Japanese larch

zube

And here's a picture of an old Japanese larch I have in a training pot. Should look pretty good potted up in a few years. It doesn't show too much in the picture, but it has nice old bark.
zube

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larch0007a.jpg (51.2 KB, 198 views)

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zen

I like it, but there is a bit of reverse taper just at the bottom,...maybe a slight hill to cover this, or a stone pushed right up against the trunk.

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wabashene

Zube,

Being a big larch fan and just thinking aloud - I'd find this very good “bit of kit” kind of a tricky one. ( Mind you, I find all trees tricky:-)

What are the design options?

At this height many would say that you being forced toward a literati style if you follow conventional notions about width to height ratio. A few more bends and twists put in it– stick in a little round pot and Wey Hey! another bunjin just like many others.

Second thought - removing the top lot of branches puts you in more conventional territory. (although at IBC - sumo larch seem to be de rigeur. :-)

Third thought - splitting in half (by layering) above the 1st set of branches up could give you 2 decent trees that would both be moving into the “larch as pine” category and now that I mention it:- do you style it as a natural larch or a pine?

To that end, I think if you straighten it up by about 15 deg, the apex comes over the base very nicely. Refining the top section – which is slightly getting away from the rest of the tree – will give a very good natural initial image IMO.

I would be looking to cut the main branches back on this to get them to divide, taper and ramify with a view to keeping the overall image quite sparse and close in to the trunk to show it off.

I have found blank spaces very hard to fill on larch once the main branches have set so am doing my utmost to keep as many branches as possible on young stock and cutting them back hard in late winter (to one bud even) to keep them in proportion and ramify. Even this hard pruning doesn't seem to stimulate buds from anywhere other than existing branch crotches.

Branch-wise, I’d say wysiwyg and would be interested on how you see this one developing.

Excuse the rambling.

TimR

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zubes larch.jpg (51.9 KB, 78 views)

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zube

Hey Tim,
If you could see the tree in person, you would realize that it is headed for a bunjin. The trunk has a lot of very subtle movement that is not apparent in the picture, particularly near the top, along with a near-perfect continuous slender taper. Chopping the tree would ruin that. The branching is also quite twiggy, which again is hard to see in the picture. Thanks for you comments,
zube

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rockm

I wouldn't chop that tree. It's got nice line and form as is. It needs a little branch ordering and the apex needs only a slight sorting out...

wabashene

Well I wouldn't chop it either - only options that crossed my mind.

I would prefer to see this as an informal upright as I feel bunjin style may do it a bit of a disservice.

This image of a Nick Lenz larch over on Andy R's site would be very achievable

bonsaivillage.net/images/larchTaper/bonsai_Q1.jpg

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baldguy

I dont know, guys. I did a mock-up of taking off most of the right side branches, jinning the one at the bottom (right) and bringing it down to a 45 degree angle from the trunk, and taking off the bit at the top that moves to the right. Gives you a very creditable windwept looking bunjin, without any change to the planting angle.

Great tree, by the way.

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