AusBonsai

Hey all!

Just aquired this Lilly Pilly, will spend the next 2 years in a grow box. Would like to hear some suggestions on design, height, foliage etc from you fine folk for after / during that period. I am very quickly learning that you all are gods of bonsai and I just a novice, but I wish to learn.

It's supposedly 15 years old but i'm tipping 10 max. It's trunk just above the nebari is 4.5cm diameter according to my calipers and stands from nebari to tips 55cm tall.

I feel during the next two years in a grow box, the plant would develope better with a reduction of its size, yet without total devestation of its life giving folage like my last attempt (sorry Jamie, I now see i should have listened to you and I would now have a unique plant not a simple semi-cascade like the millon others). Is this wise or should I leave it alone?

I will not touch this plant until this thread is finished, so please (Jamie and others) do some virts and I will take all on board. Infact I will go with the most popular virt, as I feel I need to verge on what others feel appealing not just mysef if I wish to create a truley great bonsai.



So I ask of you, create, inspire, mold this bush into something great. or then again you can tell me to just leave it in a box... perhaps if you do not feel it is ready yet, ideas for a mame? even if i don't go ahead right now...

I have chosen not to submit pictures but link to a 360 degree video I made... doesn't come close to the 360 here, but illustrates the tree better than just 5 shots... this is 15 shots whilst rotating by hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdIKSf_P6qE Literally takes 5 secs to load on 56k, please click.

Thanks for your time, virts and knowledge

Regards Mitchell

Mitchell, I have to say, I really like that you are going to take this tree slowly, everybody on this forum has had impatience get the better of them at some stage, I think Pup wrote a series of "oh bugger" threads about a few of his trees. Your sqauamata isn't a write off, either, just had a bit of a setback.

Thanks for the 360 view, I never thought to try that on YouTube. If you could you post some decent sized pictures against a plain, preferably black background we can pull out the cyber-crayons and some workable ideas up and running. The good news is that your Lilly Pilly is going to do a lot of what you need it to do, such as shoot from old wood and bend fairly easily. Especially in your mild climate up in Sydney.

Cheers
Mojo Moyogi

A possible front and back? Not sure myself.
Hope these help for virts.

mate, dont be sorry, its ok, these things happen, once i was like you and it wasnt that long ago either. the juniper of yours stil can be unique, even now with what has been done to it, take a look at my virt i did for you, it is done with what was left from your first styling, not from the beofre shots i will show you on the other thread for it so dont stress, one thing that bonsai has to teach us is patience and it is so hard let me tell ya mate, i want to just be able to style and style and style trees all day long, it just doesnt happen thats all. im no god at bonsai far from it, still just a learner, lots to learn and always learning, your keeness and excitement, enthusiasm is sensational, dont lose it, use it, just step back for a bit and think, ask (which you have now done ) and learn patience that bonsai teaches us.

now for this lilly pilly, mate to be honest im not the best with natives, generally i look at them and they keel over this one has a nice size trunk, nearly 5 cm is good, going by this your tree can be about 30cm high to have a nice trunk to height ratio, we can always bring that back lower or higher depending on what you want a shorter more powerful tree, or a slender more feminine tree

i will have to have a look at this tree and think bout it before doing a virt for you, but what i am asking you to do is think about what you see in the tree and how you would like it? this in the end will be what is how the tree should be.

i am very happy for you that you have decided to slow down a bit and get advice, good lad

jamie

Could we get a close up of the base from both front and back. Both trunk lines have some merit, there's some decent taper from both sides, the base may be the tie-breaker that decides.

Cheers Mojo

Front and back closer from originals, do you need them from a higher angle to see the root structure?