And it only took 8 years
Posted: March 7th, 2011, 10:14 pm
Hi All
Wanted to share a restyle that took 8 years to get started, and under 2 hours to complete.
I first saw this tree 8 years ago while doing workshops at the Toowoomba Bonsai Group.
A member brought it along and I was instantly impressed, but fell in love with the upper trunk. The previous owner did not want to restyle it at the time, so we developed and refined the tree as a cascade. I told him if ever he wanted to sell it to let me know and he agreed.
5 years later on the annual workshop trip, I went to Marks for a private workshop to find the tree sitting on one of his benches as he had bought all the previous owners trees.
I told him the story and of my thoughts and he also wanted to leave it as a cascade as his wife also loved it that way. I have been in Toowoomba for the last 4 days doing club and private workshops, and started at Marks. He told me whenever I wanted to demo on the tree I could as he wanted to go with my ideas, so it was decided to do it for the club demo on Saturday. I was very excited. 
So we cut the tail off and got started. The upper trunk is actually thicker than what the tail was, so suited the new design, although some of the branches are a little heavy. These will be hidden by foliage. The first right hand branch will probably be removed later, but was left for now to keep extra sap draw into the new trunk. The cascade trunk was cut leaving a fair stump to prevent die back down the trunk. Leaving it on for a while helps the tree grow around it slowly as the sap withdraws from the stump, and will result in a smaller scar in the long term. The tree was tilted to the right to balance the trunk and the wiring began to obtain the shape. I absolutely loved working on this tree. The foliage will need a couple of years, and it may take 2 or 3 years to reduce the root system into its final Bonsai pot as it has been in the cascade pot so long and not repotted for a while, but it will be worth the wait. I think the stumps will be better removed instead of jinning as the trunk is substantial and will not need visual support, and Mark agrees, but jins are certainly possible. Sorry my mug is so many shots, but they are photos of the demo in progress, so just mentally block me out.
Wanted to share a restyle that took 8 years to get started, and under 2 hours to complete.
I first saw this tree 8 years ago while doing workshops at the Toowoomba Bonsai Group.
A member brought it along and I was instantly impressed, but fell in love with the upper trunk. The previous owner did not want to restyle it at the time, so we developed and refined the tree as a cascade. I told him if ever he wanted to sell it to let me know and he agreed.
5 years later on the annual workshop trip, I went to Marks for a private workshop to find the tree sitting on one of his benches as he had bought all the previous owners trees.
I told him the story and of my thoughts and he also wanted to leave it as a cascade as his wife also loved it that way. I have been in Toowoomba for the last 4 days doing club and private workshops, and started at Marks. He told me whenever I wanted to demo on the tree I could as he wanted to go with my ideas, so it was decided to do it for the club demo on Saturday. I was very excited. So we cut the tail off and got started. The upper trunk is actually thicker than what the tail was, so suited the new design, although some of the branches are a little heavy. These will be hidden by foliage. The first right hand branch will probably be removed later, but was left for now to keep extra sap draw into the new trunk. The cascade trunk was cut leaving a fair stump to prevent die back down the trunk. Leaving it on for a while helps the tree grow around it slowly as the sap withdraws from the stump, and will result in a smaller scar in the long term. The tree was tilted to the right to balance the trunk and the wiring began to obtain the shape. I absolutely loved working on this tree. The foliage will need a couple of years, and it may take 2 or 3 years to reduce the root system into its final Bonsai pot as it has been in the cascade pot so long and not repotted for a while, but it will be worth the wait. I think the stumps will be better removed instead of jinning as the trunk is substantial and will not need visual support, and Mark agrees, but jins are certainly possible. Sorry my mug is so many shots, but they are photos of the demo in progress, so just mentally block me out.
Regards Craig, thanks for posting
Well done to the owners for great bonsai decision's. Theres alot of cascade tails out there like this that need to come off... long leggy skinny baggage... 
unless you're sacrafricing 
