AusBonsai

So another day gone and progress made .Man was this an effort 7 hours of hopping around like a 1 legged kangaroo, laying down like a mongrel dog and being very patient with lack of materials at hand .I have used steel rod , square box tubing bent and welded , wedges , bolts and plenty of wire to rotate , manipulate and bend the apex after it was stripped for the jins . Then i was so enthused about the apex i hooked into the rest of the jins from the un-wanted branches that were out of keeping with the tree .Now all that is required is the carving after the green wood has hardened and dried out and the Shari at the base to be cleaned up , the jins around the base stripped and the the bark cleaned up to show off the reddish colour of the Monty's Bark .I think about anther 4 hours should do it then back to the storage area and onto the next trainer .

Cheers Alpineart

No doubt about ya Alpine. Your inventive.

Hi Bodhi , bending and rotating any branch at a fork requires more than a traditional branch bender , some thing i don't have .I usually make all my own apparatus or utilize Sash cramps /G clamp . The chances of actually snapping either side branch ofF is more likely than not . The trunk at the fork is 50mm-60 mm , each main side branch is 30 mm and the center branch is 25mm .To rotate or bend all 3 is very risky , if i was to dislodge or snap off any of them the whole balance of the apex would need a rethink .

Hard drawn copper wouldn't hold the thick stubs and rotate so a little imagination is required .Like i said , its not pretty but as long as it does the job required i don't give a bugger what it looks like .I tried wires down to the box and snapped a couple but couldn't get the movement and position that was desirable . Once trimmed , thinner and shortened they should look good but not over power the apex . Hoping there is no die back in the branch department after the rotation of some of them .

Feeling the strain today so i will take a break from it .

Cheers Alpine

Hi alpineart,

This is the most delicious yamadori pine I have seen on Ausbonsai so far. The trunk line is just so good, the scar looks so natural too.

I like the way you have made the foliage smaller. Monterey pines tolerate severed treatments well. But I do think it is time to let this pine rest for awhile? I am guessing that if you let it grows, by the end of March 2012, we should see it fills up quite well.

I am looking forward to see it then

(I am small one, around 3cm on the ground, I think I will give it a good bend and probably run my lawn mower over it occasionally now )

Monterey grows from cuttings too.

Cheers.

Hi Daiviet, its transforming into a very nice trainer , while the tree might be resting , it should be me that's resting .It most certainly has change in 14 months, all for the better . I looked long and hard before finally deciding not to go with a cascade , if it was half its size it may very well have been the case. A custom pot would have been required to tip it on its head ..I have killed more Monty's than any others collected until i used the scoria .They definately like the material as a growing medium after collection .

I have cleaned up and carved the base a little and jinned a couple of more branch ends , still a few finer stubs to strip but i will wait until the apex dries out some more than hook in a finish the carving .It can grow like mad , not rest and recover , I'm not that kind . When the caring is finished it will need a nice deep pot so that will be on the shopping list , being reddish bark i think a mild dark brown square pot with curved corners would present it nicely .

It will need to be at least 600mm x 500mm x 200mm or around that size .If i cant source one i may have to make it to suit , either way it will be a 3 man tree as 2 men struggle now to lift it now

I collected a heap of shore pines after they wee slashed with a tractor mower , don't worry i have contemplated getting the brush cutter out to trim the Trident maples down , anything goes in this place .

Cheers Alpine

No rest for the wicked they say , well i decided to tackle the apex Jin and the base Shari 'With such constant warm weather the apex was dry enough to carve and hold its shape . Still green however it will require a lime sulphur paint to preserve the soft wood The natural base was basically cleaned up with the Dremel whilst the apex was tackled with the router . Only half way there but making progress If the forecast rains don't appear tomorrow i will hit the apex with the Dremel and clean up all the smaller branches the lime sulphur all the exposed wood .

Cheers Alpineart

Hi Alpine
You rest...NEVER!
It is safe to say that I have pine envy over this one!
Cheers, Dario.

Hi Dario , I live each day as if its my last and i dance like there's no tomorrow . It coming along nicely , looks like the promised rains won't arrive so its back out there again detail some more jins , then tackle a couple of other trunks .Cheers Alpine

Alpine, did you get a chance to detail the jins or did the rains arrive?
Cheers, Dario.

Mate they couldn't forecast a sun rise lately . way too hot ,no bloody rain and 3 sessions of therapy . I did manage to style a few JBP starters and re-pot a few Picea Abies "conical", style one for a Chritmas tree . Thats the good news , the bad news is i'm going to be out of action longer than originally told by the Surgeons . Shari happens , i haven't rested as suggested so i pay the price for pushing too hard .They gave me a minimum limit but not a maximum limit . I guess they should have made it a little bit clearer in the instructions .

Cheers Alpine