Phoenix Graft Shimpaku

[alpineart]

Just a quick update

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after 10 hours of trimming

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Wiring is estimate at least 8-10 hours now that i can actually see the trunk lines and branches , yep I'm slow when it come to wrapping these properly . A slip pot and re-position will also take place as it needs a little rotation and tilt .

Cheers Alpineart

[alpineart]

Well it was a marathon effort to get the basic wiring on

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Branch placement has taken place but the finer detail wiring and re-trimming of the secondaries will have to wait

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,with the rest of the week is booked solid so it may be a night shift job .

Cheers Alpineart

[Jamie]

To be 100% honest i would have attached several more trees to this stump my friend. This will bee one of the best trees in the country once age has established and wiring and styling is done... nice. Very nice.


Jamie. (Yes that jamie from years ago)...

[alpineart]

H Jamie , Mate i have stated I intended to attach a couple of smaller juni's to it , just hasn't happened . After careful consideration it looks like it may not . The old saying " Less is More " applies well here . I do intend to carve the deadwood considerably to balance both live wood and canopies . At the moment the base is way to chunky and some of the roots fight the rest of the trunk , these will be removed carved deeper into the trunk .

"When " well thats a good question , I need to find the time to re-pot and rotate it along with dozens of others . Time just doesn't stick around and with all the other tree's and work to do it seems my collection just gets by with a quick trim and some just ain't quick at all .

Cheers . Alpine.

[Boics]

Looking the part I reckon Alpine.
Hard to tell what you've actually done here which is I think a good thing when it comes to Phoenix Grafts!?
Keep on keeping on mate.

[alpineart]

Hi Biocs , cheers mate , its not too bad at all . I was told by some "wanna be Guru's" that it would never look like a real bonsai , I guess they still have their heads in the wrong place . Some don't have insight , other don't have the ability and some get their ambitions mixed up with their capabilities .

Its a challenge and I believe its been met here . Not a true bonsai , then a chop top is not a true bonsai , nor is a root over rock , as all these have been manufactured . Seeds land in all sorts of places including old trunks and grow into tree's battered by weather , it happens in nature so why not bonsai . I still haven't seen a Sumo trident Maple growing naturally in nature yet many bonsai are created in this style .

Is this a Bonsai , Good question , the "die hard's" would say "No" however they would have manipulated a majority of their plants to create a bonsai . The majority of all the old junipers have had the bark and foliage ripped off , this has had the bark and foliage put on .
This most certainly is well on it's way to competing with the monster trunks I have here . I think removal of 30 % of the thickness from the front and back of the branches and trunk with some carving will only improve the balance , one of those terriers is definitely required here . I have several Phoenix Grafts here and all are doing well , not quite as spectacular as this bugger but unique in their own right .

I think I will just keep doing what I'm doing , making progress , as per usual and creating "living art" , Alpineart Style .

Cheers . Alpine

[Jamie]

If phoenix or tanuki wasnt a real style then it wouldnt be mentiomed as a style dont worry bout it.

Keep the base thick as it develops it will work when you wire pads or create canopy be different again. Like i said thjs will be one of the best in country good work

[alpineart]

This has been wired and trimmed over the last couple of days in between other stock . I will give it a bit of a carve then adjust the foliage pads down a little more .

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I have managed to take another 50 odd cuttings from the 2 Shimpaku's worked over and potted them up this morning , more stock , why not increase the work load .

Cheers . Alpineart

[bodhidharma]

Starting to look the goods Alp's. Love a good Tanuki. Is the plan for detailed carving?

[fishnfreak]

What a great tree mate.
I too have a large juni trunk that died on me, i may have to follow suit!



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[alpineart]

Hi Bodhi , I will carve the dead wood until I get a happy medium , cant kill it anyway . Spent an hour with the big cutter and thinned the fat branches out , unfortunately tomorrow is booked out for a paying job .

Hi fishnfreak , mate a Phoenix graft is a great challenge for any one . The sense of achievement by creating something from nothing is better than many other aspects of Bonsai .

It helps if you carve the stump first , saves trying to get the tools in and around the live material . Give it a shot and good luck with it .

Cheers Guys .Alpine

[Slatzy]

Hi alpineart,
That's looking really good, any chance you can take a closeup of the live vein pls? I Would love to see how it's Growing into the deadwood if you don't mind that is.
Slatz.

[alpineart]

Hi Slatzy , mate I will get a pic tomorrow .

Cheers . Alpine

[alpineart]

Here are some pics of the trunks embedded into the deadwood

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At least 10mm of the trunks are concealed inside the dead wood . I will take some more pics after the live viens have been peeled and cleaned up .

Cheers . Alpineart

[alpineart]

This is the end result for another good while .

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Too much time has been spent on this trunk but not enough detail carving has been done .

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These Junipers are straight grained so i have left it a bit rough and will peel it back as it begins to lift as it does . . I have reduced the thickness of the stump and branches by up to 50-60% so it is bound to split and peel . A re-pot was also done to lighten the load , its around 6 kgs lighter so lifting won't be an issue from now on .

Cheers . Alpineart