Slow and Easy

ghues

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When I first started on this Bonsai journey my mentors mantra was “Slow and Easy”. Did I follow his words and decades of experience?......of course not I was middle aged and wanted to speed things along lol. After adding to the wood pile to many times with mediocre trees I started to collect what I saw as special trees with character, age and the best chance for survival and a decent bonsai. The following Shore Pine with its very corky bark is one that I know will be a challenge but well worth going the Slow and Easy route....haven’t picked a front...why now? as it’s only been one season since collection......however when collected (and put into the grow box) it was pretty much prone (laying horizontal) to the ground level....as the summer drifted along I took stones/boulders and planted them under it to lift it up. The following photos show it today with the largest rock I’ave use and moved closer to the base that I uncovered a few weeks back.
Wanted to start its own thread so I can share and update its progresssion.
Thoughts ideas welcome.
Cheers from the GWN
G.
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ghues

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Thanks for the comments guys.....I am leaning towards the photo below for the front which is a slightly different angle than the first photo in this thread. However I found this other photo (second one below) that really peaked my interest (credit to Bill V’s Website)....which has some similar characteristics, shape, flaky old bark, lots of deadwood.

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Velodog2

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I think you can do better. The crown on the tree in your pic is too heavy and dense and has little movement, plus blocks a lot of trunk. It acts like a period at the end of the flow, stopping it. When I saw yours I was trying to decide which direction I’d like to see the crown move towards. Either would work but I think I like the right better if it’s possible. What are you thinking?
 

CasAH

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Thanks for the comments guys.....I am leaning towards the photo below for the front which is a slightly different angle than the first photo in this thread. However I found this other photo (second one below) that really peaked my interest (credit to Bill V’s Website)....which has some similar characteristics, shape, flaky old bark, lots of deadwood.

View attachment 165194 View attachment 165195

I do not like the apex in this picture of your tree. The trunk looks like a road snaking up a mountain, then the apex shoots straight up. In the first pic you posted the transition from trunk to apex is not so severe or stark to the eye.

It is a great tree .
 

ghues

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I think you can do better. The crown on the tree in your pic is too heavy and dense and has little movement, plus blocks a lot of trunk. It acts like a period at the end of the flow, stopping it. When I saw yours I was trying to decide which direction I’d like to see the crown move towards. Either would work but I think I like the right better if it’s possible. What are you thinking?
I do not like the apex in this picture of your tree. The trunk looks like a road snaking up a mountain, then the apex shoots straight up. In the first pic you posted the transition from trunk to apex is not so severe or stark to the eye.

It is a great tree .
Thanks for your comments........only a year in, will be in this grow box for at least two more years so I’ll have plenty of time to look for potential fronts. Also the base will probably dictate the decision as well as it hooks upon itself pretty good. I hope to have some folks (from the Portland Bonsai Village) up this way next spring that might give me some ideas.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Damn that is nice. The bark suggests this tree is probably two centuries old, give or take. Geriatric trees need extra time to adjust.

Slow and Easy. I would not even consider wiring it until next autumn. Don't want to jostle and break any of the fine new roots forming. I would not prune anything off, until new growth on every branch had a chance to grow out and revitalize the tree.

I do like the analogy of the snaking mountain road, but for all that trunk, you do not have much foliage. I would try to keep as much as possible, strategic wiring will condense the look in time.

A tree needs to grow to be healthy.
 

ghues

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Damn that is nice. The bark suggests this tree is probably two centuries old, give or take. Geriatric trees need extra time to adjust.

Slow and Easy. I would not even consider wiring it until next autumn. Don't want to jostle and break any of the fine new roots forming. I would not prune anything off, until new growth on every branch had a chance to grow out and revitalize the tree.

I do like the analogy of the snaking mountain road, but for all that trunk, you do not have much foliage. I would try to keep as much as possible, strategic wiring will condense the look in time.

A tree needs to grow to be healthy.

Yes this tree and many others from the collection area have this very corky bark which is so unusual for a Shore Pine. On the east coast of Island the bark is typical Lodgepole and nowhere as thick......this location is close to the ocean, in swampy pockets which receives probably at least a hundred inches of rain per year and even has a heavy fog in summer. Was in a tent in August 2016 on the collection trip and when I woke up the tent was drenched in sea fog (Middle of August).
You are also correct I won’t wire it and just let it grow perhaps for the next two years.....as I want to ensure it’s got lots of healthy roots.....it’s in a heavy % of pumice which these seems to love.
Cheers
 

Potawatomi13

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Definitely Literati and has great potential as wonderful Cascade and no worry about supporting artificially as any upright form;). Anton Niehuis(sp?)collects these.
 

