Taking my own advice... A False cypress and a Juniper in need of redemption.

Victrinia_Ensor

A tale of two bonsais indeed....

The False Cypress.... I've had this little tree for a long time (relative to my experiance anyway...) but I've never showed it to anyone. Why?

Well I thought it was amusing in a tall whispy (don't know a thing about proportion yet) kind of way. So when I bought it, I brought it home and potted it up. But after it was in it's pot I looked at it, and couldn't think of a thing to do with it. So it has sat.... for almost a year.... untouched.

Looking at my row of bonsai today, I got the nagging feeling I was not taking my own advice. When I looked at my trees I saw all the ones I was very happy with, and had shown on an occasion or two. Then I saw the ones I had not had the nerve to show, because frankly I wondered why they were even in my collection...lol

Or in the case of the Juniper, the one time I had shown it went so badly, I walked away from the experiance with a bit of a limp. The reaction to it was so strong. (on a different site...)

Granted it WAS bad bonsai at it's most visible. But the juniper had been a salvage effort from a Home Depot tree gone very very very wrong. lol

I had purchased that tree in a rush (a serious mistake I no longer make after that instance)... I had FAILED to inspect it properly for trunk movement. Upon attempting to work it, I found it had the most gastly trunk movement I had ever seen. It was a result of some POOR training on the part of whatever mass producing nursery had slapped that tree together. So it became a salvage effort. A sad little tree with an unfortunate posture... and it was not otherwise messed with until today.

So my own advice I decided to take was...

1) Put a tree in balance to itself.

2) Deal with a trees issues.

3) Trunk chop and re-grow if needs be.

4) A tree has something good to offer, if you will just put it on a path.

My success or lack there of will take no small amount of time to determine. But thats ok. Because while they may be nothing to write home about now, I at least finally LIKE them.... and they have been given the chance to become something good.

Today was an excellent bonsai day... Because even compared to the warm reception of the Hemlock in my other thread... These are two wayward trees redeemed. And there is something marvelous to be said for that. I am glad I took my own advice.


Yours most respectfully,

Attached Images

	falsecypress.jpg (32.2 KB, 38 views)
	falsecypressafter.jpg (59.4 KB, 41 views)
	juniperbefore.jpg (70.2 KB, 43 views)
	juniperafter.jpg (69.7 KB, 45 views)

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Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

www.elandangardens.com

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cindyread

There is know bad attempt but not trying. So good for you. You have learned something. And you are going at it. If I find stock at is not great I will get my books out, and find something that I have not done and play. Sometimes It's good sometimes not. We don't learn if we don,t try.

Cindy

Alasdair

I think that juniper has the potential to be a decent little literati (with a bit of tweaking). Leaning the whole composition to the right so that the base exits the soil vertically, then wiring the rest upwards a bit.

Al

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I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on...
Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth

meushi

OK, I tried the literati idea... the second part of the trunk is maybe too straight now, I cut back the mass of foliage on the right and brought it downwards. I'm not so happy with the result yet, but here it comes.

The second one, I already prefer a bit... I just used the big mass of foliage on the right almost as is.

Mike

Attached Images

	juniper-virt-literati.jpg (39.5 KB, 11 views)
	juniper-virt-literati-2.jpg (43.1 KB, 10 views)

Victrinia_Ensor

You all are too much fun...

You so totally got the point. Thats what I love about this place. I was even content if no one said a thing about the lil darlins... I just wanted to share a bit of honesty and self discovery in my bonsai pursuit. And if it amused someone, or made them think twice about something in their own collection, well so much the better. Most of us have those trees we scratch our heads over, especially in the begining. But what a wonderous experiance it all ends up being. Especially with getting to do so with such people as yourselves.

I am going to let the little juniper grow up a bit... but I thought literati to an extent when I saw it also. As I said before... it's now on a path to become something good. And within that... I am content.

Mike... you rock! I have a new tree comin up I bet you will only be too happy to play with virtuals wise... It's going to be magnificent. I may even venture to say that baring the 20 years or so that it will take my JWP to become the jewel I know it will be, it may well be the crown jewel of my collection.

I'll be sharing it on Sunday (cuz thats when I am picking it up... it needs a truck to bring it home)... oh the anticipation. lol

Be well...

Yours in bonsai and with kindest regard,

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Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

www.elandangardens.com