Savin Juniper / Juniper Sabina Slab/Raft

[alpineart]

This is the result of a challenge i threw out on another forum .A chap showed a pic of Kimura's work and ask if i had the gonads to replicate it .The original older material died "In someone elses care" ,so i had to replant with a much younger plant . First of all the base was made using slabs collect from private property at Avenel Victoria .I carved the base and slanting slab to resemble a pot and tray , then carving a mortise and tenon setup into the union of the raft and base . This would allow the plant to be planted in to base then the raft slipped over the trunk into position utilizing the entire root-ball of the plant . With the plant positioned it was trimmed and wired to the raft on a mixture of potting mix and spagnum moss . Inspired by Luciano i got my Shari together and dragged it out of hiding , with a quick trim this is how it looks . In need of a wire job , "where's the hired help" and this will one day look very pleasing to the eye

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[Mitchell]

Nice rock work. Will look great once weathered.

[anttal63]

Well done Alpine the sculpture of slabs is amazing and im sure once these little fellas grow up it will be special! Sounds like we gotta a lot of wiring to do!

[alpineart]

Nice rock work. Will look great once weathered.

Hi Mitchell the rocks themselves have been weathering for about 12 months , moss is a bit like me , rather slow but it is moving over the surface . I will be keeping some of the faces clean to show the rugged outcrop look rather than full moss covered .Cheers

[alpineart]

Well done Alpine the sculpture of slabs is amazing and im sure once these little fellas grow up it will be special! Sounds like we gotta a lot of wiring to do!

Your welcome to come up and twirl you heart out Antonio , i' slack on the wiring side . Hookand hold won't cut it on this one .The original planting was wired pre potting unfortunately the hired help didn't water it correctly . It wasn't a Savin after that Cheers

[alpineart]

These have just had their first wiring ,

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the main raft trunk has sent down roots in abundance , hence a saddle wire has been placed back on the lower section to prevent it from lifting itself up too high .I have reduced the amount of tree's to 11

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and come winter a re-work of the rocks will take place changing the angle of the raft slab to prevent erosion .A bit of fine tuning over the coming weeks will see it improve a little more . Cheers Alpineart

[kcpoole]

That Really is a very nice composition Alpine

I ahve seen pics of the original work, and you have done a great impression of it

Ken

[alpineart]

Hi kc , its progressing nicely that's for sure .The original planting for the demo was far more advanced , allas it died .This will take a little longer to develop but it certainly is on its way .Cheers Alpine

[bodhidharma]

Good on ya for doing a progress report on it Alpine. Nice to see it wired. Maybe a cascade in the gap between the second and top rock

[alpineart]

Hi Bodhi , i did take 3 cuttings from the original plant ,for a couple of accent trees , they are progressing more slowly than anticipated i hope to add them soon . I don't want to over power it or loose the appeal of the raft .Time will tell Cheers Alpine

[Pup]

Hey Alpine your lucky only the tree died. I did a similar thing with some Ficus baby bens, then let our youngest daughter borrow it, for a dinner party to impress her Boss.

As his mother was a keen gardener, so she thought they would like to see some Bonsai.
So Dad thinks its a Ficus what can a week do to them, The mother was so exited she picked it up not realising it was heavy, you geussed it Bang no slabs no trees. As daughter was not game to come to see Mum and Dad for over two months.

Needless to say she did not ask if I would sell one for her Bosses mother .

I do like where this one is heading.
Cheers Pup still do not know why I did it though.

[alpineart]

I know where your coming from pup , my young fella wants to take them to school for show and tell ."Not Bloody Likely ".If he could hide one in his school bag i could guarantee he would .Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Well after a demo at Mornington Peninsula with Pup , i took his advice and i have put a little more effort into wiring this bugger's not perfect but i am improving .

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Yes it is progressing slowly , Savin Junipers / Juniperus Sabina aren't the best for ramification when used for trunks such as this . This was wired but removed for the display at Woolworths in Bright last year , similar to this effort ,silly bugger i should have left it on .

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So after 7 hours and some well earned tolerance i have dislodged a few side shoots/branching but all up i'm happy to leave it be for at least 2 years trimming only as these seem to be very slow to set with wire .

Cheers Alpineart

[anttal63]

Lookn sharp !!! Proud of you mate !!! Really starting to take on a matured look !!! Practice makes perfect especially when giving it a fair crack !

[alpineart]

Hi Anttal63 , it would have been a cracker by now if the original plant used had of survived .Mate i can think of 100 other ways to spend a day than wiring , but yes the results speak for themselves as Matthew has shown me at his place .Just needed a bigger boot like Pup's and a demo to go , to get the message across.

Cheers Alpine