AusBonsai

Don’t judge me. I’m watching Masterchef. It’s ‘secrets’ week - secret recipes and mystery boxes everywhere.

So a second Shimpaku for the weekend. Another one of slightly more mature age - again flawed but reasonable nebari.

Anyway - here’s the photos of the original stock and the last photo is purposely ‘mysterious’ - I’ll update it in a year or two. [WINKING FACE]
Hmmm? Good fun. Cheers, Mark


Bonsai teaches me patience.
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That’s cool. You did something good today.
(I should be clear and emphasise I am speaking about the tree... not so much Masterchef... I’ll leave that for another day!)

Nice job that will pay dividends later!

Thanks Ant and R3, comments appreciated. Don’t be fooled - it’s a semi-dark mystery photo because it does not look great in the light ..... well not yet anyway. Good fun to work on though and it’s nice to be working with a bit more substantive stock too. As I and others have noted before - ‘you cannot polish a turd’ so this flawed stock will always be flawed stock but enjoyable nonetheless. Cheers, Mark.


Bonsai teaches me patience.
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Six months later and time to shed more light on the mystery. Literally. The last photo I took was in the dark! Today, I forgot to take a shot with the wire on but below are photos of today's work. Why did I take the wire off so early? The first attempt was a bodgy job and the more practice I get, the better I get. I hope.

In truth, I am angry at myself for buying this stock...crap stock is crap stock and it's very hard to un-crap it. I am trying but it takes time and more skill than I have at this stage of my bonsai life. That said, I did enjoy today's challenge --- still flaws everywhere but at least I can look at it now. I was trying to do a double, semi-cascade - if that even exists; the windswept look is by luck or subconscious over-ride. The foliage is too heavy on the top left, but I am a bit gun shy on removing too much foliage on Junipers. Hopefully the repot into better soil will spur growth and I can cut back more, later. Anyway, here 'tis. Looking at these photos I can see that a bolder man might get rid of the whole top branch. Or just keep that singular, skinny branch on the right and start again.

This morning I was wondering around an azalea show. I had discussion with a friend as we were admiring various azaleas. We discussed how many azaleas were styled like trees. Many were styles like pines; s-bends and pads everywhere. I like and admire those trees. Indeed some are breath-taking. Yet, I prefer something multi-trunked and when they have the shape of an acute scalene triangle. No idea why my head thinks this way but it does. This hobby is so subjective.

As I drove home, it made me think about my strange Shimpakus and indeed, the journey I've been on as I learn. Yeah, they will never be 'classic' but they are part of my learning. They are enjoyable to my eye and indeed, they look ok... poked around the little garden. Really this is just another Sunday morning ramble but it reminds me (and perhaps others) to be less harsh on ourselves. Learn technique but also don't be afraid to go with the flow; with what feels right to you. It's you that looks at 'em every day.