[A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

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TimS
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[A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

Well i can make my entry official having given the subject some thought and had some ideas about where i might head with this.

My initial reaction was to go native with some tube stock she-oaks i have, but i decided that i don't yet know enough about their growth habit and how to control it to really be able to make headway with them in earnest. I will keep those separate for now and experiment out of the forum eye.

My thoughts then turned to what species i am confident with; their growth habit, management and development. I considered Chinese Elm, Japanese Maple and Ginkgo biloba among others. Finally I settled on Trident Maple as it would allow me great flexibility with root work during the assembly, as well as knowing they grow successfully for me with my micro-climate in the back yard. It removed one major variable for me in that i don't need to wholly learn a new species.

Given that i am using familiar material and not really pushing myself on that front, i have had some ideas about how i could use them to create a little more interest than just putting them in a pot and calling it a day. Whether it will really come out how i intend it to remains to be seen, and what better excuse to experiment than a bit of a friendly competition on AusBonsai.

I am beginning from this box of young trident maples with varying trunk thicknesses (shot on garden chair for size comparison.
tridentscomp.jpg
tridentscomp2.jpg

I noticed a couple of the really thin ones had died off, so i decided that they all really needed a pretty urgent cutback to let light and air back into the middle. This also has the double benefit (i hope) of getting an extra summer flush for a cheeky little bit of development before they go dormant. If you're doing evergreen you've got a good chuck of extra growing time over me!
tcp.jpg
tccuttings.jpg


That big pile of material was whispering to me *Tiiiiiiiiiiim..........cuuuuuttttiiiiinnnngggsss' and even though it's the height of summer i decided that i would give them a go as cuttings instead of just throwing the material away. I'm not sure if these would count for use in the group, and even if they did they would look out of place being so small. I'll just keep them on the side and perhaps make more forests in the future with them if they actually root after being taken so late. Somewhere between 50-100 cuttings i would estimate.
tccuttings2.jpg
tccuttings3.jpg


At this point i was staring at the box full of freshly cut back trunks thinking "hmmmm, i think the final composition could use more trunks on the thicker end of the scale. That's when this old group i threw together using pretty average nursery stock trident maples returned to my mind. I now, with permission from MJL of course, reserve rights to pull from this group and use them in the composition when it comes time to get these into the pot and work out the layout as there are a significant number of thinner trunks in the box group and having a few pencil thick trunks to pull from might make a big difference in the end.
young group.jpg

Well for now i hurry up and wait for dormancy so i can get stuck into finding out what gold or ass-biscuits awaits me in the creation phase. Until then i'll be putting thought to how i can re-create my ideas.
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by MJL »

Welcome to the jungle Tim. Or Thicket. Or Forest or whatever becomes of your imagination. Thanks for entering and no drama pulling stock from that other group you note, such a step would be in line with guidelines and in the spirit of the competition, I reckon. All fine. Looking forward to the updates already.


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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

Three pot options i'm toying with at the moment:

Unglazed oval training pot i have spare at the moment. size wise looks good and the depth means i could leave a good amount of roots on the trees. Most likely i'll go with this one if i don't buy something else in the meantime.
utp.jpg


Glazed square tray. I think it must have been a suiban originally as it looks like someone has just drilled out some random holes in it, and there is a section that looks like someone has tried to use a hand held cutting disc on it. Probably too shallow without an epic amount of wire tying all the trees in.
gtp.jpg



Totally impractical for a first stage group, this massive, shallow Koyo tray is screaming out to be used, but if the blue one is too shallow then this is totally not suitable as it's depth is about 5cm :shifty: I'd just love to see some trees in it though.
koyo.jpg
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by MJL »

Love that Koyo pot Tim!

Hey just to ensure you and everyone else are clear - while the trees have to come together (in the same planting) sometime before the end of 2021... that can be in a training pot, a foam box or a show tray ... whatever floats your boat. I just want to clarify that the after 2021 and before the completion closes at the end of June 2023, the pot can change. Don't feel like the first time the plants come together - they have to be in the final pot.

Cheers,

Mark
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

Thanks for clarifying Mark! I have a year longer than I though to get it into a good pot if I want to, excellent.

