AusBonsai

Noice, noice, another ten or so years will do it Neil

shibui wrote:

I'm still coming to grips with this one, its a bit if a mystery to me. The rock goes one way and the trees the other. I may need to study it a little more?

I know what you mean Watto. I was trying for a coastal cliff where trees are shaped by onshore winds. Maybe it will work, maybe not. I'll persist with the current direction for a few years. Can always change it around in future is it still looks wrong.

The top tree looks like it has been battered by winds all of its life. But the other two are coming straight out of the soil, they might fit in with the group better if they were tilted to the right. What do you reckon?

Shouldn't the top one be tilting the other way? Given the rock protects it from winds on the left side so it should tilt the other way.

Always interesting how different people perceive the effects of coastal winds. Being an inland (way inland) dweller I only have casual exposure to this phenomenon so would not be surprised if I don't get it.
I thought that the lower right tree was partly protected by the high rock on the windward side which is why the lower trunk is vertical. When the branches grow longer they are affected by the wind and start to move to the right more.

Anyway, it is what it is for the moment. Thanks for all the comments and ideas.

Way back when I put these trees on the rock I said

I'll probably regret not spending a few more minutes to put some wires to hold the trees in place Time will tell.

Well those chooks have come home to roost as predicted. Not all is lost though, we have the technology to rebuild.
Lucky this rock is relatively soft because holding an electric drill in one hand and a rock with small trees precariously balanced in the other and avoiding drilling through something other than rock was almost a challenge.
The wires will be used to secure the tree to the rock.
and then bash the lead into the hole with a nail punch and hammer and the wires are now securely attached.

I did not have the right sized sinker on hand so these were cut from a larger fishing sinker. I have seen other people use epoxy glue to hold the wires to the rock but did not have any araldite either.
Shed full of stuff but never what you need at the time

You will note that I have rewired that lower tree so that it now flows away from the rock instead of across. I'm still not 100% happy with it but there's a nice falling branch that may just end up as the main part of that tree with the rest of the trunk converted to jin.

Very nice! I was doing similar thing but can't keep the moss moist all the time and they flaked off easily.

shibui wrote: I did not have the right sized sinker on hand so these were cut from a larger fishing sinker. I have seen other people use epoxy glue to hold the wires to the rock but did not have any araldite either.
Shed full of stuff but never what you need at the time

I guess it is true what they say then "that necessity is the Mother of invention". I reckon you are on the right track now with placement but i think i would have put all the trees on one side and left one side bare (probably not what you want to read though )

Nice...i was thinking maybe the left tree needs to be closer to the front view, just off centre and the top tree moved up the rock a few inches...but as my name says

What an inspirational Bonsai. It's great seeing the creativity and how these young trees are still making a beautiful landscape.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Since the last update the higher tree also fell off so I put in another wire using the same technique as before and tied it back in place.
The blackbirds have also been playing with the moss but that doesn't matter too much at this stage. It can be replaced a few weeks before the final photos. Where the moss has been pulled off I can see that there are now lots of roots following the keto right down to the base of the rock.

Nearly the end of this competition. there's still plenty of work to do on this but just in case I run out of time in the next week or so here's an update.

Another photo to satisfy the Ts & Cs
I just spotted an earlier comment from Bodhi :

Noice, noice, another ten or so years will do it Neil

I was hoping this would develop a little quicker than that but I suspect he may even have underestimated growth rates. Shimpaku are slow at the best of times. Growing in limited soil with limited fert and regularly dry because the rock sucks moisture out means these are going to be super slow
I've left them all to grow for now with only minimal pinching to get the best growth rates possible. The upper tree will need to be shortened substantially at some stage but is too thin yet. The lower left trunk currently has 2 main trunks. One of them has more dynamic movement and I suspect I'll end up pruning back to leave just that part when the trunk has thickened a bit further. the final tree lower right currently has just a couple of spindly branches and is not showing signs of getting much more dense but I'm still hoping that I can get a small compact tree from it eventually.

Nice composition Neil. Well done.

It has been just over 2 years. i don't think these trees have even been pruned in that time.
I'm actually surprised that they have all survived through the heatwaves of the past couple of summers. Rocks suck a lot of water out of the pot and away from the roots so trees planted with or on rocks often suffer. The pot is actually a suiban - no holes - so it holds water long enough for the trees to get a good drink a couple of times each day.
The trees have all grown so now there's enough for me to make some of the changes I've been conidering.
1. reduce the top tree so it is smaller than the lower trees. This will improve the overall outline of the group.
2. Reduce the lower trees to simplify their shapes and movement. Currently both have several different competing areas flowing in slightly different directions. I had to think long and hard about which parts to retain and which to remove. The trunks are now just thick enough to create some really thin jins'
3. Consolidate the direction of all trees. Currently trees grow in different directions which I think gives conflicting feelings about the prevailing conditions these trees are meant to convey. A more consistent direction should give viewers a better feel for the prevailing conditions on this cliff/ mountain/ coast.
The jins are very thin so may not last long but i will treat with lime sulphur and see what happens.
I hope to be able to develop a couple of foliage pads on each of these trees and further develop the direction of the trees as they grow back after this restyle.

I'm loving the wind in this composition - eroding the rock while suggesting the will of trees longing to persist.