Privet Bonsai Spring Maintenance

Haven't had much time to work on bonsai, however this Privet deserved a visit from the scissors.  Going to clean up alot of the free growth, and partially defoliate to reduce leaf size to spur further back-branching and ramification of the crown/apex.

 Before work begins, looking a bit wild.

Trimming and defoliation complete. 

 

View of the hollow I'm working on over time to carve into the main trunk. 

San Jose juniper bonsai - big steps forward

This is a San Jose Juniper; it's nursery stock tree that I've trained since last summer.  This is her first major working since initial reduction and making a few branch decisions; it looks to be going the way of windswept, the branches all have natural movement from left to right.  Difficult to find a path for this one, time will tell (alot of time!) if I'm going the right way or not.

The tree's initial history can be found here.

Here's where things are after a few hours work today.

As always, poor man's measuring stick (lighter).  If you view the tree's history above first - you can see the large amount of new growth it's showing this spring.

 

Some carving to do at the bottom.  I want to save the branch on the right and turn it into a large jin to resemble a 3rd trunk that has 'failed' in the tree's past.

There we go, a little Dremel action.  The dremel is a new toy I got for Christmas, I have a few wood carving bits for it - enough for me to learn the basics then figure out what other bits or tools I may need.

 

Closer view.  Not completely finished, but it's still 'damp'.  I'd like nature to dry things out and do some of the weathering on her own.  It's a good start for me, I think. 

So..  Time to get some motion into these large branches.  Time to bring things closer in!

A few hours later.

Little more of a turn to the left - I think I like this as the front a bit better.  Will have to reduce the right trunk jin a little to accommodate the new front, since it crosses the trunk from this new angle.   Time to let this tree rest until Fall, then do a little adjusting of wire; remove some add more, etc.   Next season if all goes well I will continue working on the 'top' which right now is pretty vacant!    Not too worried about moving this into a pot yet - not until I"m happy with the design, and get a decent apex on there and the pads a bit more appropriate for the size of the tree.

Tree Story: This tree's protective bigger sister succumbed to the strong howling winds of a cliff side where they both perch.  Now with the winds hitting this tree directly through the crumbling remains of it's once protective neighbor, the branches bend, or break away in the tree's struggle not to join it's sibling.

Anyhow, that's the story and I'm sticking to it..  :)

Juniper Blaauw prebonsai material strikes a pose

This little nursery tree has been with me approx 2 1/2 years, slowly getting worked here and there until I felt it was time to move into a 'training' pot that I specifically created for it some time back.  It's a good 8-10 years from being presentable in any fashion however I like it's deadwood areas and trunk movement - again another 'training' tree for me of a juniper species, with deadwood to play with..  If the green survives and can pad out as I've wired, it could in the future be an interesting tree to view.

'The Log' training pot I made in 2009 for this tree.  Things have come a long way on all fronts (pottery and bonsai skills, as well as application of said abilities, thank goodness). 

Signed it and threw in a 'bonsai' in Japanese on the left.  Plenty of drainage on this one all the way down the center.

 Lots of new growth, the living veins on both sides of the deadwood are quite healthy.  Species is 'Juniperus chinensis blaauw' sometimes called 'blue juniper' due to it's tint of blue, which becomes very obvious during the cold months,

The trunk looks rough, it will get cleaned up some soon.   Poor tree is begging for some good soil (here it comes, 40% crushed lava rock, 40% fired clay particle, 20% sharp builder sand).

 Reduced, repotted, deadwood cleaned up slightly just so I can identify it better (carving still to really be done).  Still looking for the front.

Another angle before work begins.  Hmmm..  Still not showing a good front - but I think I know where it is now after a few spins. 

After thinning and wiring, I believe this is the front; with a slight turn to the right from here.. 

This will become the back. Now I'm starting to see 'someone' in this pose the tree is striking, can you guess who it is yet?   :)

Close-up of the 'front', you can see the deadwood decently on the trunk here after a slight clean-up.  Now that I have my front, I will carve into this side some to help with the taper and to blend better into the living veins, at the end of this season.

Had thought about going literati if I took the top off, it's still an option I suppose.  Here's a view w/o the top to get an idea.  I would bend the bottom right branch back 'up' some and get it slightly back above the main trunk chop line.

Another angle.  Once the guy wired branch becomes stable, I will add a bit more movement in the bottom to follow the lines of the trunk.  I sort of like this angle, gives the tree a sort of 'Travolta' pose going on..  :)

Another direction w/o the top if I went literati style down the road.   Travolta w/o his left hand?   Maybe I should keep the top and form it like this if nothing but for the discussion the pose could bring?  :)

I think this is the front for now.  A view if I left the top off and went literati.

Yep, time to set it aside in the shade for a month or so to allow the roots to take off, then out into full sun for the summer.  I think this tree has earned it's name, 'Travolta' for sure take a look here to see the pose in action!