Some Japanese trees.....

Forum for discussion of Pines, Junipers, Cedar etc as bonsai.
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ketutg
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by ketutg »

those 'rubbish' trees are better than the ones i have in my collection *cries*
Is there an article/book with tips on how to tie, twist and bend shimpaku to get that style? (like the first 'rubbish' tree you worke on)
or should i just buy some starters and experiment??
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Asus101 »

ketutg wrote:those 'rubbish' trees are better than the ones i have in my collection *cries*
Is there an article/book with tips on how to tie, twist and bend shimpaku to get that style? (like the first 'rubbish' tree you worke on)
or should i just buy some starters and experiment??
There was an article in one of the bonsai Europe magazines.
All it is... Take your cutting, wire it using thicker than normal wire, and loop/twist/bend as you can see in the final one posted there. That's basically it, I have read some allow the wires to cut in before removing, others remove before it cuts in and re wires..
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Jow »

Asus has basically summed it up. The only thing i would add is wire early as when they start to reach pencil thickness they tend to snap when bent sharply. Wire when they are around 3-4 mm thick for best results. As for the bends, twists and curls, its up to you imagination. Just try to keep them compact (unles syou want to grow big trees). Its probably best if you just bend and cmpress them randomly and worry about the final trees appeareance a few years down the track. Also make sure you put the first bend in close to the soil line adn nothing is worse than a twisted tree on a straight trunk.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Ictus »

That looks like an incredible amount of fun, and you cannot begin to imagine how jealous I am right now :D

Keep us posted!
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Leigh Taafe »

by Ictus on Today, 02:25

That looks like an incredible amount of fun, and you cannot begin to imagine how jealous I am right now


You too could do this. Where Jow is working, they also have a bonsai school. You will usually need to commit to 3 months. You can board at the school. The cost of the tuition is really not that much (in my opinion), but you will need to be able to afford to feed yourself, and get yourself over there. The biggest thing for me, when I was considering it, was the loss of income from me leaving the business for so long. I was looking at 2 months, the tuition fee was a little over $3k at the rate a few months back!

If anyone has "long service leave" coming up, it is worth having a think about it! Or, if you are just plain rich!

Cheers,
Leigh.
Last edited by Leigh Taafe on May 21st, 2009, 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cheers,
Leigh.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Jow »

Leigh Is spot on. Its not difficult to arrange. Also you can organise shorter stays but obviously the longer you set aside the better....
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by LLK »

What a great thread. Many thanks, Jow. I must say, I have every respect for someone who takes on such a course in Japan, let alone twice. It looks quite attractive when you sit in front of the computer, but I bet it's another story when you are on the spot in Japan.
Are you intending to pass on the knowledge and skills you acquired, some time, through demo's, workshops and the like?
Best wishes for the remainder of your stay.

Lisa
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Jow »

LLK wrote: Are you intending to pass on the knowledge and skills you acquired, some time, through demo's, workshops and the like?
Best wishes for the remainder of your stay.

Lisa
Yeah i hope to be able to share what i have learnt in one way or another.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Leigh Taafe »

Hi Jow,

How long are you staying for? Are you staying on-site?

Regards,
Leigh.
Cheers,
Leigh.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Jow »

Leigh Taafe wrote:Hi Jow,

How long are you staying for? Are you staying on-site?

Regards,
Leigh.
Yeah i am staying on site... Mr. Urushibata has two appartments that students also stay in... i ended up with the room in the nuresry, which is cold and mosquito filled.... I am only at the nursery for a month, then back to Hiroshima and from there i will do another month of traveling to various bonsai nurseries.
Last edited by Jow on May 21st, 2009, 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Jow »

Some more things i have been working on lately.

White pine before
IMG_5356.JPG
And after
IMG_5407-1.JPG
A shimpaku that i forgot to take a before pic of....
IMG_5408-1.JPG
And today i worked on a big trident.
IMG_5417-1.JPG
And partially defoliated it
IMG_5419-1.JPG
Then did a spot of pruning... reduced the height a little and cut out a lot of branches.
IMG_5420-1.JPG
Any way... dinner time!
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Last edited by Jow on May 22nd, 2009, 8:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Leigh Taafe »

Good job mate - I am loving this thread! :D
Cheers,
Leigh.
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Steven »

Jow, you really are living the dream mate. To be able to work on bonsai like that every day :roll:
I bet half the members here are seriously considering packing a bag and joining you!
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by anttal63 »

beautiful white pine jow good job! on all of them! :D
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Re: Some Japanese trees.....

Post by Elias »

Hi All,
This is an awesome thread, I love the trees that have been posted Jow, very nice work and indeed like many I'm extremely envious, I looked into this trip last year and if I didn't have my own business I would have jumped at the opportunity to do this work for a few months, it looks like an awesome experience, even if you gotta sleep in the cold room :lol:

Elias
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