Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
It’s been a few years since the last update on this tree. At the 2016 show, Kathy Shaner offered a critique on the itoigawa and made the following suggestions:
At a workshop in the summer of 2016, we split the apex in a first step to reducing the height. I was a bit nervous about the direction for such a small tree, and spent the next couple seasons not really liking the result.
I let it grow and didn’t work on it much in 2017 or 2018. This one doesn’t back-bud well, and developed a bald spot in the left side. I finally decided to rework it this week, and it’s improving into a more compact and rounded design, but not quite where I want it yet. Here it is before and after:
At a workshop in the summer of 2016, we split the apex in a first step to reducing the height. I was a bit nervous about the direction for such a small tree, and spent the next couple seasons not really liking the result.
I let it grow and didn’t work on it much in 2017 or 2018. This one doesn’t back-bud well, and developed a bald spot in the left side. I finally decided to rework it this week, and it’s improving into a more compact and rounded design, but not quite where I want it yet. Here it is before and after: