The Bonsai Styling & Advice Corner
Below are a few trees that I'm working on but have found difficult to style. I offer them for your thoughts and advice. I will periodically include responses from viewers so that everyone can benefit from the experience. Please send any advice or comments to me at hav@hav.com
Most of these trees are somewhat overpotted for grow-on. My real concern at this point is choosing a style and initial shape.
In my next set of photos, I'll get a few shots of these guys from different angles so that you can have a better idea of their sides and backs. I'll also clean up the overall page a bit.
By request, I have made the title of each tree an ftp link for those who don't have graphic browsers. Also, (while I hate this kind of proviso) you are welcome to use any of these pictures as you see fit but give me a reference if you do. Just click on the name to download the picture Note: you may want/need to put your browser in save-to-disk mode first.
You are welcome to view and comment on a few of my more finished trees as well.
Thanks for visiting - Please enjoy {;-) - and, as always -
ooba ooba,
Horace
Page Last Modified - Mon Jan 27 09:43:31 CST 2003
p.s. Yup! - I've been Netscaping here as well. If you haven't yet downloaded the new Netscape (2.0bx) - do yourself a favor and Get It Now!
Fukien Tea - Ht: 19''
Y'rs Training: 5+2 - (8/95)
This tea tree suffered an unexpected freeze in 1993 which very nearly killed the tree. In spring of 94, it poped several low branches. I kept two and brought them up. Part of he original trunk is still present and visible in the center.
What I am thinking is that I'll keep the left trunk. Perhaps I'll also reduce the height of the dead trunk to aboout 1/4 the hieght if the new trunk. Then, a bit of carving on the dead trunk might do the trick for now. Eventually, I might remove the dead trunk to the base of the new trunk and perhaps carve out a hole at the base.
Fred P. Arnold (11-5-95) - It may benefit more from a year or two of growth so that the left hand trunk can acquire a more reasonable caliper than anything else. Have you considered making it the centerpiece of a small forest planting? I feel that it would do very well as the anchor piece for a 3-5 tree group, possibly on a small hillock at the center.
Anton Nijhuis (11-7-95) - Too much competition from both new trunks, I would remove the right trunk completely. I would jin or hollow, reduce in size ( a little at a time ) the dead trunk. The left trunk and branches should all be wired, the apex reduced and every thing should be in porportion with the dead trunk. A slight informal upright style or even a windswept style with motion from right to left.
Mike Moore (11-8-95) - I would snip the right of the two verticals about half way up from where it is attached to the truck. I would then root trim and turn the whole tree 90 degrees to the left, wire the left truck down, cascade style, jin and/or bleach the dead truck. Wire the (now) top branch, which was the right branch, in an appropriate slanted vertical, let it grow to about the same size as the first jin (or a proportionate thereof) then jin it as well. What I see now (5 years from now) is a fukien cascade with two short jins that reach out and up as if to tell the story of a tree that has been beaten twice before, but refuses to give up, if it can't grow up, it will grow down. A lot of work, but a knarly old fukien which just won't quit seems to be the best course for this tree.
Sandy Vrooman (11-9-95) - Hack and grow, hack and grow until you have
better caliper. Use left trunk.
David Waldo (11-10-95) - I am assuming the middle trunk is dead (hard to tell from the picture). First, to be a multiple trunk tree the trunks should emerge from very low on the tree. Given that the left trunk emerges up the center trunk a little it does not look like a separate trunk but a miss guided branch. The reason for this is your eye follows the dead
trunk since it is the largest and right in the middle. Also, both "trunks" are about the same hight so you don't know which one to look at. Since the right trunk is the largest I would (1) make the dead trunk much shorter and train the left trunk more as the main trunk of the tree (2) shorten the right trunk to about 1/2 its size or smaller. This would hopefully give the sense of one main trunk with some dead wood off of it and a smaller auxillary trunk.
Chinese Elm - Ht: 16''
Y'rs Training: 9 - (8/95)
Believe it or not, I've had this tree for a number of years. It was one of the first elms in my collection but I left it wired too long and too tightly so the wire bit deeply into the tree. Two years ago, I removed the top half of the tree and brought up a branch. This is the result as of today.
This photo doesn't really do it justice (it doesn't really look quite as bad in person) but still, I'm at a bit of a loss as to a good style. I may just let this guy alone for a few more years and see how it develops naturally.
