OMC's Shimpaku Project

Carl_Bergstrom

As you all know, things get a bit quiet during the dog days of summer. After checking this board twice an hour for about a week, I figured I needed something bonsai-related to do with myself.

So yesterday, I drove over to the local bonsai nursery and picked up three five-gallon shimpaku junipers, a couple of young black pines, and a five-gallon procumbens. Even if it's not really the ideal season for pruning and wiring, this is Seattle, they should keep me busy for a while. None of them may ever become a masterpiece tree, but I figure I'll learn quite a bit in the process of working on them. And that's where you all come in. I'm hoping I can get some comments, suggestions, and likes from you, as I go along.

Here is the first of the shimpaku junipers, before I touched it.

Attached Images

shimpaku1_initial.jpg (63.6 KB, 267 views)

__________________
In love with trees

Advertisement

Carl_Bergstrom

First things first - last night and this morning I went through, thinning out the foliage, taking off the unwanted or underside branches. This does a few things. It lets me see what the branch structure looks like, so that I can make better styling decisions. It opens up the tree to facilitate wiring. And perhaps most importantly, it allows sunlight to reach the trunk, to stimulate vigorous back-budding and compact growth.

A note about technique at this stage: people often say that you need to pinch back all of the foliage on shimpaku junipers. While this is true if you trying to maintain the shape of an already styled tree, this is not a good idea in the early stages of styling, such as what I am doing here. Instead, I went through, thinning out the bud density, cleaning the shoots out from in between the branch forks, and so forth. I largely left the tips intact; this will stimulate vigorous growth on down the road.

Here's the tree this afternoon, after thinning.

Attached Images

shimpaku1_cleaned_out_lowqual.jpg (57.9 KB, 265 views)

__________________
In love with trees

Carl_Bergstrom

And here is a closeup of the trunk, which measures about 1.5 inches at the base.

Attached Images

shimpaku1_trunk_lowqual.jpg (58.2 KB, 258 views)

__________________
In love with trees

Carl_Bergstrom

So, at this stage I could dive straight into wiring, but I thought I'd ask a few questions on here, first.

1) Where do you think I should go in terms of styling this thing? I have my own ideas, but I won't post them quite yet, until I've heard what you think.

2) Does anyone have any strong arguments against going through and wiring the whole thing now? I can use the wiring practice, so I don't mind the "wasted work" if that's the only objection.

3) In the vein of the Faux auction thread that was so much fun last month, how much should I have paid for this tree? How much would you pay for it, if you were in the market for a pre-bonsai shimpaku in this size range?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about any or all of these questions!

With my best regards,
Carl

__________________
In love with trees

TreeBay

Just had a moment to look at your photos - whenever the trunk divides into a couple of branches that are more than half as thick as the original trunk at that point, you aren't on a path to getting good ramification, especially if they are the same size.

It confuses the line about what's a trunk and what's a branch and kind of pushed the design into the shrubby category.

If you can work out a design that doesn't rely on this kind of coarse branching, you will be much better off in the long run, so maybe don't wire it until you've thought that through.

Good luck,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

DavidN

OMC
I've had a look and would like to answer those question you have raised.

1. Where should you go with the tree? The first decision is easy. Only one of those large trunks/branches will remain. The other two will be jinned. The difficulty is deciding which one to choose. It is very difficult to decide looking at these photo. This is where I would look for movement in trunk and lots of young branches to use and choose from. Also you will need young branches closer to the lower part of the trunk rather than higher up on the tree. I think this tree needs to be shortened severly to give it a more aged looked. At first I thought the back middle branch could be the chosen one however from the photos it seems bare of branches on the lower part of the trunk which is also very straight. If you are to keep the left branch then you will lose alot of the age of the tree and it will not look balanced. The slanting one on the right has a lot of folage however you will need to reposition the tree for a new front if you are to use this one. Too many options without seeing the finer details of the tree. But I'm thinking the right branch is likely the one you'll keep.

2. After you chop two of the trunks you can wire all branches on the remaining trunk. However by then I'm sure you won't need to as you would probably know what the tree would be looking like.

3. In Australia it is difficult to find such large (well it appears large in the photos) shimpaku junipers. I would see they would seell here for between (in US dollars) $US40 - $60.

Look forward to seeing other responses and what you're idea are.

David Chauvin

Carl,

1) Where do you think I should go in terms of styling this thing?

At first glance, the trunk to the right may be the most promising, with the best small branching. I can't really see much beyond that, but you should be able to move this branch fairly easily to form an informal upright. Or maybe something like Suthin's latest posts.

2) Does anyone have any strong arguments against going through and wiring the whole thing now? I can use the wiring practice, so I don't mind the "wasted work" if that's the only objection.

I see no problem in wiring now. As you mentioned, by not pinching the terminal foliage, the tree should be fine. I have wired several small shimpaku in the last couple of weeks and they are doing fine.

3) In the vein of the Faux auction thread that was so much fun last month, how much should I have paid for this tree? How much would you pay for it, if you were in the market for a pre-bonsai shimpaku in this size range?

A 1.5" dia trunk shimpaku would probably be in the $60-$75 range here.

Keeep us posted.

David

__________________
"With the death of the Shamen, artists are the last interpreters of the Divine." Joseph Campbell

Leesa

Hi Carl - thanks for posting this - it is nice to see some "doing" instead of just "talking".

First of all - I purchased very similar material at the Santa Rosa (REBS) show this weekend. The one I bought is about the same size with maybe a bit more branching lower on the trunk and more "choices" at the branch level - and I paid $35 to one of the vendors at the show.

As far as styling - I agree with the post stating that you consider shortening ALL of the branches severely - I am assuming you are thinking shohin? I also agree that two of the major branches need to go - however I would tend to be a bit cautious and wait to see what kind of back budding you get - you can always jin later when the choice becomes clearer. I am also reminded of some of the Suthin stylings recently posted - as David suggested if you wanted to use that right branch and go with a semi-cascade styling.

Our local club has a Sensei Mitsuya coming to us in September for a day long workshop - he headlined at the REBS show this past weekend. I am thinking that the juniper I purchased may be one of the trees that I offer for his help. We have been told to take more than one tree as he may not want to work on one - either because it is not healthy enough or not the right time to do the work required... I am planning to do a separate thread on the workshop next month.

BTW -I expected to find Bonsaial on his knees under one of the tables at the REBS show looking for material - but no sign of the guy - where the heck is he

__________________
Respectfully, Lee Sanner

bonsaial1

Leesa, you are right! Bonsai-al was on his knees, just not looking for stock. I was busy laying 300 square feet of ceramic tile on the kitchen and dining room floor! Deadline!! deadline!!

Al

BTW, I am home sick today. I been working so hard my resistance was low and I caught some bug that has me resting at home today. Later..

__________________
Real men don't wear coats with "happi" in the title.