Alpineart's Blog

This is the latest find . A decade of hunting for the Bonsai specimen that has eluded me all this time . A locally grown Norway Spruce self sown amidst the destruction of old pines and spruces . Standing 2.1m high and 1.5m wide it was a task and a half to remove it safely , having to reduce the entire tree by 50% in order to transport it home . With a nice rootball attached i headed home and potted the tree up within 1 1/2 hours and placed inside a plastic igloo . Not having a great deal of patience i left it for 4 weeks and observed the new growth extend , during this period i constantly misted the foliage several times per day in order to give it the best chance of survival . The tree has endured extreme heat without any dire effect apart from some burning of the top through the plastic . During this time i have reduced the new growth by half as with my other Spruces . With the braches pointing downward due to the conditions it was grown in i decided to wire the tree into the desired shape . The result is fantastic and all i need to do is nurture and admire my new tree . The tree finished at 1000mm high 650mm wide and 550mm deep with a 90-100mm trunk and excellent radial roots . The top is going to be Jinned for 100-120mm as the branches a very condensed and thick at the apex .

Three months after collection this is the latest pic of the tree with all the branches wired independently and the jin and shari of the top has begun . Further refinements will take place over the coming months . Looking forward to placing it into a bonsai container over Winter and watching the new growth appear in spring , it will fill the canopy 2 fold and complete the transformation from tree to Bonsai . A fantastic result from an amateur Bonsai-ist

With no time to waste i removed the plant from its container , removed 50% of the rootball with a handsaw as it was like a solid brick , not possible to tease the roots out hence the drastic action was taken . I repotted it after salvaging a good root mass and placed it into a deep bonsai pot . With the tree secured i went about removing the dead crown and branches to expose the multi trunks {11} in all . They appeared to be very spindally and the drastic action to remove the lesser {6} was to its benefit . I now had something to focus on , either to leave the {5} remaining trunks as a Clump Style or to further reduce it to {3} trunks and create a triple trunk . Undecided i left it to recover for 2 months then took the drastic action to remove a futher 2 trunks and the end result is a very nice Triple Trunk style Bonsai . I have since repotted the bonsai into a shallow pot and with the traditional wiring method used transformed what was a sick potted plant into what i beleive to be a fantastic Rare Bonsai as Alberta Globes are rarely used for bonsai even buy the guru’s of the art . Below is the Norway Spruce described previously in its present state with the wire removed and replaced once again with wire hooks to prevent damage to the new shoots that are appearing in the 3rd flush of new growth in the last 4-5 months . And yes i’m aware of the fact that you should only remove <20%>

The Norway Spruce was part of a ute load of reject trees purchased from a little old lady who has a healthy obsession with collecting rejected/damaged nursery trees from far and wide . I clapped my eyes on it and low and behold it was in the ute in a flash , along with the rest of the trees . Butchered and neglected this would transform into something resembling an aged Spruce battered by nature. I removed it from its pot to find it was growing in recycled garden mulch from the local council , treated pine , plastic even a shredded aluminum can was entangled in the root ball . With a quick trim of the branches to remove the unsightly foliage and a severe root prune it was placed into the bonsai pot . Further training would take place in 4 weeks . I used the hook and hold method to pull the branches down into their new position , carefully the tree has taken on a completely new image . On the thicker branches i use electrical cable coating to protect the bark from damage . With the new Spring growth bursting i allowed the tree to rest and recover for another 4 weeks during this time i carved a shari down the full length of the trunk,small but affective..After the new growth had extended i then removed another 30% of the canopy,stimulating a further burst of new buds and shoots . Continually trimming the new growth by pinching out the tips the canopy was beginning to thicken , so a further reduction of the branches was to take place . Once again another burst of new shoots has appeared and began to burst . This transformation from neglected tree to bonsai has taken less than 6 months . It is currently wired in the traditional method and is recovering very well . It has pride and place in my vast collection of Bonsai and trainers.