Shore Pine Restyle

[misfit11]

I posted this over at the Bonsai Site Forums and thought I'd post it here as well. I don't know if it's B'nut worthy, but what the hell.

This is a Shore Pine that I purchased from nursery stock back in 2005 or so. I had intended to train this as an informal upright but as my bonsai knowledge has progressed and my critical eye has gotten more so, I decided it was time to rethink this thing. The trunk is too thin for the height that I currently had it. Therefore, as it was, it would never be a convincing bonsai. However, I didn't feel that reducing down to the first branch was what this thing wanted So I decided on trying my hand at some form of literati.

Here is the tree before and after the styling. I plan on putting it in a small drum next spring. The pot it's in is the plastic training pot it's been in since 2006 or so.

 

[Bill S]

I think you have made a good decision.

 

[october]

I like it very much... I also think it was the right way to go for the tree.

Rob

 

[misfit11]

Thanks, guys. When you do something this drastic it is easy to feel that you've gone too far. There is that, "Oh, $&%#! What have I done?" moment. And especially with pines, you ain't gettin' that back ever again.

 

[Bill S]

Ahhh you know what they say about hindsite being 20/20. Second guessing yourself doesn't help, wait it out now and see how your decision works out. Big thing is everyone makes mistakes - the wise one learns from them. Not saying anything new by any means, and I am not saying you made a mistake. By the way the lay term for excrement has been heard form my work area more times than I care to admit.

As far as the drastic goes always keep in mind the horticultural aspects of the material, it tells you what the tree can take, most of all, have a plan for the work session, don't let yourself do more than you should.

 

[october]

By the way the lay term for excrement has been heard form my work area more times than I care to admit.

lol......Good one Bill.......Usually, there is a sound of "snap" before the term is shouted in my yard.. However, I have a new friend..his name is "super glue".. So the excrement term has been down graded to a sigh....

Rob

 

[Bill S]

Rob, maybe thats the dividing point between a noob and a bonsai hobbiest, wether or not you snap it off or snap it just enough to be able to glue it on and live, jin doen's count

 

[misfit11]

I've since changed the front of this tree and pulled the apex way down. Here's an update:

 

[PaulH]

Big improvement from the start. However, I think the new bend in the top doesn't help the tree. Makes it look a little like a walking cane to me. The bend I would have suggested would be at the loer jin to break up the perfectly straight trunk.
Check out the trunk on Mike Hagedorn's literati sierra juniper here http://crataegus.com/ (it's the second one down)

Paul

 

[jk_lewis]

I think shortening it was a good idea, but that very round bend to get there isn't gonna work for you for long. From the picture at that angle I can't see well enough to know if there is a solution.

If this were a juniper, I'd say break the trunk, then let the bend mend, but it's a pine and I don't know pines well enough to make that recommendation.

You may want to have a bit less foliage up top, too. I tried a virt on the first one, but it didn't work well enough.

 

[misfit11]

So we worked on this tree at a REBS Intermediate workshop a few months back. I've gotten little praise for this tree around these forums (and possibly rightfully so...), but the instructors at the class seemed to like it and I guess saw some promise in it. They immediately decided that my chosen front was wrong and rotated the tree about 90 degrees. They also thought my extreme bending of the top was a bit too extreme and so we needed to use some rebar to bend it back up a bit. From there I did a bit of deadwood work by adding some shari and we styled the top.

I had bent the lower trunk in a couple places (one by the jin) last year following advice online. Realizing I was in no way going to bend it using wire (it is simply too big) I ended up using branch benders. They did succeed inducing some much needed movement but despite my efforts to protect the bark (using bicycle innertube), it still got f'd up. Oh, well, it'll heal eventually...

Anyway, I think this guy is coming along...

Sorry for the poor pic. It was done with my phone and the light was getting a bit low

 

[Dav4]

Nice! It's amazing what a change in planting angle can do to improve the design. Nice job wiring out the canopy, as well.

 

[october]

Beautiful tree. To the untrained eye..Bunjin seem like the easist style to pull off. When in reality, it is actually the hardest. This tree now has the makings of a classic bunjin. Just a little more time and it will be a nice show tree.

Rob

 

[misfit11]

Nice! It's amazing what a change in planting angle can do to improve the design. Nice job wiring out the canopy, as well.

Thanks, Dave. It's nice to get such a positive comment from someone who has such amazing trees as yours. And you're right. The planting angle improved it 100%.

Beautiful tree. To the untrained eye..Bunjin seem like the easist style to pull off. When in reality, it is actually the hardest. This tree now has the makings of a classic bunjin. Just a little more time and it will be a nice show tree.

Rob

Thanks, Rob. I know some people around here don't care much for the bunjin style (*cough* Harry *cough), but it certainly is an acquired taste, isn't it? I know my wife doesn't "get it". She's like, "it just looks like it needs more needles." Whatever... And you're right, it is one of the most difficult styles to "pull off", but when done well, they can be very impressive.

It's nice to hear such praise from you as well. I know you've got a couple bunjins that are very nice. Thanks.