a photo bomb in the background that I didn't even notice until later. Over the last few years, I've worked it into a much shallower pot and tried to develop the branches to make it a little taller and provide a fuller canopy. I feel like it's slowly improving

Here it was this summer after defoliation:

View attachment 265779

And then about a month later after the leaves grew back.

View attachment 265780
Agreed on the second pad notation. Post #37 in this thread should show the direction i am taking with it! Some extension has occurred and it is set up for more! As the tree is developing the foliage amount changes with growth patterns and timing between thinning and wiring. hemlock before pruning and thinning can be fairly dense with lots of new upward shoots. Particularily when there is sufficient space between pads for lots of light. Each pad can extend by 1-2 inches each growing season if not cut back. That second pad on the left was started from a small interior branch, much smaller in relation to other branches that were kept six years ago!
 

just.wing.it

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This is one my favorite trees that I have seen on the site ever. It's right up there with @ABCarve 's Eastern Hemlock. I think I mentioned this one other time, but the only little thing that I see is that second pad of foliage on the left tree. To me, I think it would look nice if that extended a little further left and filled some of that negative space. Then again, maybe that would make everything too uniform. Any way you look at it though, it's an awesome tree.

Here's one of my favorite trees - a red maple (Acer rubrum). I've posted a lot of pics of this tree in it's own thread but it doesn't get a ton of comments, so I would love to get some thoughts. I purchased it 4 or 5 years ago from a member that no longer posts here. It looked like this shortly after I got it.

View attachment 265778

I will always love that pic because my old dog got me with a photo bomb in the background that I didn't even notice until later. Over the last few years, I've worked it into a much shallower pot and tried to develop the branches to make it a little taller and provide a fuller canopy. I feel like it's slowly improving

Here it was this summer after defoliation:

View attachment 265779

And then about a month later after the leaves grew back.

View attachment 265780
Awesome Rubrum!

I'll post up this Spekboom because its my oldest tree, being the only one I have left from my first year of Bonsai, 2015.
It has a little bro now too (cutting).
All things considered, I think its coming along quite nicely.

2015:
IMAG1418.jpg

2016:
IMAG2045.jpg

2017:
IMAG4118.jpg

2018:
KIMG1019.JPG

2019:
20191007_172115.jpg20191007_172157.jpg20191007_172452.jpg20191007_172505.jpg20191007_172510.jpg
 
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