Talk is cheap, show me what you really know

Smoke

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All this talk is exhausting. How bout just showing what you really know when it comes to plants and pruners. If you ain't willing to post a picture of a before and after you have no business replying in this thread.

I work on as many as 30 trees all year long. Not the ones I show, nor the ones in nursery cans. These are just the ones that have been moved to exhibit type pots, and are trees that I have either collected or bought as rough material. All the work is my own and none of it is more than 9 years old in training. Many are much youger.
 

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Smoke

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Last few

Come on boys and girls..let's see um.
 

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JasonG

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Ok, I am going to give this a try... Cool it worked!! I think my camera setting for quality is set to high, because inorder to get pics on here to fit they were tiny, not even worth trying to post. Gotta love technology!

Mugo before and after.. When repotted it will be a shohin.

019.jpg

029.jpg


Rocky Mt Juniper Before and after. This one will get the back branch layered off for a super good shohin bonsai in the next few weeks and the main tree potted 1 year from now. First styling.
Before1.jpg

After1.jpg


Shohin JBP, working on this one with my big fat fingers was a trick!
JBPBEFOREfront.jpg

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Huge Ponderosa...I have since sold this tree but it is still in my yard for the next 12-18 months.
113_1313.jpg

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SubAlpine Fir. This is the first styling done last year. In a few weeks it will go into an Erin pot.
131_3127.jpg

FIRFront.jpg


There you go Al, I bit on your challenge, :) I have many, many more trees on my blog http://www.jasonsbonsai.blogspot.com/ and will be adding a bunch more over the next few months as I work them....Some are worldclass, others are good and a few will be average...

Thanks, Jason
 
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Dwight

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Gosh it's refreshing to see some of us actually speek bonsai a few thousand words at a time. Jason , I love the RMJ and Al , of course has some great Cal junies. I'm gonna start repotting soon and hopefully have some of my own to add if you don't mind beginners trees.
 

king kong

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Very nice bonsai Smoke and Jason! Did you grow any of those from seed Jason?
 

Smoke

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Gosh it's refreshing to see some of us actually speek bonsai a few thousand words at a time. Jason , I love the RMJ and Al , of course has some great Cal junies. I'm gonna start repotting soon and hopefully have some of my own to add if you don't mind beginners trees.

Thanks Dwight. Let's keep the dialog to when you actually post the photo's of the trees. That way one person makes a thank you post and then everyone wishes to glom on with a reply. Next thing you know all the people want to put their two cents worth in and then we have a whole group discussing other peoples trees and they never post anything of their own.
'
As far as beginner trees, if you feel it has prgressed to the point that it is in a show pot and would be displayed with your club then yes bring them on. If on the other hand it still has many years to go, is poorly ramified, and frankly does not look significantly like it has improved much from the before shot, then you will be doing yoiurself a diservice in this thread.

I hope to see some significant trees and work from some of those that are the most vocal and rude about bonsai. This will be the place to post your work and let it stand among your peers. No words need be spoken. I have not posted my work for praise or ohh's and ahh's. I have posted it to give examples that my words mean something, because I have done enough bonsai to know exactly what I am talking about and wish to discuss in any given thread based on experience.

If someone wishes to argue about my experience, I think it only fair to see just exactly what my opponet is capable of and how much stock I should put into their rhetoric. If they don't wish to play so be it...But...it will always be "I thought so"...

Cheers, Al
 
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Smoke

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Very nice bonsai Smoke and Jason! Did you grow any of those from seed Jason?

Read my introduction Kong. Post pictures of your work or go away. This is for bonsai and the pictures thereof.
 

king kong

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Gee Smoke, how about if I arrest myself.
 

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It is good to have some debates from time to time but there really should be a much higher proportion of tree's. I spent all day yesterday removing these Boxwoods for a neighbor who says they have been there since the late 50's. Maybe or maybe not but I counted as many as 35 rings on the biggest cut I made. I spent all day yesterday toiling in calf deep muck in the rain. Getting them out of the holes was the hardest part. I was very amazed at how much fine rootage there was and very shallow as well.

The Live Oak was collected 2 weeks ago during our last rain. I have been working on pulling this one for about 2 years. One more thicker one still on the mountain.
 

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Some more pics...
 

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Smoke

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It is good to have some debates from time to time but there really should be a much higher proportion of tree's. I spent all day yesterday removing these Boxwoods for a neighbor who says they have been there since the late 50's. Maybe or maybe not but I counted as many as 35 rings on the biggest cut I made. I spent all day yesterday toiling in calf deep muck in the rain. Getting them out of the holes was the hardest part. I was very amazed at how much fine rootage there was and very shallow as well.

