Wind Swept Ligustrum

zen

I found this tree in my folks yard about 6 months ago. All of the trunk movement was already there, the tree was about 3 1/2 ft. tall but I choppped it on down and now it's about 1 ft. tall or a bit less. I'm going with the suggestions in Robert Steven's book once again about having the branches go in an upward direction,...he mentions a woman's dress in wind, and an umbrella getting popped insaide out becuase of the fact that wind, when comming into contact with an object, has no other recourse than to go upward. Anyhow leme know what you guys think of this "as of yet naked" little tree.

Attached Images

WindSwept2.jpg (65.6 KB, 144 views)

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Will_Heath

Honestly?

I think the trunk has no taper and starts by moving with the wind and then grows back into it. The jin is strangely out of place on this privet. The branches have no movement and all but one seem to come from the same small area on the trunk. Like Andy's Windswept Elm, this will only resemble the windswept style when defoliated. Unlike Andy's, it lacks the fine structure and ramification to pull it off.

Your chop would have been best above the first branch. Then you could have left in the ground or a large pot to grow out that branch as the new leader and develop the trunk thickness and taper while allowing new branches to grow, keeping those that have a purpose and allowing a couple sacrifice branches to grow low.

This is an example of "instant bonsai" where a piece of stock is rushed into a design and plopped into a bonsai pot without giving it the time required to develop into something worthwhile.

Unless of course you were trying for that elusive stick in a pot style, in which case you succeeded quite well.

However, you have gained experience and practice with collecting, wiring, jinning, etc. In time this bonsai and the knowledge gained from it may well prove to be a valuable project indeed. I have a bench full of the same "learning experiences."

But then again, this is just my opinion as a fellow beginner, others may disagree with me.


Will

Harry harrington has a windswept privet he is working with, you can see it here.

midwestbonsai

Well said
This could one day become a very nice tree, but not now. Keep up the practice and one day you will blow us al away.
-Paul

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zen

It's better in person,...LOL. These are very good points. Thanks for the critique.

__________________
"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

http://www.bonsaiswap.com/

zen

I checked out Harry's tree and if you'll notice the main trunnk farthest to the right actually goes into the wind as much if not more than my trunk.

__________________
"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

http://www.bonsaiswap.com/

crabs

I'm looking at the pic of your tree, and reading Will's post, I find fault, or rather an addition to only one of his comments about Andy's windswept elm being so ramified, in time yours to will be so ramified. I think as far as the 'intsa-bonsai' part, you did what you could with the stock you had, it doesn't look bad for all that it is, there just isn't much there. maybe in time you will get some back budding and have some new branches to work with to get some finer detail in there. I think with those missing detail branches, you might have something there. Maybe if in the future you chose three 'key points of movement,' that being the trunk move ment as one, then two branches that mesh with that as well, both on the right of course, the first being shorter than the top, then with those new branches we are looking for add the details to bring the three 'key points of movement' together as one peice......maybe a sketch would help.

Also, to add to the ramification point, looking at your design as a whole, right now it looks somewhat balanced, no side is really to heavy, i think of the jin the same as Will, but that aside, all is well so far. Where do you see this in 5 years as far as future growth? I think that if your tree gains the 'ramification to pull it off,' at that point your trunk will not be enough to support the design visually, it will not have enough weight to look balanced carrying the ramification. At least not in that pot right??

crabs><>

that was a thousand words right

weeijk

Hi Zen,

Looking at your tree, I see my European Larch as it was looking a while back. (picture 1) After some changes (picture 2) it is looking like this now (picture 3), so I think that yours is coming too, where my tree is now. I think it has a lot more potential as a windswept than Harry Harrington's tree, as Will is mentioning. Maybe that one has a nice taper, but it doesnt look like a confincing windswept to me.
IMHO a windswept has a nice onesided nebari, as if it grabs on to the ground and branches going one side, swept by the wind. Offcourse there has to be movement in them. When you look on google on: windswept or fukinagashi, you'll find some interesting ones, like f.i.:

http://www.bonsaicommunity.com/grow..._MylilBuddy.JPG

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bonsai/form...r_les_vents.jpg

But yours will come to that, as Crabs allready said. Hope you keep us informed

Wessel

Attached Images

	larix decidua101 16-8-2004.jpg (71.3 KB, 30 views)
	larix decidua103 21-4-2005.jpg (71.5 KB, 30 views)
	larix decidua105 23-9-2005.jpg (71.8 KB, 43 views)

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zenwarrior

I agree with Will, cut above the first branch. Jin is out of place. Put that puppy back in the ground or in a large, shallow training pot. Although, if you plan on thickening the trunk, I suppose you need some type of sacrifice branch? I think. Anyway, thanks for sharing zen.

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RedPine

These privets should be running rampant all over your area.Maybe dig up about a dozen more of these then use the best 7 or so to make a bonsai or penjing forest planting in a long shallow dish/pot.Hey,priviets run rampant here.Wheres my privet forest huh?A good idea.

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