Grapes

[Marc]

G'day, about 6 months ago or so I aksed my nana (finally) if I could have her old grapes. She had two that she is not interested in keeping or mainting, being 94. So, in the middle of winter i went around and dug them up. One had a decent rootball that dug up well, the other was very nerve racking, it had a strange root system where one leader ran for meters under her house. I simply could not keep digging looking for the white fibrous roots off then end, as it literally had only one thick trunk/root thingy growing for miles!! However, right near the base of the trunk, at soil level i saw about 3 teeny weeny little white roots.

With all my fingers and toes crossed I carfully chopped off that long root on this one and took great care not to damage those baby roots, and then brought them both home. The one with a good root ball planted right into regular bonsai mix in a med pot, the delecate one into half bonsai mix, half normal potting mix into a larger pot.

Well, as you can see they both grew like crazy, i'm over the moon. And the on that I was more afraid would die, is fruiting, so obvously very healthy.

They are about 40 years old each. Nan said they were planted before her and pa bought the house. One is a dark grape ( the one not fruiting), the other is a regular. Don't know species names, but I am very happy. I love the ancient looking trunks.

I'll keep them in these pots for another year or two before doing any root pruning and training.

[Steven]

Great stock Marc and excellent post too. There is a grape at my parents place that I have been after for Years. You have motivated me to ask again.
Regards
Steven

[Jon Chown]

Nice stock Marc, have you formulated any styling plans yet? There was a good article in one of the Bonsai Today issues with grapes.

Jon

[aaron_tas]

nice grapes marc

the best grape stock i have ever seen was at a bonsai buddy's place in nsw, she had dug them up only a few days prior, i would have loved carving these gnarled and twisted trunks, they were amazing

i dug this one up about a year ago, had it in a growing pot for about 9 months and now it resides in a mirkwood.

grape 001.jpg

i love the nebari on this one

grape 002.jpg

grape 004.jpg

i will carve a bit more down the front of the trunk for some more taper, all the carving so far has been at the back, this wood is awesome to carve with arbotech bits... i will have another carving workshop soon and keep'em posted

[Jon Chown]

Very nice Aaron, looks healthy as and I like the nebari it shows a lot of strength.

Jon

[Marc]

Thanks guys. Actually I was thinking of doing only a little to each of them. The more I look at them the more I think they don't need much doing. The one with my hand on it, it has a dead trunk that was chopped years ago and the wood is very soft now, so I will carve that into some form of jin. a Few places up the side of that one the trunk has died back as well, soooo, I am thinking of carving somehow up and down that.

Reminds me of a question/new topic I'll post shorlty to ask advice in general...

The other will be similar, smooth out the chop at the top.

Otherwise, as years mach on, fingers crossed the tree will guide me where to go with it. This tends to be where I take them.

There are a few places up and down tboth trunks with chop marks, I will have to tidy these up, and some short chopped branches will need tidying up. Both have GREAT bark already on their trunks, anything I can do to emphasise this. But again, with me, I take them one at a time and see how it goes. After all, what's the rush!

[aaron_tas]

hey marc

a Few places up the side of that one the trunk has died back as well, soooo, I am thinking of carving somehow up and down that.

with other trees i've had, i used a little chisel to take out all the soft wood, and left it to mother nature for a while...

but in just about any bonsai focus mag you pick up these days, you'll see them use a little blowtorch to burn away all the softwood.

these grapes you have are some really good bonsai stock, cant wait to see the progression

Both have GREAT bark already on their trunks, anything I can do to emphasise this.

i have heard of wrapping sphagnum moss around trunks for a while to get the bark up, but i have bark that's thick and dry, not sure if i wanna try that on this one...

After all, what's the rush!

i completely agree... take you're time, i'ts the fastest way to get where your going