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Originally Posted by anttal63
his carving work is great there is so much of it he has obviously had plenty of practice. but please tell me why there is many photos where the carving is so extensive but yet the trees are unfinished unrefined even under the naturalistic banner. are they more recently collected. its also interesting that the feature black pine was once a stick in a pot and still alive.
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Interestingly.... This stick in a pot that is still alive, is one of the only bonsai from dozens of seeds he planted at that time. So the example bares true.
You have to understand that with Dan, the show isn't the foliage. It is the trunk. Often times he feels the story being told by a particularly old and knarly trunk is completely defeated by the foliage. Therefore growing out crowns with any significant density is not a goal. Some of the excessively spare looking trees are junipers, on which he is having to battle some malady. He told me what it was... but... I can't remember.
Also... lets not fail to realize, excluding his personal collection at home... the growing beds.... and the nursery.... there are over 220 bonsai in the display garden alone. Which is why I get to do a lot of the grooming. I have no doubt the effect of my grooming the trees will decrease the lack of foliage you see... but I know already, he'll stop me before he lets any of them look like the crowns are too dense for his liking.
And if a tree is having a problem... is being worked on... or is new... it still goes in the display garden. Because it's a teaching garden.
And yes... some of the trees in the garden are newer additions. Especially when you look at some of the large particularly old stumps.
Kind regards,
Victrinia