[A Forest Tale] TimS – Trident Thicket

[MJL]

Good stuff Tim. I am loving the fact that this competition is taking people to new places; thinking differently to what we may normally do. Keeping in mind too that the plantings need to be manageable in terms of size, weight, root management etc .... that is ...good bonsai practice, over time. It’s a fine balance to ensure we balance a realistic design and still maintain our focus on the trees too. Cheers for the update.


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[TimS]

Thanks Mark.

I move all my trees in the heat of summer multiple times in and out of the garage, so I’m accustomed to moving heavy plants. Having said that, I’m intending to chose a location for it to stay that it can remain in through mount the year, other than for the occasional update photo.

We’ll see how it goes, I might tweak it as I go to reduce the weight.

[TimS]

One more addition for the forest that i'll be layering to create extra trees, found this at the local nursery for cheap, a 6ft tall trident with a trunk caliper bigger than anything in the group i currently have, but still with very subtle taper so it won't stand out like a sore thumb in there. Basically just to be a primary tree or a couple of primary trees in groups if i can layer multiples off it.

tme.jpg

[Ryceman3]

One more addition for the forest that i'll be layering to create extra trees ...
...Basically just to be a primary tree or a couple of primary trees in groups if i can layer multiples off it.

tme.jpg

Sounds good Tim, will you be layering now or after winter? I’d be tempted to go now if I were you, still enough warm weather to get a result before things cool down... having said that, I’m not really known for sitting still. This/these should add to your project for sure, as for me... still thinking...

[MJL]

as for me... still thinking...

You’re not the first to get lost in a forest ...


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[Alex_B]

I have to admit Tim I'm very much looking forward to seeing how your forest turns out. The trees you have so far look great, how many trees are you thinking will be in the forest?

[TimS]

One more addition for the forest that i'll be layering to create extra trees ...
...Basically just to be a primary tree or a couple of primary trees in groups if i can layer multiples off it.

tme.jpg

Sounds good Tim, will you be layering now or after winter? I’d be tempted to go now if I were you, still enough warm weather to get a result before things cool down... having said that, I’m not really known for sitting still. This/these should add to your project for sure, as for me... still thinking...

You still have time, no need rushing it so keep thinking. A spark will come along; maybe something you’ve always wanted to try, or something that uses trees you already have that could look good together, or something totally out of left field. My decision to use tridents was based on nothing more than being a species I’m confident with that’s all. You don’t necessarily need to have a fully formed plan to get stuck in. In fact my ideas only really started taking off after I had found the stock.

I may or may not air layer this soon, it was stuffed in among a dozen other plants so it’s not the healthiest at the moment. I am fertilising it heavily and giving it lots of sun to try to push a flush of growth. If it done so in the next 2 weeks I will layer it, if not then it will just get cut off and perhaps stuck as hardwood cuttings in late winter.

I’ll do my best not to waste any of it if at all possible.

[TimS]

I have to admit Tim I'm very much looking forward to seeing how your forest turns out. The trees you have so far look great, how many trees are you thinking will be in the forest?

Thanks Alex, the ideas are coming thick and fast, the challenge will be realising them in the pot of course.

I think I will have 20 something trees to choose from when the time comes, but whether I end up with a 20+ tree forest in the end I’m not sure. It could be easy to get carried away trying to get every tree in and find its too dense, so less may end up being more in the end.

I’m really looking forward to getting to put this together though. As I say I’ve got a few plans, and a few that I haven’t shared on the forum yet, so it really hope it will come together well

[Ryceman3]

You’re not the first to get lost in a forest ...

You still have time, no need rushing it so keep thinking. A spark will come along; maybe something you’ve always wanted to try, or something that uses trees you already have that could look good together, or something totally out of left field.

I’m building... always thinking (at least that’s what I tell myself!). Whatever happens, in the next week or so I’ll be looking for inspiration that is certain.

[TimS]

You've still got a couple of months yet, no worries!

I've been pushing my tridents through summer with pruning and defoliation to get another flush and ramification before autumn. It's worked quite well, though I've been a little lax with the pinching. They were crammed in among many boxes like these so i though it better to let them run a bit and get healthy before winter rather than pinch constantly. The smaller group i will be borrowing from has had the same treatment

box now

2.20a.jpg

group now

2.20b.jpg

heaps of cuttings that are rooting nicely

2.20c.jpg

[Alex_B]

I have to admit Tim I'm very much looking forward to seeing how your forest turns out. The trees you have so far look great, how many trees are you thinking will be in the forest?