Fred P. Arnold (11-5-95) - I notice that the Chinese Elm has a strong and interesting lower trunk, but the branch that was raised does a distracting zig-zag as it rises and expands outwards. Have you considered air-layering off the top, possibly to make a slanting style, and then raising another small branch from the base (the straight piece right above the first fork) to form a new apex; one that hopefully would have a better taper? - In fact, I've thought about taking the top just above the lower left branch and bringing the lower left up - again better taper. I guess great minds do think alike {;-)
Michael Persiano (11-5-95) - The top of this tree is extremely strong, while the bottom half is in need of foliar growth. I would recommend that you reduce the foliar strength on the top to transfer energy to the bottom of the tree (cut back leaving 2-3 leaves per shoot). Of course, I would perform this task in the spring and then feed the tree with both chemical and organic fertilizers to promote heavy growth. I have resolved energy imbalances in Nire and Chinese Elms with this approach.
Anton Nijhuis (11-7-95) - You have to air layer the top!! The curves look unnatural compared to the straight trunk. The upper part of the tree does not relate to the lower. I would remove everything above the third branch on the right and make this the new apex, wired to echo the trunk. Trim back the first branch to a proper porportion and replant in a smaller pot. The beautiful hollow in the trunk is distracted by the top of the tree. Be brave!
Sandy Vrooman (11-9-95) - Airlayer and have two trees. The bottom will fill out if you
cut the top off.
David Waldo (11-10-95) - Bottom part of trunk (first 1/3) has alot of character.
The next 1/3 has some nice bends in it but not enough branches (or not developed enough). The top of the tree seems too heavy compared to the bottom 2/3. The top branches are as big and long as the main branch. Besides the option you mentioned
about making the main branch the new apex you may consider making the second large branch on the left the new apex
and try to make the tree more full on the lower 2/3 of the trunk. The only problem with this is that you have a
straight lower trunk and a curved upper trunk. May not be too appealing. If the branch is flexible I would say
go with making the main branch the new apex since the lower part of the trunk will be the main feature of the
tree.
Texas Ebony - Ht: 12''
Y'rs Training: 5
- (8/95)
I've had this guy for several years as well. I keep trimming it back but I just can't find a style. I hate the "V" in its trunk.
Any advice would be welcome.
Fred P. Arnold (11-5-95) - It seems that it is not the V overall that is distracting, but rather the tight V at the base. Possibly if you wired together the two trunks where they first split, to close the narrow gap, and waited for the tree to acquire a slightly larger caliper, possibly by sacrificing some pot training and placing in a large, deep, pot to encourage growth, then the resulting twin trunks with a stronger base and a widely separated V would not be nearly as objecctionable.
Anton Nijhuis (11-7-95) - A good candidate for a Chinese style. The V shape is very attractive and you should accentuate it by removing all lower branches and foliage. This would make it stand out more. Use what you
have do not cover it up. All branches below the left trunk where it seperates should be removed. All top branches should be wired apart with curves, the foliage should resemble hands reaching for the clouds. The upper branch curves should repeat the lower V curve.
Sandy Vrooman (11-9-95) - Bigger pot, fatten and then take off right branch.
cut 1/3 off of top. Take 1/2 off of the left branch and try to bring it down. If you cant bring it down, elminate and take a new branch
out horizontally.
David Waldo (11-10-95) - Here again your eye does not know which trunk to focus
on. They both seem the same thickness and are about the same hight. Since it is in a bonsai pot I will assume you don't plan to thicken the trunk too much. Given this I would select one trunk and shorten the hight considerably while removing the other completely. One option would be to make a literati style tree by removing the left trunk and removing the right trunk just above the first branch
thus making the first branch the new apex. Put the tree in a shallow pot and it would make a very nice literati style tree.
Black Olive - Ht: 26''
Y'rs Training: 6 - (8/95)
I let this guy get a bit too tall but I hate to loose the top. I've already reduced the length of the upper branches and wired them to open them up. This has helped to reduce the large space at the upper left.
I've had such bad luck with air layering that I hesitate to remove the top by air-layer. Maybe in a year or two - if I keep it from getting any taller - I can get him to fill out a bit. I do wish I had better trunk taper here.
Michael Johnson (11-6-95) - Regarding the black olive, with that strong leaning over at the top have you considered leaning the whole tree that way some more and making it into a windswept style? If you didn't want to do that, I'd consider removing most of the branches on the lower half of the trunk, just leaving the two that are on the outside of each bend, and maybe go for a slanting style.
