Swamp Cypress

[Jon Chown]

I found this twin trunk in 1999 while scrounging around a nursery not looking for anything in particular and decided that it would make a fair bonsai one day.

I think that the trunks are getting there and now its time to start work on the branches.

Swampy - white background.jpg

Yours in Bonsai
Jon

[anttal63]

again a good start and in time should be great.

[Steven]

Good taper to both trunks Jon. I'm looking forward to seeing this one develop!

[Asus101]

If you want to increase taper, pot it up into a bigger pot and sit it water and feed it like crazy.
I had a pencil thin BC that I won at a club raffle. Its a weeping form, and had been neglected to the point I thought it would be dead. Its been sitting in water since and now has really nice taper.
I took it out of water a few days ago to take it to a workshop if I can get down in time.

[stymie]

It being winter in the UK, My Taxodium disticum is currently orange/brown and frozen. I'll try a photograph if it gets light enough today.

[aaron_tas]

hi jon,

personally, i like the elegance of the trunks as they are. the complex leaves of these are elegant, the trunks of this tree are also. sure, you'd get a "closer" view of the tree with a larger taper, but this tree still looks quite powerful "far away".

the only thing i can say about a possible changing of the styling would be...
the movement of the trunks are slightly left (strongest nebari also left), but the foliage triangle is to the right.
this gives a "static" feel to the composition. whereas if the foliage triangle was also moving slightly to the left, i would feel, not so much more dynamic, but MORE graceful movement to the left.

any thoughts

[stymie]

I made the effort and set up a light. Please forgive the presence of the shadows on the backdrop. It isn't groomed of course just now. Height 47" (119cm) Third year in training

Swampy Nov08.jpg

[Jon Chown]

the movement of the trunks are slightly left (strongest nebari also left), but the foliage triangle is to the right.
this gives a "static" feel to the composition. whereas if the foliage triangle was also moving slightly to the left, i would feel, not so much more dynamic, but MORE graceful movement to the left.

Just going back over some older threads and found this one that I missed.

They are very astute comments Aaron, I agree with your vision. As you can see, the first branch on the small trunk (which is where it should be) has died for some unknown reason and I have been hoping for a new shoot to appear but to no avail.

My main direction in the short term is to bring the two trunks in closer together and more parallel and to work on the sub branches. I am quite happy with the feminine look of the tree and will run with that.

Jon

[mudlarkpottery]

I've just found it too, Jon. How tall is your twinn-trunk? Stymie, yours is looking good as well I'm just about to cut off an aerial layer started last Autumn. I can feel a solid root mass there and would like to get some growth before the next dormancy.
Penny.

[daiviet_nguyen]

Hi Jon,

I think Asus101 is right about sitting them in water. My brother used to have one, and during the
summer down here, he put it into a water container, and it seems to like it.

I seem to remember in Brisbane city center, China town section, they have little pond with some
waterfalls in the pond, and just before I left Brisbane in 2002, they put into a swamp cypress into
the pond...



Regards,

Viet.