AusBonsai

G'day,

I picked up this cracker Shimpaku in Canberra from Leigh and first worked on it in a workshop with Ryan Neil.
It was originally started in Victoria as several branches on a ground grown Shimpaku that had been twisted together and wired into shape. When the branches fused it was air layered and potted up. A very good way of producing high quality stock and I reckon that there should be more grown this way!
Here is how it was looking before the workshop.
I first started cleaning up the deadwood as it still had the bark on it. I then cleaned out the foliage and removed everything growing from the joints of branches etc. One branch was obsolete so it was jinned.
I then wired each branch out to as close to the tips as I could get with reasonably heavy aluminium wire. Ryan and I then bent it into shape. There were some pretty extreme bends done and I left them to Ryan. It was pretty cool to watch the way he did it - the concentration was intense.

Following is how it looked when I got it back into my garden.
A couple of weeks ago I tweaked it a bit and added some finer wire. I also repotted it and put it into this Pat Kennedy pot.
The plan is to let it recover and then continue to work on the foliage to create multiple pads that all work together forming a nice silhouette. I need to refine the deadwood and expose the grain in the wood by using a wire brush on a Dremel.

Any thoughts or feedback are welcome.

Regards,
Steven

Looking good Steven. Saw this little guy at the convention and your pics don't do it justice sorry buddy .
Are you going to reduce the amount deadwood on the right? It looks a little bit busy.

Beautiful little tree Steven thanks for sharing

Fantastic tree. Perhaps you could show a close up of the fused trunks?


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That is one happy looking shimp!!!

Will be beautiful in the future!

coming along very nicely steven! a great result after seeing this guy at the convention.

G'day,

Gave this one a trim last night and shortened the deadwood that points to the right.
The deadwood has gone a nice grey colour and is holding up well. Still need to rough it up a bit and I should probably preserve it too.
I'd like to compact the foliage a bit more as the front and back branches are a bit far away from the trunk for my liking.
Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

A lovely little Juni mate, I like where its heading alot. WIth the bones that it has now, it can only improve in time. I love the pot its in, although I do feel that it is competing with the tree and will do so even more once you highlight the deadwood and clean the trunk to magnify the live vien. It is something to be considered in the future in anycase.

Look forward to seeing it when you update this topic again.

Cheers

David

Thanks for the feedback David. Yes, it's a bit overpowering for the tree. I'd eventually like to see it in a much smaller pot of a similar shape. Probably an unglazed, more traditional looking pot.

Regards,
Steven

How's this one today Steve? Still in your possession?

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G'day Pearcy,

Yes, I still have it. After the last styling it was attacked by a possum who ate nearly every bit of foliage.
It has recovered but the shock has caused juvenile foliage to grow. It's currently not looking the best but I'll get a photo up when I can.

Regards,
Steven

Steven wrote:G'day Pearcy,

Yes, I still have it. After the last styling it was attacked by a possum who ate nearly every bit of foliage.
It has recovered but the shock has caused juvenile foliage to grow. It's currently not looking the best but I'll get a photo up when I can.

Regards,
Steven

Worst news... but hey, at least it survived!

I had a baeckea virgata that crossed over due to those furry little bastards.

Hope it recovers well for you in time mate.

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