Small Japanese Maple

[Smoke]

Great nebari and a fat little trunk, show's some age, and just kind of says "here I am pricks, love me or hate me I am strong and I am staying" lol. I like your tree in the same way that I like a lion that is covered in scars, or an old gun that is covered in patina, it's called character..... Congrats on the score

There is always two sides of a coin. The Lion covered in scars may be the lion that always loses the battle, and the gun covered in patina may be poorly taken care of and might not cycle when the chips are down.

There is a lot to be said about trees that show the patina of age and the scars of life, but there are standards in bonsai that should be adheared to. Massive taper is good, but it should be beautiful and graceful, and not look terribly man made.



Nebari should flow into the ground without roots looking as though they have been cut back to fit into the pot. It should look as old as the tree and probably been worked on longer than the finished tree was started.





Some other very nice maple for study.

 

[Smoke]

Some others

 

[Smoke]

One can notice that none of the maples exhibit wasp waisting in the middle of the trunk. Even though some of the branches are quite large in proportion to the tree, the trunk shows no bulging at the intersections. This is a very important key in small maple trees.

This first tree is very well constructed but lacks the nebari that the others have that makes them seem old.



This tree exhibits the poor angle of the roots as they descend into the soil. The straight down aspect makes the roots seem short and cut back.....


....while these roots flare and enter the soil at a graceful slant, showing a good line on the trunk.

 

[Smoke]

If it were my tree I might try and ground layer it here to make a better angle on the root flare.

 

[Smoke]

Anyone notice something funny about this tree?

 

[abqjoe]

There is always two sides of a coin. The Lion covered in scars may be the lion that always loses the battle, and the gun covered in patina may be poorly taken care of and might not cycle when the chips are down.

There is a lot to be said about trees that show the patina of age and the scars of life, but there are standards in bonsai that should be adheared to. Massive taper is good, but it should be beautiful and graceful, and not look terribly man made.

Not to be argumentative but in nature a lion that always loses would be culled by nature itself because nature is cruel and only the strong survive. In fact, the only way for a given species to survive is if only the strongest genes are passed down. In nature if you lose, you lose with your life. An old lion in the wild that is covered in scars represents a lifetime of battle, strength, and diligence. An old rifle covered in patina is retired as it's already served it's purpose and is more valuable in that state as an object to admire. The type of retired object that makes you wonder what it would say if it could speak.
Awesome pics, thanks for posting...

 

[Smoke]

Think it maybe had a branch here recently?

 

[Smoke]

...and then some jerk at the exhibit, while standing around and drinking warm Sapporo's tells the proud owner of this tree.." Hey Shin, your tree has a terrible bar branch" and then the owner takes the crazy advice and prunes the branch off, only after, realizing that the tree was better with the bar branch.....

 

[Smoke]

Not to be argumentative but in nature a lion that always loses would be culled by nature itself because nature is cruel and only the strong survive. In fact, the only way for a given species to survive is if only the strongest genes are passed down. In nature if you lose, you lose with your life. An old lion in the wild that is covered in scars represents a lifetime of battle, strength, and diligence. An old rifle covered in patina is retired as it's already served it's purpose and is more valuable in that state as an object to admire. The type of retired object that makes you wonder what it would say if it could speak.
Awesome pics, thanks for posting...

you made a point, I made a point, repeating it does not make you righter, just argumentative. Brevity is the soul of wit.

 

[abqjoe]

you made a point, I made a point, repeating it does not make you righter, just argumentative. Brevity is the soul of wit.

"Righter", I like it, gonna use it one day

 

[Vin]

"Righter", I like it, gonna use it one day

Using someone else's made up word; that's just wronger.

 

[JudyB]

These are all great examples, most of them are masterful examples of well built small bonsai. One of them is even reminiscent of the tree of mine under discussion, although lacking the large and some (most) would say ugly start to the branches that are problematic on my tree. Although I would also say that some (pic #5 of post 21 and #1 of 22 most notably) could use a little of that thickening coming off the trunk with the lower branches that my tree has too much of.

The lack of taper on the roots is pretty apparent on one side of my tree, as you say lowering it on that side will be helpful. But the other side is not so terrible I think, so that one is easy as you say. As I lower it I'll strip the bark from the stub ends and attempt to gain new roots off them.

The branch issue is not an easy fix as you well know. This tree isn't a trident, so will be slower to heal the large scar(s) that will occur should I start over with this. I think if I were to start over, I would only cut the left branch and try to work with the right side as is. Since the right side is the lower branch, I think it could be viable as the heavy branch it is.

I think that I could see myself chopping the right branch in this way. With the branch left on the top side of the chop, it would facilitate the healing process to a manageable timeframe. I think that I'd also need another branch on that side perhaps a bit toward the front. What say you to this idea @Smoke ?

EDIT: @Vin, I thought my cut was significantly different than your suggestion, but in looking back it's much the same idea you had on page 1. And I did wire that one branch...Thanks!

And BTW, I'll let others argue about lions and guns, I'm here for the trees!

 

[fh05]

Anyone notice something funny about this tree?

View attachment 126685

If you hide the top half of the tree, the bottom half looks kinda like the bottom half of Judy's tree. May be try restricting the trees bottom half and grow the tree taller. eventually branches can be cut/grafted in appropriate places. This is of course if one wants a traditional Japanese style bonsai. Not saying Judy should change the tree, she should do what she likes the best. Just a discussion for others to explore/learn apply the design on something they might have. Also I have heard from Japanese trained masters that most of the trees have their entire branches cut off and regrown after several yrs because they get thick and out of proprtion. That is probably why the trees in pics have thinner branches. Just thinking out loud

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Interesting discussion. I think if you carefully reduce the first left branch from the top side, and replace it with a thread graft or another shoot, I can see this rounding out a rack nicely in a few years.

 

[JudyB]

Just a discussion for others to explore/learn apply the design on something they might have. Also I have heard from Japanese trained masters that most of the trees have their entire branches cut off and regrown after several yrs because they get thick and out of proprtion. That is probably why the trees in pics have thinner branches. Just thinking out loud

A good discussion. Thinking out loud is encouraged, and this has been informative. Thanks @Smoke for providing some lesson material!

Yes, most people who have more refined and older trees are always growing new branches from the interior to take over for older branches that have gotten out of proportion. This is why it's so important to keep viable buds inside the tree healthy.

This tree is just getting started and I'll keep it as a broom type of form, and will be growing a nice rounded canopy.

Interesting discussion. I think if you carefully reduce the first left branch from the top side, and replace it with a thread graft or another shoot, I can see this rounding out a rack nicely in a few years.

Brian, this is very nice! I looked at that branch yesterday and thought about doing a big "V" cut between the portions of that branch and separating the pieces. I don't know if it can be done, but I really like what you are showing here. This is where I'll try to go in the spring with that one, thanks for the lovely virt!

 

[sorce]

wronger

Doucher!

will be fun to see how it looks in 5 years.

Best sell it to someone who will keep posting it!

Pattern says this and one or 2 others turn into 1 way cooler tree within 2 years.

Sorce

 

[JudyB]

Well it's been longer than 5 years, so time to see what time has done... I just turned this one around and have claimed the back for the front. I believe it will be a better front all around. Yes is has an old borer scar but it's starting to blend in, and will probably completely fade in a few more. I love repotting season, you can remake your tree in a day... this one still has issues with long internodes, I will work on addressing that this year.