Very fortunate find at Home Depot

wadek

Two years ago I found 3 Juniperus chinensis 'Procumbens' nana's trained for bonsai uprights with 2" trunks. They were over grown by three years, but at one time good specimens. Clearly old stock. I am working real slow on them to train them back as they were badly over grown.

The same year I found a pair of Shilo Colorado blue spruce weepers, marked correctly, about 10 year old. Not a bonsai, but a nice rare tree for my Japanese garden.

I cruise the Depot to look for finds every two weeks in the summer. It pays off once each summer.

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Mcspeed

Looking good Rob, I'll have to give the one I got a couple of weeks ago a closer look.

Do you get funny looks as you go thru pot after pot looking for those single trunk trees in the haystack of spidery trees. I think I paid 14.95 for the gallon size, got a nice mugho for 5.95 too.

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AMKhalid

Nice looks alot better... I still really think you should get a guy wire on that jin before its too dry! It doesn't flow with the rest of the branches.

october

Hello Mcspeed.lol..I'm not sure if I get the looks, but I do think about it. I'm like, I wonder if they are watching me and thinking.. What the hell is this guy doing. Sometimes, if a sales associate askes me if they can help me. I will explain what I am there for and they sound curious so I do brief bonsai explanation and then I go about my business


QUOTE]Nice looks alot better... I still really think you should get a guy wire on that jin before its too dry! It doesn't flow with the rest of the branches.[[/QUOTE]
Thanks amkhalid..... I assume you mean that big jin on the left. I reduced it quite a bit. I will reduce it more and carve it in the future. I don't think the tree is going to be able to take much more work. The jin doesn't look too bad with its current angle. A guy wire might improve it, however, even with a guy wire, I don't think that branch could be moved very much. It was actually a trunk that was cut off and the jin is probably half or more as thick as the trunk. I tried bending it and its like trying to bend concrete.

All I want now is for the tree to survive. Not sure if I'll get much growth this season. Probably next year it will take off if it survives.

Rob

Vonsgardens

That jin will shorten up nicely to be in balance with the tree. Looks like you might develop a couple of "natural" dead lines on the trunk, will add some ruggedness. good start. John

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AMKhalid

Yes it would not be easy to bend especially if it is dry now... but if you take a splitting tool or a branch pruner and split halfway through the base of the jin (i.e. bite it), you could bend it down very easily... especially if the wood is still wet. Then when it dries it will hold position. The jin may crack and split, so wire it to hold it all together... the cracks and splits will look good though when its dry as they will further reveal the texture of the wood. Alternatively, cut a wedge out from the base of the jin, but I would opt for the former.
That kind of work won't harm the tree any more since the branch is already cooked. Just my suggestion though... fresh jins are great because you can bend them literally anyway you want! I think only 30 degrees or so down would do the trick. Once the wood is dry you will never be able to do that however because it won't hold the final position (and will be hella hard to flex).

Good luck! It is still a sweet transformation, but I think that little detail would tie it together nicely.

treebeard55

Thanks for posting this, October!

You inspired me. We don't have a Home Depot, but after seeing your pics I had to head for our local Lowe's. And, believe it or not, fairly quickly I found a nice little yew (Taxus x media 'Densiformis') with good bonsai potential.

It has a 1-1/2-inch vertical cut near the base on one side, thru the bark and down into the wood. I used that "blemish" to get the price cut by 50% (to $4.99.) Of course I intend to make a shari there, but why tell them that?

No pics yet, but I'll try to post some in the future.

Someone asked about funny looks. Yeah, I get them from time to time; doesn't bother me. A few weeks ago a manager at this same Lowe's asked if he could help me, as I was poking around. I explained what I was up to, and now he's talking about scheduling a bonsai demo at his store in early summer. We'll see what comes of that.

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Treebeard 55

"... the Lord God made all kinds of trees ... trees that were pleasing to the eye ..." (Genesis 2:9, NIV.)

october

Thats awesome treebeard... A nursery was talking to me about possible teaching some basic bonsai at their farm stand. The more people involved with bonsai the better. It keeps it flourishing.......

I look forward to seeing pics of the yew, you found. Even if its not styled, I'd love to see what you found

edro

Did it make it through the summer so far?

That was a pretty drastic reduction.