AusBonsai

Hi All ,
This is a plum collected from Goulburn many years ago .After a few years in the ground it is time to make a start. I have a few ideas but would like to hear a what from the good folk at Aus Bonsai think. Cheers John.

I took my Chinese Quince to a Bonsai Boon workshop today, and it seems he works on the theory of cutting everything back to 2 or 3 nodes, (once it starts growing new buds, of course,) then letting it grow out for a year, wiring in Summer, then cutting it back hard again next late Winter early Spring... doing that for 3 - 5 years should give you a foundation for a tree that can then be refined...

(My quince is back to a stick in a pot.)

That looks like quite reasonable yamadori material boom.
A quick assessment of the material as presented:
Roots - solid with reasonable spread from the live part.
Trunk - nice slant, some taper. I can't see whether it goes backwards or if the top comes forward at all.
Branches - Lowest branch in a great position. Other branches quite thick, straight and little taper.
Features - dead trunk
Faults - live wood above the top of dead area starting to bulge out causing reverse taper.

I can't see the other side or the depth of the tree (which way the trunk slopes back and forward) but assuming the trunk does not go too far back looking from the angle you've shown us I can see a couple of possibilities.
In both cases, extend the dead area up the trunk in a spiral. This will relieve the current bulge and should prevent it from getting worse. Keep the lowest branch and grow it larger. Include the 2nd left branch (inside the curve) in the new dead wood as a short jin.
Possible tree #1 - shorter tree:
continue dead wood up to include the left branch, upper right branch and rest of the main trunk as dead wood. Probably short jins in all cases. Shorten remaining right branch then make a new apex and branch from buds that grow after pruning. Rear branch from either part of the lowest left branch or a bud from the base of the right branch/new apex.
Possible #2 - slightly taller tree:
Live wood spirals up the trunk to include the small branch front, just above the larger 2nd right branch. Make new apex from this one. Left branch, larger upper right branch become short jins as part of the dead wood. New rear branch developed from an existing branch or new shoot after pruning. Current trunk above the new apex becomes short jin or maybe just long enough to show through the new live apex.
After making these terrible virts I saw the possibility of dropping the left branch or part of it to help balance the trunk leaning right. Might give the design just a little bit more appeal. This could be used in either of the designs above.

Hi John . Nice bones ,has it flowered for you ? The Shari is quite a feature , Maybe something like this to start . A bit predictable I know but it establishes a nice line with taper to build on and with luck what you chop off will ' scar up ' to match the Shari . Not as hard as Shibui's virts so it may not emphasize the Shari enough . I look forward to seeing what you end up doing to it .
Cheers Craig

Hi Boom,

If it were mine I'd probably tilt it to the right and add more dead wood up the left side, to both emphasize the trees battered life and to bring out the trunk. The bottom left branch would be grown on and thickened to become another Jin and I'd have all foliage flowing to the right.

At the start of the second heavy branch to the right, I would use that little branch near its base as the new leader. Creating the deadwood Jin/Shari from the trunkline above will soften the sharp change of angle to that branch, smoothing out the trunk line (hope all that makes sense?). And I'd remove the bottom right heavy branch and grow the trees lowest branch from the little one below.

I would have made the foliage mass a bit wider to the right (and possibly slightly larger overall) but when I rotated the photo on my phone it reduced the room I had to draw. You get the jist.



Depending on how much deadwood you like you could then extend it even further around the rear, leading down to the the Nebari along the inside of the trunkline. Here's a couple of ideas.





As I said I did this on my phone so rough virt, and going off a 2d photo is nothing like looking at it in the flesh. No matter what way you go, cool trunk. Would love to see your idea in a virt Boom.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

WOW ,thanks for all the great replies .
Mel ,probably a lot more civilised approach that will no doubt pay of in time.
Shibui , great designs and nothing wrong with those verts. I had never really thought about the bulge , as I kind of accepted it as a by product of its growth. However I can now see problems ahead and like your ideas about increasing the deadwood elements. Appreciate you taking the time.
Craig ,Have to agree it is a nice line and something I was toying with. Even thought about keeping the second right hand branch (curly one ) about 15cm worth and developing a twin trunk kind of design. It is a green leaf variety with a mixture of red white flowers .Hopefully I will get to see them again.Thanks for the inpute.
Pearcy ,very cool strong design , more deadwood is allways a winner with me. Cheers.
Time to make a decision as I don't want to waste all that energy. Noticed some little buds pushing allready.I usually agonise about cutting anything off . I will post again once things settle down. Regards John.

Have you considered completely carving out the deadwood and creating a cascade of it?

Spent hours on my virt for you John - mainly just concentrated on the silhouette.
Have fun in designing - look forward to seeing your ideas (..& the many beautiful blossoms!)

A lot of Plum action lately ,here is my contribution . Decided on a design and am now trying to thicken some branches ,have a feeling this might end up with a younger member as it is going to take a long long time. Kind of lost my way with the apex ,it was in the back section and thickened up way to much.( to many trees ) Have been blessed with a nice crop of flowers ,the bees love it. Cheers John.

Ahh it does the heart good to see a plum in flower, even better knowing it was a Goulburn yamadori. Love the photo of the bee doing its business.
In about November a good trim and some wire and it won't be too far away from deserving a bonsai pot in my opinion. A little bit of letting the tree run wild (or neglect) for a year or two does wonders in many instances.

Time for an update as it was worked on recently. Struggled with ramification but a post by Symon and a method he was using has
been a winner. 'Partial Outer Canopy Defoliation " Will adjust a few branches and continue on . As usual a lot of unusual ideas in this one. John

That's looking very good John! I like where you're taking it.

Looking good, BUT where is the proper bonsai pot for this.
All plums MUST be treated with the greatest respect and new shoes are needed.

Watto wrote: ↑August 6th, 2022, 6:40 am Looking good, BUT where is the proper bonsai pot for this.
All plums MUST be treated with the greatest respect and new shoes are needed.

He's got a point, John.

boom64 wrote: ↑August 5th, 2022, 6:10 pm Time for an update as it was worked on recently. Struggled with ramification but a post by Symon and a method he was using has
been a winner. 'Partial Outer Canopy Defoliation " Will adjust a few branches and continue on . As usual a lot of unusual ideas in this one. John

Hi John, trees looking good, agree with the others think new shoe may well be in order.
Could you shed more light on Symon’s method that you mentioned. Had a quick look but couldn’t find anything from him. Probably looking or a different Symon.

Cheers
Kirky