The Live Oak was collected 2 weeks ago during our last rain. I have been working on pulling this one for about 2 years. One more thicker one still on the mountain.


Thanks Mark for posting these pictures. Problem is they do not show anything about your skills at making these into bonsai. Maybe in 4 or 5 years you can post into a thread such as this and show the world you really have what it takes to discuss on an intelligent level based on years of experience.

I apoligise if this sounds harsh, but I am looking for some experience here. My wife digs plants out all the time. In fact she dug out 6 rose bushes 7 years ago only to replant new roses this year...go figure! My wife has not the first clue about making bonsai, so while your photo's of some great material freshly dug are impressive, it does not really showcase your bonsai skills.

I am fully aware that someone may be very intelligent and have read a thousand bonsai books and post on 13 bonsai discussion forums and be able to parrot everything they have ever learned. Book learnin is no substitute for real tree experience.

So... if you have it show it.
 

Jay Wilson

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How about a willow oak?

First pic at collection 2004.

Second pic Feb 1st 2009.

Still a ways to go, but coming along.
 

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Jay Wilson

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Well......
Al's been on since I posted this and didn't tell me to leave, so I guess I can comment on a tree in this thread.:)

Jason, I really like the little mugo pine you started your post with!

Ok, I'm done:D
 
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Vance Wood

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Thanks Dwight. Let's keep the dialog to when you actually post the photo's of the trees. That way one person makes a thank you post and then everyone wishes to glom on with a reply. Next thing you know all the people want to put their two cents worth in and then we have a whole group discussing other peoples trees and they never post anything of their own.
'
As far as beginner trees, if you feel it has prgressed to the point that it is in a show pot and would be displayed with your club then yes bring them on. If on the other hand it still has many years to go, is poorly ramified, and frankly does not look significantly like it has improved much from the before shot, then you will be doing yoiurself a diservice in this thread.

I hope to see some significant trees and work from some of those that are the most vocal and rude about bonsai. This will be the place to post your work and let it stand among your peers. No words need be spoken. I have not posted my work for praise or ohh's and ahh's. I have posted it to give examples that my words mean something, because I have done enough bonsai to know exactly what I am talking about and wish to discuss in any given thread based on experience.

If someone wishes to argue about my experience, I think it only fair to see just exactly what my opponet is capable of and how much stock I should put into their rhetoric. If they don't wish to play so be it...But...it will always be "I thought so"...

Cheers, Al

Al; You pick a great time of year to take pot shots (I hope to see some significant trees and work from some of those that are the most vocal and rude about bonsai) at people who are burried under ten inches of snow with everything frozen to the ground. It will be another month before anything gets out around here.

As a side bar I also find it amussing that in your complaining about some being rude about bonsai, you find no problem in doing the same in a post where nothing has happened till now. That's double minded.
 
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Same old person, asking the same old thing, that has been shown over and over again.....

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

Dig up threads on my trees Rude Al, post them here if you want, but don't pretend it hasn't been done.

My trees are here on this forum and here and here and here and other places, have at them.

So now what?



Will
 

Smoke

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Al; You pick a great time of year to take pot shots (I hope to see some significant trees and work from some of those that are the most vocal and rude about bonsai) at people who are burried under ten inches of snow with everything frozen to the ground. It will be another month before anything gets out around here.

As a side bar I also find it amussing that in your complaining about some being rude about bonsai, you find no problem in doing the same in a post where nothing has happened till now. That's double minded.

I can't help it you don't take pictures of your trees when the weather is fair. Some of my photo's I have posted are of my trees last summer and spring. Give me a break..use your noggin.
 

Smoke

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Same old person, asking the same old thing, that has been shown over and over again.....

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

I don't believe the stove is hot, ouch.

Dig up threads on my trees Rude Al, post them here if you want, but don't pretend it hasn't been done.

My trees are here on this forum and here and here and here and other places, have at them.

So now what?



Will


Will you pick and choose who you align yourself with based on bodies of work. You have much respect for some out there and you have told as much. I see no reason not to put together some side by side photo's of your own work over a few years and show us what you have done.

If you wish not to I understand. I suspect as much anyway since you like that line and use it often.

This thread has pretty much gone the way I suspected anyway.
 
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I see no reason not to put together some side by side photo's of your own work over a few years and show us what you have done.

Been there, done that, see the links above. I see no reason to duplicate what has already been posted.

Don't you have a few checks to write or something?



Will
 
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Okay, here's a corkbark Japanese black pine from three years ago:

P1010484.JPG


Here's the tree in 2007:

PIC_0301a.jpg


And here it is in 2008:

P1011688a.jpg


As has been pointed out, this tree needs more work, including possibly air layering it at the graft. The long right branch needs to be wired this year, among other work. But I believe the tree is developing nicely.
 
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