AusBonsai

Thanks for your observations Stormfyre. I'm sure this style is not to everyone's taste, especially Australians where we are not exposed to really harsh conditions. I may even have missed the subtle nuances of this sort of tree but I'm hoping that each successive try will get better.

Have you had any deep wire scars? And how have you dealt with this?

I try to avoid wire scars and have not had any worth worrying about. On one larger cascade where I split the trunk, wrapped, wired and bent I dis get a little swelling above and below the binding but I was aware of the potential so unwound before it got bad. Unfortunately the split has still not fully healed as a result of early unbinding but I think that's better than swelling.

Dealing with wire scars:
It is sometimes possible to grow them out but with slow to heal species like juniper it can take a while. You'd need to allow the tree to grow freely for a few years to get enough thickening to grow over the scars.

Turn a fault into a feature - would it be possible to strip bark to form a shari following the wire scar up the trunk? Following wire marks could look a little artificial as the marks are probably quite evenly spaced but it may be possible to take the shari off the wire marks in places to introduce some randomness.

Make other scars - I have started to thicken some other species in specific places by cutting through the bark in places where the trunk/branch needs some extra thickening. The scar tissue that forms adds extra bulk to the tree at that place but not elsewhere. Maybe similar scarring could disguise or cover up the wire marks you have?

thanks for the detailed response shibui!

i plan to grow on the few iv started for at least 2 more years maybe more, so hopefully the buldges grow out as you suggest. Being squamata they seem to thicken allot quicker than shimpaku too so hopefully this will be all they need.
they all have twisted sacrifice branches below any of the major swelling too so this should help also. i think the shari idea would have been good when the scars were fresh and fleshy, but they have mostly healed over now just in a very unattractive way. on the plus side though i ended up with a large scar on the inside of the first bend on one of my smaller trunks (maybe 1cm thick now) and the swelling has caused the bend to start fusing already.

will think about trying raffia and maybe some thinner wire for the next batch though and make sure to remove the wires earlier.

Shibui, I forgot to ask what Joe thought of your tree. As it is his "fault" that you started this venture his opinion would be interesting.

I can't say that he was outwardly enthusiastic Watto, but then again I have not actually seen him overly excited about anything else either. He just took it all in his stride and made the best of the material presented a susual.

MB: I'm not sure what bearing the freshness or age of scars has on the possibility of shari. I have not seen your tree but I don't think the age of scars would impact on that sort of procedure.
Removing wire is the only way I know to prevent making. As mentioned earlier wrapping wiith raffia just causes swelling at the top and bottom of the wrap and I also ended up with one tree with raffia impressions in the bark after leaving it on too long. I have noticed that thinner wire seems to cut in quicker than thicker. Maybe due to thinner wire being easier to apply so it is closer against the trunk? Possibly just the surface area against the trunk is smaller so bites more easily?
I have found that the thin junipers I bend are set after just a month or so though some bends are weak after removing the wire that the trunk can collapse when supporting wire is taken off. I usually leave the wires on and just keep regular check and remove at the first sign of wire pressing into the bark anywhere on the tree.

Love those twisted shimpaku. Great job Shibui! I just wish that they thicken quicker but then again at least it gives us more available time to concentrate on other trees while waiting

shibui wrote:I can't say that he was outwardly enthusiastic Watto, but then again I have not actually seen him overly excited about anything else either. He just took it all in his stride and made the best of the material presented a susual.

Hi Neil,

I think they are great! Material such as this simply isn't available in this country unless you grow it yourself.

I think you will agree that you have been learning a lot about how to make this material over the years and the results are beginning to show! The trees that you brought along were all interesting and unique material which i would make room for on my own benches if given half the chance.

I think that the smaller more twisted/knotted tree we styled in particular will become an excellent tree as it develops in years to come.

Joe

There you have it Watto, from the horse's mouth

Thanks Joe for the positive feedback. As you say, each time I do this I seem to discover more of the nuances of developing this type of stock. Unfortunately results, and improvement are quite slow coming because these are so slow to grow and thicken. Every few days I go out to check, hoping that some have thickened up enough to go to the next stage and each time I'm disappointed to find they have not

A few more of these twisted shimpaku are getting close to styling.
Here's one I trimmed today Allowing strong sacrifice branches weakens lower and inner shoots so there's not much to cut back to now. Previous trimming has stimulated some shoots from the base of some branches so I've decided to work slowly. Prune all long branches back to the lowest healthy foliage then leave it to grow, probably for the summer, until I get good new shoots closer to the trunk. It could take several years to get enough foliage and regrow suitable branches but I've already invested around 10 years into these trees so a couple more is no problem to get better results.

Here's the other one I worked with today.
It has been through a number of different inclinations over the years of development. I've had it leaning over much further as a cascade and standing more upright. None seemed quite right so it is now at this halfway angle. I know it is difficult to 'style' any bonsai from pics and even harder when the juniper has foliage hiding features but if anyone would like to put forward some suggestions for this one feel free to add ideas or virts.
Remember you don't just have to work with what's there. The trunk is pretty well fixed now - too thick to bend much but you can allow for new branches to grow in the medium to long term if you wish.

Jumping in to this thread and picking up one of your own suggestions (or what I think I read)…

Maybe start working / developing the Shari on the bends so it starts to expand out each year? Especially that first lower bend?

Not sure how the style is meant to work but you could certainly be pulling back the foliage behind it with time and putting in some other Shari’s?

Something like this?

Great update, loving this topic.
BTW you know its a Shibui post when you see a few feral maples in the pots

I know it's not a Shimpaku but I did a similar thing to one of my junipers. Twisted when young and let it grow. I've just added a Shari up the trunk that I will make wider every year and see it I can get the trunk to flatten out.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d-xEUu ... %E6%A0%BDQ[/youtube]

Thats a good video of one of the many ways to make shari on these small trees.

Great video! I could watch that all day. It took me a few minutes to figure out that ‘ash’ meant deadwood and ‘water absorption’ referred to the live vein, but I have no idea what they mean by ‘reliquary’.