Restyle of Cedrus atlantica from the 1960s

[Grant Bowie]

Gidday Grant a wonderful job (very long term) on the cedar. I am coming down to Canberra tuesday-thursday this coming week. Do you have any recommendations of what to see in Canberra bonsai wise. I am travelling with young family so maybe 2 hours maximum each day. What are your top 2 to 3 picks in Canberra. I have posted a little bit of information about my nursery in the nursey section of this site. (Bonsai at the Bay).
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Mason.

Hi Mason,

I finally had a free weekend and was off the air and away from Canberra.

Glad to hear you are coming to Canberra this week. Obviously I suggest you come to the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia. Check out the website for location, opening times and a map of where it is in Commonwealth Park.
http://www.cbs.org.au/NBPCA/Index.htm

Also make contact with Ledanta bonsai via this website or google his website.

Due to thefts over the years most Club people are secretive about their locations so you would have to get invites from the appropriate people yourself.

[Grant Bowie]

Update,

The tree is doing fine and I will do some photos, notes and and some trimming etc this weekend. It is in a new pot and new mix as well.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Well I bought the tree inside and photographed it.

Before trim.JPG

Yuk. It needs lots of work. However the new apex looks like it will be OK.

After trim.

After trim and wire on apex removed.JPG

Still Yuk.

This is going to take a lot more work than I thought.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Hm,

Hit an interesting snag.

3 After major thin out.JPG

It is at a point where it could go in either of two main directions. Treat as two separate trees(a true twin trunk) or continue with the original design of a tree that has two trunks.

The lighter, shallower and smaller pot to me makes it look preferable to go as a twin trunk; but I probably wont..

I will give some thought over a cuppa.

Grant

[bodhidharma]

What an interesting project. I am fascinated by your tree Grant and the interesting decisions you will have to make. How about this? ..Keep the left hand tree as your main tree, as i think it has the most potential, keep the right hand trees lower branch and develop its foliage to create a more prominent branch (or shorten it and jin the end) and deadwood the top of the tree and the end of the lower branch to add a stark look in amongst the vibrant foliage. just a thought. If the deadwood look is not stark enough you could always add to it.

[GavinG]

Hmmm. It's a sublime problem to have floating around in your backyard. But I can see why you don't think it's a resolved design.

My feeling (all 2c worth) is that the left hand branches are all strong to the left, the right hand branches lean strongly to the right, along with the trunk, and the deep space in the middle means that the two sides strain against one another. A couple of solutions might be

- lean the whole tree a little more to the right, and shorten the branches on the left. Possibly fill the space just a little, in a few places, with branches from behind.

- shorten the branches on the left, and the branches on the right, so that the flow of the tree is more upright, in line with the zig-zag space in the middle. Possibly make even more spaces along or between the branches so the horizontal levels are quite so strong.

- and if it annoys you too much, just send it over. I'd even look after it for you.

Gavin

[Grant Bowie]

Update.

A few years ago I removed about 50% of the branches as I snapped an important low right hand branch on the smaller trunk and then had to even it up by removing other branches.

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 01.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 19.jpg

Anyhow it will be growing like crazy for the next few months and I should be able to pinch and bulk it up but keep it under control.

Grant

[PeterH]

Very nice Grant.

Regards,

Peter

[jarryd]

This tree has just come into a whole new level. Great work with this tree Grant. Love the new look, can't wait to see this tree refined with some more growth on the smaller apex.

[jarryd]

Would it be possible to remove the lowest crossing root and the root on the far left over time (once the tree has recovered) and still have a nice stable base? from the picture it looks like this may make the nebari look/flow better? may not be the case in the flesh?

Do cedar drop branches due to removal of major roots in the way junipers sometimes will?

keep up the great work, I am thoroughly enjoying the level of refinement shown in the trees you are posting.

[Grant Bowie]

This tree has just come into a whole new level. Great work with this tree Grant. Love the new look, can't wait to see this tree refined with some more growth on the smaller apex.

Yes the smaller apex was the weak point; but time will quickly cure that.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Would it be possible to remove the lowest crossing root and the root on the far left over time (once the tree has recovered) and still have a nice stable base? from the picture it looks like this may make the nebari look/flow better? may not be the case in the flesh?

Do cedar drop branches due to removal of major roots in the way junipers sometimes will?

keep up the great work, I am thoroughly enjoying the level of refinement shown in the trees you are posting.

The roots are not great but will assess over time as to removal. The root in the air at the side is not great, nor the crossing root at the front.Cedars don't have the same connection as Junipers do between the root and branch; so it will be safe to do so.

Now I have time I am really putting some work into my trees and practising my art.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Here is a sequence of the work.

Instead of plucking all over in one go I just did it branch by branch as I worked and wired. This was for illustrative purposes only.

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 01.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 06.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 08.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 10.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 11.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 12.jpg

Cedrus atlantica 1 - 19.jpg

Grant

[anthonyW]

Good to see the tree healthy Grant, but now for me the tree conflicts, the 2009 style the tree flows as one for me, just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers Anthony

[Grant Bowie]

After a bit more growth and fiddling.

IMG_6538.jpg

grant