|
bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
Join Date: Jul-2006
Location: massachusetts
Country: United states
Posts: 513
|
Very fortunate find at Home Depot
Hello all.......Well, after about 5 years of going to Home Depot at the remote chance of possibly finding good stock, I actually found an incredible piece of material. It is a Yew (taxus x media densiformis). The tree was $15. It was about 13 inches tall. What first caught my eye was the intense natural shari on the trunk and the natural jin on the first branch. You cannot see the jin on the first branch because I wrapped it. However, the whole bottom portion of the first branch has no bark. The live vein runs from the trunk upwards all along the bottom of the first branch. I have never seen something like this at any chain garden center.
The bottom first branch is wrapped and wired with a 4.5 mm wire and also guy wired down. I did hear 3 faint cracks. However, they didn't sound like actual breaks. If it turns out that there is a break and the branch dies, it still will not ruin the design because I will just jin the branch. The first branch looks thick in the pictures, however, it is not as think as it appears... It is just wrapped really well. Actually, I am not even sure I want to keep that branch at all. It kind of comes from an inside curve, so I will look at the tree over the next couple of weeks before I make a decision. There is quite a bit of jin on this tree and I may get rid of some in time. However, this is just the initial styling and I will keep studying the tree before I do anything else.
As far as the rest of the tree. There were 3 trunks running up from the main trunk. Which wasn't bad considering most yews have like 6-8 mediocre, at best, trunks running up the main one. Fortunately, the middle one out of the three had some nice branches and also just happened to be in-line with the flow of the main trunk.
Well, here is the tree. The first 2 pics are the befores. This tree has excellent proportions as far as height to girth. The tree is 6 3/4 inches tall and has a base of 1 1/2 inches thick. I hope to get this tree in a grow pot in the next 2-3 weeks. Comments, questions and criticisms are welcome. If you see something that you think might make a difference. Feel free to tell me.
Rob
|