Sandy Vrooman (11-9-95) - Without the top you have a nice little tree.
David Waldo (11-10-95) - Too bad you say you would hate to loose the top. It must look much different in person. The roots look nice and the trunk has a nice flow to it. However, counting up from the right, the third pad of foliage is a little too small. The top on this tree also looks too big. A simple style for this tree could be to remove (or shorten) the fourth branch on the right and remove the large top to the left of this branch. Thus making the fourth pad of foliage on the right the apex.
Jerry McNey (3-15-96) - Start by looking at the root structure to determine your front. The photo
suggests that they are contorted and need straitening. Once the front is determined, seriously consider removing the top at the second branch on the left, and bring up that branch as the apex. The tree appears to be just too tall for the diameter of the trunk. Depending on your climate and growing conditions, olive will root rather easily from cuttings, including hard wood.
Randy Schaap (10-05-96) - One idea might be to take branch 6 (as it appears in the picture) and make that the new leader. The trunk has very little taper until the very top. Next, try to develope some foliage pads. Branch 1 and the crown of the tree is robbing the strength from the rest of the tree. Pinching back branch 1, and lopping off the crown and training branch 6 as the new leader should even out the strength of the tree. You may want to try doing some wiring...even though this species has a natural "bonsai" growth habit. But watch out for those "prickies".
Next, the nebari (surface rootage), has got to change somehow. The picture shows that the nebari may be somewhat unbendable. If you feel that they may be bendable, wrap them with raffia and apply the wire. Two strands of lower gauge would be better than one strand of heavy gauge. Try to obtain that sought after horizontal spread.
Jim Thomas (1-9-97) -
It's the Yooper! I pulled your black olive gif off of the style corner and did some "virtual styling". I am far from an expert at styling so I tried to take some of the advice from the others and apply it to your tree. It's my first attmpt at virtual pruning and i couldn't quite figure out how to get the apex tipped the right way and by the time I was done clipping the background was a mess, so I blurred it, and sharpened the focus and contrast.
Garden Juniper - Ht: 23''
Y'rs Training: 5+
- (8/95)
This poor guy has had a particularly hard life, unfortunately. The squirles just love to jump up and grab the cascade - which invariably makes it fall from its shelf. Twice I've lost branches that I was using to form a crown - I'm (we're) working on number three now.
Michael Persiano (11-5-95) - From your photo, I could not tell if this is a Juniperus Procumbens Nana, Shimpaku, etc. If this is to be a cascading juniper, then the cascade needs to be more strongly defined. I believe this can be achieved by wiring the trees branches into shelves of growth. The top of the tree in particular appears to be in conflict with the design of the tree, so would wire this down also. The tree appears to be in need of additional foliar growth, so here too I would begin an aggressive feeding program. In the spring, pinch back buds to stimulate foliar density. Lastly, you might consider using some heavy wire to create a sinuous form for the tree's cascading line (trunk).
David Waldo (11-10-95) - This is a tough one. It is easy to suggest drastic steps
but harder to follow through. The roots on this tree look like they are very interesting. Having the two strong truncks on the tree is distracting. Also, the apex going straight up is out of sync with the flow of the trunks. The drastic suggestion would be to remove
one of the trunks. If the back trunk is removed you will have a very nicely defined cascade which will look like
its roots are strugling to cling to the pot. If the front trunk is removed you will have a nice semi-cascade with
a thick trunk. The not so drastic suggestion would be to turn the tree to the right more, work on the foliage
for the cascade and play down the other trunk, using it to just give depth.
Mike Moore (11-11-95) - First, I kind of like it. Granted, it is somewhat off balanced, but it has the basics. Since both of these trunks are suitable, why chop either? What do you think about wiring
them together, closing the nearly 90 degree down to say 35? Next year, when they are groing closer along the same parallel, one trunk could be chosen to lead, one to follow. The leader is wired down drastically, near vertical, the follower less so, and kept pruned back.
Another idea, if they can be brought together close enough, would be to fuse the bases together, then sending one branch directly to the canyon floor, the other at a more modest decline. Either way, the end result is a multi tiered cascade. Oh, and while you are at it, please to it a favor and remove the branch that sticks straight up. Thanks. If nothing else, wire one of these branches down more drastic.