Thanks Alex, the ideas are coming thick and fast, the challenge will be realising them in the pot of course.

I think I will have 20 something trees to choose from when the time comes, but whether I end up with a 20+ tree forest in the end I’m not sure. It could be easy to get carried away trying to get every tree in and find its too dense, so less may end up being more in the end.

I’m really looking forward to getting to put this together though. As I say I’ve got a few plans, and a few that I haven’t shared on the forum yet, so it really hope it will come together well

I guess you would need a pretty big pot if you were to have a 20+ tree forest in there. It looks like you've got a great variety of trees to choose from though so I'm sure it will all come together well.

[TimS]

Time for a little context for where my inspiration is coming from for my eventual grouping.

Many years and moons ago i first went to Japan on a study tour that took me to Hokkaido. I spent 3-4 weeks there, home-staying and speaking nothing but Japanese as my host family had virtually no English at all. For the last few days we travelled down to Kyoto, and my fellow students and I made a day trip out to the western region of Arashiyama. It was there that i left some big pieces of my heart, and i have faithfully returned to Kyoto on each on my trips after that.

I often credit seeing the avenue of huge Ginkgo trees at Sapporo University in full autumn glory, and walking under them in ankle deep leaves as the moment i first truly fell in love with trees. Well if that was the first moment, then Arashiyama sealed my fate and became what pushed me into loving Japanese Maples and growing bonsai maples for the burning red and orange hillsides. The tranquil walk through the bamboo groves to the Tenryu-ji temple and seeing the garden designed by renowned designer Muso Soseki spoke to a part of me that could never be satisfied by the native bushlands of my own home. My life would never again be the same, though it would take some years more for me to head into Horticulture formally.

Let me be absolutely clear; i am not trying to faithfully recreate the Arashiyama region.

I am simply taking a memory i have of the region (and the following images found on a quick google search for your benefit) as a small inspiration for trying to capture the essence of what i found there. I have no ambition whatsoever for this to be a miniature Arashiyama, though i may attempt that one day, simply my aim is to capture a peace and tranquility i found there unlooked for.

Whether this is ultimately successful remains to be seen.

My tridents have been growing incredibly well, are still shooting now with no signs of slowing down for autumn whatsoever. I'm really looking forward to this one, i feel a new bonsai vigour in me that has been missing for a while and will hopefully spur me on to greater bonsai things in the future.

[terryb]

Those colours are awesome!

[MJL]

Wonderful photos and background Tim. I'm stoked that this competition is providing renewed inspiration for you. Great to see and thanks for the continual updates.

[TimS]

It has been a cold and dreary, but mercifully dry, Saturday in Melbourne and i have itchy fingers for starting this group.

I had a look around at pots, and decided to go with this cream one. I couldn't bring myself to use the koyo in the end fearing any damage to it.

tident comp pot.jpeg

Getting stuck into the polystyrene box fully to see what i have. Very conveniently they separated as 3-4 clumps of trees which made assembly very straight forward. Minimal root pruning was required which made life easy.

trident comp 1.jpeg

The small group also came apart for me to pull a few trees from.

trident comp 2.jpeg

Roughing in were the primary clump and the secondaries will end up

trident comp 3.jpeg

Top down view of the layout

trident comp 4.jpeg

The saucer goes in for trial fit. This is an idea i have in my head but i don't know if it it will actually work, but basically this appears as a dry pond bed, but can also be filled for display purposes. It's going to get feral so it may be removed and become more trees or an open area in a wood in future

trident comp 5.jpeg

Working some of the rocks i smashed up earlier in the thread in to hide the saucer from view.

trident comp 6.jpeg

After a clean up and a little trim back of some of the trees

trident comp 7.jpeg

Different angle

trident comp 8.jpeg

And on a protected bench to settle in

trident comp 9.jpeg

Total number of trees used is 23. I have i think 11 or so left over from the two groups i started with, so a smaller group will be in the future plans somewhere.

From here it will be mossed eventually, a pathway will be added and the saucer idea may be refined/ improved/ removed/ not sure yet. It is heavy but it is also manageable so i think i pass that rule! All in all i'm happy with it how it has come together, now i settle in for refining it for the next 3 years or whatever of the competition


For anyone wondering, that extra trident i picked up for potential use in the group has actually been cut back down to start life over being it's own tree

tridentrestart.jpeg