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bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
Join Date: Jan-2002
Country: USA
Posts: 861
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Hello Crow,
As you hinted at in your post, these bankon nebari look old. It's this sense of age that I get when I see roots like this that catches my eye. Also the wide base that is created whith these roots makes it look as though it has a good grasp of the earth. It's true what you say. That you won't likely find a full grown tree with a root buttress like this one that happened naturally. Should we throw out the whole concept then? I think not. After all, when we grow the top of a bonsai we don't try to recreate a full size tree branch per branch [crossing and all] either. As you said, what we are after is the illusion or a symbol of an old tree.
I think these bankon roots CAN add to this illusion. Certainly not in every case. Actually there are probably very few trees that would look right with roots like this but in my opinion it works with the triple trunk that Al posted. Come to think of it you won't find many triple trunk trees in nature either but you see quite a few in bonsai pots.
If someone where to give you this tree what would you do with it? Layer it above those nasty roots and start over?
Tony
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