Ficus Nerifolia Forest Suggestions

gilbycantu

Hello gang, I've been working on my nerifolias alot lately and here's one I thought I'd share with you and maybe get some feedback.

The overall height is about 30 inches so you kind of have an idea about size. My plan is to add another tree on the far left to make it five trees instead of four. At that time, I'll also pot it into an oval pot. My wife says I should keep it in the wood container but what does she know right I think I could achieve something decent within the next two years. Any virts or opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks
Gilbert

Attached Images

nerifforest1.jpg (51.3 KB, 301 views)

__________________
Gilbert Cantu

www.gilbertcantu.com

Advertisement

gilbycantu

another view...

Attached Images

nerifforest2.jpg (56.2 KB, 254 views)

__________________
Gilbert Cantu

www.gilbertcantu.com

Delboy

I would move all the tress slightly to the right. I would swap the primary tree for the secondary tree and flip the primary tree so the high long branches apear to hang over the smaller tree/trees. Also I would flip the secondary tree.
Also, I'm not sure if the small tree is together or two seperate trees. You should have an odd number of trees unless planting large numbers. You've got some good trees to work with there.
Good luck.
Delboy.

Attached Images

nerifforest1virtual.jpg (50.9 KB, 242 views)

BonsaiMon

Hi Gilbert,

I also think in a couple years this can be tweeked into a beautiful forest in an oval pot or slab..
.. starting on the right, i feel this lil group can be developed into a threesome.. jus a lil dividing and refine three little trees.. a lil more definition than my quick virt..
the large middle tree has a slingshot going into the canopy. It seems this will always be visible and may as well eliminate now than later. .. again, my virtual needs some fine tuning to bring the canopys together..
I stuck another tree in there to see and it does help the overall balance.. maybe, closer to the tree on left front. Its height may be close to the other tree in rear.
What do ya think?

Attached Images

nerifforest1refine.jpg (68.3 KB, 240 views)

__________________
peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

saint

I pretty much agree with Tom on the slingshot. His virt is close to what I would have done. The only thing that I would go further on is the straight branch on the left. You might want to consider cutting it back to create some movement in it.

IMHO it "sticks out" (pardon the pun), however it is a very small thing on a bonsai with much potential.

Attached Images

nerifforest1refine.jpg (31.8 KB, 221 views)

__________________
Best Regards,

Leslie St. John
Barbados
West Indies


Remember: Opinions are like bellybuttons, everyone's got one

agraham

Gilbert,

nice forest

from this angle, the branch that "saint" has indicated would look better(to me)if it was angled up more...put some thicker wire on it and give it some "character" bends as it gradually angles up

watch the thickness of the trunks...you may have to prune some of the trees more often just to keep them from gaining the same thickness as your main tree

andy

p.s.....i wish i could have made it to the meeting....how'd it go?

__________________
http://pittmandavis.com/

DavidN

Gilbert
I like the idea of having five trees in this group. From the angles of your photos I only have one underlieing issue that could be considered if you want to change anything. The spaces between your current trees is much too uniform/similar. The spacing between trees in a group need to vary and not one pairing should be spaced the same as another pair. When you only have 5 trees in the group this should be easily achieved. Admittedly in a larger group of 15+ trees this varied spacing would be more difficult.
This is just my opinion though based on the photos.

__________________
Bonsai Northwest Inc, Melbourne, Australia

Bonsai Flora Nursery in Yarraville, Melbourne

gilbycantu

Thanks for your feedback everyone. Your virtual looks like what I had in mind Tom for the fifth tree. The slingshot branch does seem a bit straight and does need to be corrected. The wire that's on this branch has been in place since last year and needs to come off anyway. I'll think about it a little more and either rewire it with more wire or possibly cut it back some.

The tree on the far right actually is one tree and not two.

It's actually hard to tell from the photo but this group has been growing together like this for quite some time. The roots seem to have grow together on the three main trees. It might be hard to seperate them David without cutting some large roots.

Also, does anyone think it would look better on a slab or an oval pot?

__________________
Gilbert Cantu

www.gilbertcantu.com

agraham

Gilbert,

you will be surprised at how much roots you can cut off of these salicifolias.....and big ones too.....just don't let them stay too wet until the cuts dry....i sprinkle some rooting hormone and or sulpur on any big root cuts...i don't know if it does any good,but ....hehe...it makes ME feel better

andy