California Juniper no. 3.

JavaScottC

Al,
Without the benefit of seeing it first hand, what would be the chances of carving all the way through? Leaving a ribbon of light where I have darkened in on nip's trunk? Just a thought.

Scott

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jhill

Here you go Al, maybe a bit to much foliage. But in a few years may grow enough?

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John

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jhill

One more Al and I got to get to bed. This has just a little less foliage.
I hope you like.

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John

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Mindcrime

Perhaps something like this:

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DwightFloyd

I've got a question for Gramps and Al.....what if you have a shrub in mind when first styling a bonsai. I understand the shrub/tree delema and am not sure a shrub can ever look like a tree. None of mine do. So why not have a bonsai that looks like s shrub ? Would that be so bad ? Emphasize iit's shrubiness.

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Fred-4-U

Bonsai is about trees in pots.

Not shrubs

DwightFloyd

So what distinguishes a tree from a shrub ?

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Joanie

Maybe I'm missing something... but we use shrubs all the time in bonsai. Azaleas are shrubs... so are boxwoods. You don't have "boxwood trees" in nature.

Shrub, according the the dictionary:
shrub(n.)A woody plant of relatively low height, having several stems arising from the base and lacking a single trunk; a bush.
Trees like to grow from the top, they tend to have one trunk on which branches grow. Shrubs tend to grow from the roots, or low on the trunk, so they spread out wide and low instead of tall.

We still train them to have a tree-like look, usually, because bonsai is about making something small look like something bigger and older. So a boxwood, which would usually be a bush or shrub, can be trained to look like a large old oak. Some maples tend to have bushy or shrubby growth habits. Bougainvillea is essentially a vine, but we grow it like a tree also. Cotoneaster is a shrub, with a low ground-covering habit, as is pyracantha. They all make excellent bonsai.

Illusion, illusion... such is the magic.

Joanie

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Fred-4-U

I didn't meant you can't use shrubs, but bonsai is about making your bonsai look like a tree. ( J. Naka)