I’d love to get them in a show pot so that extra year will help me
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by SquatJar »

I'd love some more info on the Koyo pot Tim. How wide is it? Looks huge. Also can you take a closer picture of the glaze? Many thanks
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

SquatJar wrote: January 7th, 2020, 3:49 pm I'd love some more info on the Koyo pot Tim. How wide is it? Looks huge. Also can you take a closer picture of the glaze? Many thanks
The pot was a custom order (not by me) originally from Koyo for a specific group. I purchased it on a bit of a whim knowing i'm unlikely to ever see another one like available in Australia. Koyo, and now Juko (son of) rarely do such large trays. I'm fortunate to have this and a second large square tray by Koyo. Prior to me it used to hold a very impressive mature trident maple forest, so there would be some universal synchronicity for it to hold a trident maple forest again.

The measurements, give or take a cm, are L 70cm, W 45cm, H 3.5cm. It's certainly a big tray and actually very light for its size. 30cm long Chinese trays for forests weigh 3 times as much as this. What impresses me the most is a) how the hell it was fired without any distortion or cracking whatsoever. b) that it was then fired a second time with the glaze which is also flawless and c) how it was transported to Australia without any damage at all.

The second, square one that currently has a Japanese Maple forest in it and measures L 58cm, W 40cm, H 5cm and weighs a hell of a lot more.

I'd love to use it, but i'm also very afraid of damaging it. Catch 22. I'll get some photos of the glaze for you shortly. It is stored safely wrapped in microfiber cloths aside from when i occasionally take it out to marvel at it.
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

A few pics of the glaze and one with my hand for scale for you Squatjar
1.jpg
2.jpg
3.jpg
4.jpg
5.jpg
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by SquatJar »

Amazing pot, thanks for the update. I don't even want to imagine the cost of it!
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

I prefer to think of it as an investment, it helps to rationalise the purchase a fraction :shock:
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by SquatJar »

TimS wrote: January 8th, 2020, 8:02 am I prefer to think of it as an investment, it helps to rationalise the purchase a fraction :shock:
Well I doubt it's ever going to lose money
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by Matt S »

Nice pots there Tim.

If you're concerned about wiring lots of trees into a shallow pot a good technique is to make a simple grid out of bamboo strips and string, and then wire the grid securely to the inside of the pot. The trees can then be tied to the grid. Eventually the bamboo will rot away but by that time the tree roots will be well established.

I look forward to seeing what you do, Tridents make nice groups.

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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

Matt S wrote: January 9th, 2020, 3:37 pm Nice pots there Tim.

If you're concerned about wiring lots of trees into a shallow pot a good technique is to make a simple grid out of bamboo strips and string, and then wire the grid securely to the inside of the pot. The trees can then be tied to the grid. Eventually the bamboo will rot away but by that time the tree roots will be well established.

I look forward to seeing what you do, Tridents make nice groups.

Matt.
Thanks for the advice of the grid, I knocked one up for the Koyo pot last night so I think I’m heading towards committing to that pot.
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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by MJL »

TimS wrote:
Matt S wrote: January 9th, 2020, 3:37 pm Nice pots there Tim.

If you're concerned about wiring lots of trees into a shallow pot a good technique is to make a simple grid out of bamboo strips and string, and then wire the grid securely to the inside of the pot. The trees can then be tied to the grid. Eventually the bamboo will rot away but by that time the tree roots will be well established.

I look forward to seeing what you do, Tridents make nice groups.

Matt.
Thanks for the advice of the grid, I knocked one up for the Koyo pot last night so I think I’m heading towards committing to that pot.

ImageImage Fancy! You don’t normally touch that pot .... it’s akin to bringing out the fine china that we rarely use for dinner. Let’s make it every day I say. Besides ... if the trees are average in the early stages ... one can always admire the pot.Image Image


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Re: [A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

Post by TimS »

In preparation for this i have been making rocks.

Basically my thinking is that i will want a range of different sizes to inform a sense of scale and a more realistic feel. I figured the easiest way for me to achieve this was to get half a dozen big, boring rocks, and introduce them to the business end of a ball peen hammer and crack them into smaller, non-uniform shapes. Of course some a better than others, but overall i now have 3-5 different size 'grades' i can use. The bigger ones in the pot in to the top of the photo and laying next to it, the smaller in the lower pot.
rocks1.jpg


I also found these ones that are flat and pebble-like in my bonsai cupboard in the garage. I must have collected them somewhere at some point, and they come apart in layers rather than fracture into more complex shapes. I'm sure i will come up with a use for them, but for now i'm not sure what that use is.
rocks2.jpg
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