Vance Wood

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When I first started on this Bonsai journey my mentors mantra was “Slow and Easy”. Did I follow his words and decades of experience?......of course not I was middle aged and wanted to speed things along lol. After adding to the wood pile to many times with mediocre trees I started to collect what I saw as special trees with character, age and the best chance for survival and a decent bonsai. The following Shore Pine with its very corky bark is one that I know will be a challenge but well worth going the Slow and Easy route....haven’t picked a front...why now? as it’s only been one season since collection......however when collected (and put into the grow box) it was pretty much prone (laying horizontal) to the ground level....as the summer drifted along I took stones/boulders and planted them under it to lift it up. The following photos show it today with the largest rock I’ave use and moved closer to the base that I uncovered a few weeks back.
Wanted to start its own thread so I can share and update its progresssion.
Thoughts ideas welcome.
Cheers from the GWN
G.
View attachment 165175 View attachment 165176 View attachment 165177 View attachment 165178
Sometimes slow and steady means it'll never be ready
In your life or mine you'll never have time
You'll scratch and you'll scheme
read a magazine and when all is done----- you'll never have one.

You have to take chances as long as you have an idea of what your are doing.
 

ghues

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Definitely Literati and has great potential as wonderful Cascade and no worry about supporting artificially as any upright form;). Anton Niehuis(sp?)collects these.
Collected this one with Anton and another member of our club. He’s been my friend and mentor for years. He and I talked about this one just yesterday, main focus would be to have the crown in line with the base.
 

ghues

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Sometimes slow and steady means it'll never be ready
In your life or mine you'll never have time
You'll scratch and you'll scheme
read a magazine and when all is done----- you'll never have one.

You have to take chances as long as you have an idea of what your are doing.
Hey Vance,
As you know, our trees (if kept alive) are never finished lol. I’m OK with that, maybe I’ll design this one and then it might move on to someone’s else’s yard where it might go through another transformation.
I studied this with my mentor yesterday and will probably move it into a pot spring 2019.
 

ghues

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2020 update.
As @Leo in N E Illinois mentioned above in post 10, these old ones can ( or do) need more time to acclimatize to a pots life.......and it’s true with this one.
As the tree tells us, it has really struggled and life was harsh in the bog I collected it in. It’s settling down an it appears that it’s health is improving each year. This cement pot is only a temporary home.
 

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River's Edge

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2020 update.
As @Leo in N E Illinois mentioned above in post 10, these old ones can ( or do) need more time to acclimatize to a pots life.......and it’s true with this one.
As the tree tells us, it has really struggled and life was harsh in the bog I collected it in. It’s settling down an it appears that it’s health is improving each year. This cement pot is only a temporary home.
Looking very healthy. Pretty sure pictures do not do this one full justice!
This winter would be a good time to wire and position initial branch placement. That would also increase the opportunity for back buds and density in the crown if desired! That work should not affect the stability of the root pad as you have it well braced, but it would speed up the root formation as additional foliage is produced. The thinner branches up top will back bud even more than they have so far. Nice work!
Even if you do not wish too dense a top, the extra foliage for a season or two will give you a huge advantage during development and begin to reduce needle size.
I would consider a more upright position to swing away from the horizontal focus.
 

ghues

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Looking very healthy. Pretty sure pictures do not do this one full justice!
This winter would be a good time to wire and position initial branch placement. That would also increase the opportunity for back buds and density in the crown if desired! That work should not affect the stability of the root pad as you have it well braced, but it would speed up the root formation as additional foliage is produced. The thinner branches up top will back bud even more than they have so far. Nice work!
Even if you do not wish too dense a top, the extra foliage for a season or two will give you a huge advantage during development and begin to reduce needle size.
I would consider a more upright position to swing away from the horizontal focus.
Thanks Frank,
Although it doesn’t really come out well, I did try to initiate some Back budding and I removed initial wiring of main branches this spring and have been feeding it well. Interesting observation; as the tree has gained health and strength, bark has been falling off this spring exposing an unseen damage along the lower trunk, which will blend with the upper Shari.....continuing the story of its struggle. I’ll have to experiment with some more upright positions. Just not sure as the base has such a strange hook in it?
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