Mugo Muse

[MJL]

I am a little angry with myself. Purchased this Mugo Pine today. Damn this bonsai addiction. It was $20 too much - I reckon I should have paid $25-$30 but alas - I didn’t... I wanted yet another tree to faff around with on a beautiful day and purchased it anyway.

So many problems including no taper and that straight trunk. I did like a few things though - there were some young shoots down low and on the outside of where I thought I would make a bend, perhaps they and/or one of the lower branches might become the future top crown of a semi-cascade, I thought.

In addition, I thought at least one or two of the branches down low could be sacrifice branches to encourage some girth at the base. I also thought that the straight trunk was reasonable pliable and I was confident I could bend that quite easily.

Here’s the tree as purchased. Yeah, I know! Why?

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Anyway, I went and bent it - and I could go harder but I’ll push the buckle further every week or so.

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And you can see a reasonable trunkline now in the photo below.

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In my mind - the obvious choice was a semi-cascade - choosing any number of possible lines and putting movement into the very pliable branches.

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But I could stand the tree up cut the trunk near the buckle/brace and start again with an informal upright, shohin sized tree. With one of those lower branches as the new lead.

Anyway - probably a silly but, I should learn! But maybe that’s the point, something to learn from and work with - at about the cost of a shout with my mates at the pub. I guess it’s pretty cheap entertainment in that context - when I’ll work on it for many hours over time.

Speaking of working on it, I am guessing that now is not the time to do much or cut back. Am I too late to do anything now that would help come spring/summer? I am in Melbourne.


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[TimS]

You certainly don’t shy away from a challenge Mark!

Good idea putting the bend in the trunk; the straight, evenly tapered trunk is a limitation but putting movement into it does ease the focus away from it.

If you weren’t sold on the semi-cascade then the lack of taper may work to your advantage if you stood it up in a bunjin style also.

[Gerard]

I like the lower branches which is where the best future lies. The bent trunk still lacks taper but will serve to thicken the base you might consider that this is merely a sacrifice branch.

[anthonyW]

Good spot to bend Mark, I have the second spot marked out for you to bend opposite way, don t need as much , remove branches with red crosses as said keep the lower ones for sacrifices....my last pic once stood up...tilt 15 to 20 degrees, I actually seen the fantastic artist Paval Slovak tree on FB Bonsai Australia...check it out, that image suits your tree.

Your little wobbles and slow taper is all he uses...anyway food for thought (i m always looking haha)

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tilt!

[Daluke]

Cut your losses and get better material.

If I could go back in time, I would stop myself buying the mediocre / rubbish stock. Mediocre stays mediocre. Rubbishy stays rubbishy.

I’m not saying what you have is terrible - just be prepared to cut back hard and play the long game.

[MJL]

Daluke - you are 100% on the money. 100%. I have recently given two presentations at Bonsai societies - on moving from amateur to something approaching intermediate bonsai skills. Yeah - true - not a joke! Anyway .... in that presentation I make your exact point but with even more direct language. That’s why I am angry at myself - I’m a bloody hypocrite not even listening to my own advice!

On the flip side - my intent is to do stuff, challenge myself and continue to learn - and it’s always better to learn by doing but as you infer - and as the saying goes - “Ya can’t polish a turd.”

Gerard, Tim and Anthony - thank you for your thoughts too and Anthony, as always, cheers for taking the time of creating the rough vert - appreciated.

Love this forum... somehow people are continuously accepting and diplomatic of the follies that I attempt and therefore, I am progressing (slowly) - just sometimes it feels 1 step forward, 2 back ... enjoying it though - whatever the direction I am heading.

Cheers.

Mark


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[TimS]

I had to make a pact with myself at one point; if one new tree/ compilation is coming into the collection then one must go out first.