Michael Johnson (3-11-96) - This tree looks like shimpaku to me, judging by the bark color and the fact that the branch tips are trying to grow upward.
I'd suggest wiring all the branch tips down. The branch at the tip of the cascade especially should be wired so that it continues the cascading line, rather than suddenly turning up at the end. The branch going off to the right at the top of the tree should be removed or reduced. Then the pot should be tipped onto the side opposite the cascade, so that the tip of the cascade is the highest point on the tree. This will cause the tree to exercise its apical dominance by putting strength into the cascade branch, rather than trying to grow the top and letting the cascade weaken, which is what it would otherwise do. The pot can be tipped back up for watering, but should be on its side the rest of the time (some moss would help to keep the soil from spilling out). This is good advice for any apically dominant tree that is being forced into a cascade shape. On the other hand, naturally prostrate trees (such as Juniperus procumbens nana) should be kept upright so that the tree, which wants to grow out and down, will put its strength into the cascade.
This would also eliminate your squirrel problem, since the cascade would no longer be dangling down to tempt them.
Chinese Elm - Ht: 23''
Y'rs Training: 5+
- (8/95)
Another elm in trouble {;-) It lost an inner branch very early in its development and I've never been able to get another started. Its major bend was present when I got the tree. I tried to exagerate it - but it came back a bit. It has a nice full canopy in full leaf (around 13 inch depth) but I'm not yet happy with the overall form.
Mike Moore (11-15-95) - Yes, lots of years and tender growing went into this Elm....don't shoot me, but have you considered rafting this specimen? From my armchair, it looks like you have at least 4 nice candidates growing on the right side. Lop off the frumpy top above the 4th horizontal right branch. Lay it horizontal, trim the left growing branches, slit the cambium from the new top cut to the base with two parallel cuts, apply your favorite rooting hormone, and cross your fingers. What to do with the root ball? Make a mountain out of a molehill at first. Once new roots have developed, you can hack the base end off too.
Michael Johnson (11-15-95) - I'd rather not sound like a broken record, but I think the elm can be helped by tilting it over to the left and using the branch that goes to the right near the top as the apex. Then you can work on a "Hand of Buddha" style tree. For an illustration of what I mean, take a look in Remy Samson's book "The Creative Art of Bonsai" on page 53, the picture of the Japanese White Pine.
John Yasaki (11-16-95) - A little too tall and kind of a weird trunk shape in the middle third. Slant and foliage makes it look as if it has fallen over and is on it's last legs. I think I would chop it off (either chop or airlayer) just before the trunk starts back left (just above a convenient branch for an apex) and cut the 23" down to about 6 or 8". Develop a nice canopy, and you're on your way. This will also straighten up the tree, and put the apex nearer the center of the trunk/soil junction.
Michael Persiano (11-16-95) - All bonsai have positive and negative characteristics: the specimen has a nice taper and a strong inclination towards the left which could be used to benefit the tree; the specimen also has a noticeable empty space on the lower left and is in need of significant improvements in foliar density.
Suggested Approach: By looking at the photograph, it is difficult to say if its current front should be the front of the bonsai. The tree's strong inclination towards the left may be pointing to the front of the tree and, if practicable, would present viewers with a strong termination point. I would consider working the tree from what is currently its left side. This reorientation may assist you in filling in what is now an obvious flaw in the tree. As with the other elm, in the spring I would cut back on the growth leaving 3-4 leaves per shoot. Elms, when properly fertilized, will produce phenomenal growth and bud back. I would take advantage of the back budding (especially on the trunk) and target certain buds for additional branch development. The bonsai artist's palette is growth. Without it, the artist is at a significant disadvantage and cannot promote ramification.
Mr Guest (3-12-96) - Interesting as this tree seems, I would suggest that you sell it to some other grower and give them the problem or follow Mr. Yasaki's suggestion. If I was presented with this tree for a Demo I would immediately develop the upper portion of the tree to form a canopy through judicious wiring, reduce all the lower branches except initially the lower one and make the image one of a field tree as opposed to a forrest tree. I would not wire down any branches in my wiring but wire the branches up and drop the outer area of the foliage mass to emulate a natural tree. Elms are not Ceders. Pot in a long rectangle with etreme space of two thirds. The width of the pot should not be wider than the apex and indeed may have to be reduced to fit into the image.
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