Working on Grafted Calif Juniper with Ryan Neil

[bob shimon]

I have had this Calif Juniper for a number of years and had it grafted about 7 years ago and knida forgot about it. I was working with Ryan this past Oct, and he saw it on the shelf and suggested that we work on it. The other fella in a couple of the pictures is Ned Lycett, a friend of ours. The pictures are over two sessions, one on Oct 31, 2012 and the other on Feb 4, 2013. The life line was seperated from the dead wood and wrapped in rafia. The pot was turned 90 degrees so the deadwood is now vertical. Ryan then took the live portion and bent it down and around the deadwood. The tree was allowed to rest til our Feb session. Since the tree was turned 90 degrees, the roots also had to be moved with the help of rafia and #4 copper wire. It was planted in a Sara Rayner pot and is in my greenhouse under my mist system. There are 10 pictures, so I will have to probably do several postings.

 

[bob shimon]

Part Two of Grafted Calif Juniper with Ryan Neil

Second half of pictures

 

[berobinson82]

Wow! Quite the transformation. I have heard the "no more than one insult in one year" spoken countless times by smart people. This is like a triple whammy. Does the misting system help nurse junipers back to help after such a surgery?

 

[Umeboshi]

Nice work.
Are you going to leave the long deadwood section or do you plan on reducing it for a more compact tree?

 

[Brian Underwood]

I had no idea you could simply separate the live vein like that! Awesome. Ryan is definitely a great resource for learning. Thanks for sharing Bob.

 

[berobinson82]

I had no idea you could simply separate the live vein like that! Awesome. Ryan is definitely a great resource for learning. Thanks for sharing Bob.

He did the same at the latest Willowbog event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEfke0XAag0

 

[bob shimon]

Haven't decided on the length of the dead wood yet, will wait til the foliage fills out. Seperating the live vain from the deadwood is quite routine, at least for Ryan. I have seen him do it a numbern of times. What amazes me is how he bends and positions the live vain after seperating it. Junipers develop roots and energy through the foliage, and it really helps to mist them after this kind of work.

 

[october]

This will be a very nice future bonsai. The seperation of the live vein is a procedure that kimura has been doing for probably over 20 years. I believe he created the technique. Ryan most likely learned it from kimura.

Rob

 

[fore]

I want to eventually try this technique on this RMJ. No live veins as seen from the front right now.

 

[bob shimon]

I've watched Ryan do this a number of times now and seperating the live vein from the dead wood seems fairly simple using a large root cutter. Having said that, I haven't tried it myself yet. The skill to me is in bending and contorting the live vein into the desired positon.

 

[yenling83]

Wow Bob, really cool! Such a great improvement on the material, I really like it.

 

[bob shimon]

Thanks, one of the reasons that it sat so long was that I had much better material to work on and didn't see much potential in it. Taking a seemingly ordinary piece of material and creating something really nice is one of the benefits of working with Ryan.

 

[Vance Wood]

Am I the only one that sees it---or in this case not see it? I do not dispute the work Ryan is capable of and I can see that he has imparted a good deal of movement into this material, and the technique and it's outcome is remarkable, but I hear everyone saying what a great tree it has become. I don't have an idea where this one is going neither can I foretell what Ryan has in mind. I am just afraid we are in some way looking at the King's new clothes.

I know if I posted this tree as my own endeavor the chirping of crickets would be deafening.

I realize and believe that Ryan is a brilliant artist but this example is far from the kind of praise it is being given. Or----maybe I am going blind and losing my bonsai vision. I realize that I am really sticking my neck out by posting this but what can I say, I have to be honest about this tree lest my opinion about other things become questionable. I am also confident that another session with Ryan will reveal the magic within but I don't see it--------------------------yet.

 

[october]

Am I the only one that sees it---or in this case not see it? I do not dispute the work Ryan is capable of and I can see that he has imparted a good deal of movement into this material, and the technique and it's outcome is remarkable, but I hear everyone saying what a great tree it has become. I don't have an idea where this one is going neither can I foretell what Ryan has in mind. I am just afraid we are in some way looking at the King's new clothes.

I know if I posted this tree as my own endeavor the chirping of crickets would be deafening.

I realize and believe that Ryan is a brilliant artist but this example is far from the kind of praise it is being given. Or----maybe I am going blind and losing my bonsai vision. I realize that I am really sticking my neck out by posting this but what can I say, I have to be honest about this tree lest my opinion about other things become questionable. I am also confident that another session with Ryan will reveal the magic within but I don't see it--------------------------yet.

Hi Vance..I do not want to presume what Ryan or Bob see for this tree's future. However, it might be something like this. A balanced, triangular yamadori composition. At least this is an option that I see.

Rob

 

[bob shimon]

Sorry that you don't see where this tree is headed Vance. In my eyes it has the START of being a great tree. I'll be sure to post picures as it devlops in the future, be sure to stay tuned.

 

[Vance Wood]

Sorry that you don't see where this tree is headed Vance. In my eyes it has the START of being a great tree. I'll be sure to post picures as it devlops in the future, be sure to stay tuned.

There is no question in my mind that it will have a future understanding the source of it's current state. I will follow this tree as it develops. Will Ryan be working on it once more or is it now totally in your hands?

The only problem I had was assigning greatness to a tree that is not great at this point. I told you I was sticking my neck out.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I see it...I like it...
nice work!

 

[fore]

I've watched Ryan do this a number of times now and seperating the live vein from the dead wood seems fairly simple using a large root cutter. Having said that, I haven't tried it myself yet. The skill to me is in bending and contorting the live vein into the desired positon.

Yes, I've seen it done online and once in a workshop. The whole procedure is a high skill task imo. But I agree that one must be most careful with the bending of the vein. I have a question Bob, it's never been addressed before concerning this procedure. Do you go back to the deadwood and smooth it out from where the vein was separated? And for that matter, did you smooth out the vein (both after having the root cutter separate the two) before wrapping it in raffia? Was this discussed at all?

 

[bob shimon]

Gosh Vance, I went back and reread all of the posts, and unless I missed it, no one assigned "greatness" to this tree. Ryan and I will work on the tree together in the future, I hope that is o.k. with you.
Fore - The live vain was not smoothed out before wrapping with rafia nor was the dead wood. The dead wood will be worked on after the tree has a chance to recover and establish itself in its new pot, probably in 4-6 months.

 

[Vance Wood]

Gosh Vance, I went back and reread all of the posts, and unless I missed it, no one assigned "greatness" to this tree. Ryan and I will work on the tree together in the future, I hope that is o.k. with you.
Fore - The live vain was not smoothed out before wrapping with rafia nor was the dead wood. The dead wood will be worked on after the tree has a chance to recover and establish itself in its new pot, probably in 4-6 months.

You're right, my apologies. I think I will shut up now.