In this way I both put significant halt on the volume of, lets politely call it *rough stock*, entering in from nursery visits while simultaneously having the added benefit of forcing me to really evaluate the direction my collection was going in long term. It helped me focus on moving eventually to a fully deciduous collection, as well as a making my collection a smaller core collection I will never sell, with a few fun things to play around with still. I’m practicing more bonsai as a result, on species I genuinely love, as well as stemming the tide of young material that had me endlessly starting at the beginning over and over and slowly losing interest.

Irritatingly I have filled the garden with Japanese maple seedlings and a bunch of other random stuff as I just enjoy growing plants, but I hope to curb this habit next to a manageable level.

I applaud you taking on these challenging trees, it’s hard to say no when you see the tree and the possibilities I know. Ultimately if you’re enjoying them and finding the problem solving rewarding then keep going. I hit a wall with it personally and had to perform an intervention on myself. When it stops being fun and starts being a chore then you’re on the wrong path. If you enjoy the rough stock life then stick with it, but check in occasionally with yourself to make sure you are still enjoying it.

[MJL]

Hi Tim,

Cheers for your thoughts and advice. Appreciated.

Yep, I need to make a pact with myself but being ‘addicted’ I may need to rope in in my family to help break the cycle too!

And hey, great to catch up in person yesterday. Have a great weekend.

Cheers,

Mark


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[TimS]

It was a pleasure to visit you and your collection Mark. Hope you and the family have a wonderful easter!

I am still thinking back to your Japanese Maple forest and the variegated windswept junipers for inspiration going forward. Photos truly don't do them justice. That maple forest especially captured my imagination and my desire to try again the group plantings.

You are certainly buying better rough stock than i ever was, if i saw a species i didn't already have i would buy it regardless of what attributes the specific plant actually had and if it was any good for bonsai. In this way i ended up with over 20 cultivars of Japanese Maple at one stage, all the conifers i could lay my hands on, 7 different flower colour wisterias not to mention boundless obscurities that i found while scouting through nurseries. I am still dealing with some of these today (the wisteria for instance)

Like i say, if you're enjoying it then that is the most important thing. From the above i can say that i truly understand the addiction all too well. I, however, ended up feeling overwhelmed by how much stock i had at one point. That lead to me getting a bit fed up with having all young or rough stock that was realistically a decade of work just to make halfway good. That lead to me losing a bit of interest in the hobby and i knew then i had to make some changes. Ultimately my "1 in, 1 out" rule that i ended up adapting to "1 out, 1 in", to stop myself still just accumulating more while halfheartedly promising myself i would eventually sell/chuck/ give away off other stuff got me back on an even keel.

It all boils down to where you're headed with the hobby i guess and how far you want to take it. There is nothing wrong with playing with rough stock, in fact in terms of developing your 'eye' it's probably the best thing to do. Having my whole house overrun with rough stock was too much in the end for me. I still have plenty of stumps and young material to play with as you have seen when you visited me, but i personally needed some more advanced trees to hone my extremely limited skills on better.

[MJL]

Bloody man-flu...throat feels like I’ve swallowed a pineapple and bag of marbles today. Been walking past this tree a bit so acted on my main idea - as much as anything to stop sulking and do something!

In short - took some branches off - have left two low sacrifice branches to fatten trunk; shortened, bent, gouged and twisted... I’m looking forward to what this may become in five years or so.

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If the tree dies off below this gouge

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or I decide to make a shorter informal upright - I won’t be fussed.

Options, options ....and I’m confident that I can make something half worthwhile with this tree.



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[tgward]

good to see your prepared to use the full range of torture tools ---- wondering if you have early plans for those wrap around roots--

[MJL]

Cheers TG,

Yeah, no. To use a term. I’ve been wondering - given it is unlikely and probably not wise to bare root and try to untangle, can I simply cut some off to clean it up. I will not be re-potting until late spring/summer I imagine.

By the way ... just walking the dog and even where Hadley walks provides some Bonsai inspiration!

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Bonsai teaches me patience.
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