Archive for December 16th, 2008


7 Foot Tall Not BONSAI Proof

Filed Under: Uncategorized by alpineart — 1 Comment
16/12/2008

This is a Pinus Nigra “Austrian Black Pine ” collected from the wild 8 years ago . I spotted 2 of these Pines in a plantation of Monterey’s , they were self sow from a nearby test plot . Seeking the land owners permission , i set about trimming and root cutting over a 2 year period . I eventually removed both trees , standing 2.1m high and potted them into Large timber training boxes . Sadly but not unexpected only one survived due to the poor rootball that failed to cope with the transplant . I kept the tree as a large informal upright for several years to promote growth and as a feature tree to the front of the house . I had many comment from locals about this tree . With more than 120 Bonsai scattered around the yard i chose to take a radical approach to the design and contort the trunk down to reduce the overall height . Using rachet tiedowns and good old truckies knots i began to bend and contort the trunk with no lenght reduction to the tree. The “Bonsai in traning” now sits in a extra large tray 800mm x 500mm and has a height of a mere 500mm with a width of 800mm . further reduction in height will continue and the Bonsai will be rotated 45 degree in both side and back directions to the present position and twisted / contorted sidways as it lacks 3 dimesions in the trunk
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My First Big Bonsai

Filed Under: Uncategorized by alpineart — Comments Off on My First Big Bonsai
16/12/2008

This was my first big Bonsai at the start it was 550mm high with a 55mm trunk after 10 years of training and nurturing it is currently 850mm high with a a 120mm base , while it does look fantastic i have yet to stimulate good surface roots or “Nebari”. I have began to work on the root system to improve the radial surface roots by removing and peeling back numerous small sections of the bark , painting these areas with hormone gel and using a cut off split plastic pot or a terracotta split pot to raise the course, sharp mixture around the base of the tree. A small open wooden box will do they same job , i use whatever i can lay my hands on . You could remove the Bonsai from its pot and place it in a deep plastic pot , either way will produce the desired result. Due to the fact the soil level has been raised the top section will dry out before the pot so keeping a close eye on the top section is a must. The lower branch on the tree is only 5 years old grown from a shoot during development of the canopy , numerous shoots appeared in that year and i chose the best one to balance the tree . I allow the branch to grow on moreso than the rest of the branches to thicken and improve ramafication , however it is always in proportion to the rest of the canopy . Originally this tree was part of my landscaped yard until a motorcyclist being pursued by the law took a shortcut through my yard and struck the top of the tree snapping it off. At the time i was rather angry , however the young chap done me a favour as the root system on the tree would have managed to foul the drainage system on the house.

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