Restyle of a Mugo Pine from 1951
Posted: March 8th, 2009, 6:52 pm
By Grant Bowie
February 2008
In December 2007 I acquired an old Mugo Pine that had been grown from seed in 1951. (Fig 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Its size was 90cm x 90cm x 70cm.
It was an interesting bonsai and had many good points:-
• Interesting base
• Lots of movement and curves
• Lots of branching and foliage
• Compact growth and reasonably good health
• Aged bark
It however did have some problems:-
• Lowest branch on left hid the interesting lower trunk
• Uninteresting straight portion of trunk after great lower bends
• Lack of front branches
• Excessive weight and length of branches on left hand side
• Awkward conjunction of branches on lowest right side.
• Poor surface root structure
It was quite good material but it was in need of a serious overhaul. The lower trunk was lying almost horizontally and some good low curves meant the overall movement of the bonsai was quite good. However, after the first two curves the trunk straightened and went on for too long without any more major curves. The front of the tree was also too flat, with no branches coming forward anywhere, and some front branches had been removed further up the trunk as well, leaving it looking a bit like a fish skeleton.
I wanted to emphasize the lovely movement of the lower trunk and so the first thing I did was remove the heavy low 1st branch on the left. (Fig 7) This allowed the lower trunk to be seen clearly and for the sinuous movement of the rest of the trunk to be appreciated. (Fig 8) The stub of this branch will be jinned to echo a remnant of another Jin under the trunk, where a large portion of former trunk has died or been removed. There is a cavity under the base of the trunk.
All carving or jinning should be completed before moving on to the shaping of the branches with wire.
The bonsai as a whole was too tall and the final third of the trunk was relatively straight and uninteresting. There was a branch about two thirds the ways up the trunk on the right hand side and slightly to the front(Fig 6) that could be turned into an apex and continue the interesting movement seen down lower in the trunk.
I removed the top third of the bonsai and considered leaving a Jin at the apex. (Fig 9) There were two distinct portions of foliage on what was to become the new apex and so the back branch portion of this new apex was covered with raffia and wired and tied into position. The branch was very flexible and posed no problem for this severe bending. The Jin at the top was eventually removed as it would have clashed with the final position of the new apex.
The two branches remaining on the left hand side were too long and they were carefully reduced by about one third. The back branches are very elongated and they were lightly reduced as well. The branches on the right hand side were effectively not reduced at all as I wanted that side of the bonsai to become the dominant side. (Fig 10)
All the needles from last year or older were cut off with scissors. This allows wiring to be carried out much more easily and more precisely. It also doesn’t damage the potential buds that may have formed or are able to form where there are existing needles. It also allows the sun to penetrate into the interior of the bonsai and encourages new buds to form. We should do everything we can to encourage new buds to form and to keep in good health all those that we can keep, because pines are very slow to mature.
The rest of the tree was now wired and where necessary more raffia was applied. (Fig 11) This was simple but time consuming. A stainless steel screw was drilled into the trunk at the back of the tree to act as an anchor point to pull down the lowest back branch. Once the entire tree was wired right to the tips of every branch it was then tightened up. That is each branch was compacted as much as possible and set into a coherent and artistic pattern. (Fig 12, 13, 14, 15)
February 2008
In December 2007 I acquired an old Mugo Pine that had been grown from seed in 1951. (Fig 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Its size was 90cm x 90cm x 70cm.
It was an interesting bonsai and had many good points:-
• Interesting base
• Lots of movement and curves
• Lots of branching and foliage
• Compact growth and reasonably good health
• Aged bark
It however did have some problems:-
• Lowest branch on left hid the interesting lower trunk
• Uninteresting straight portion of trunk after great lower bends
• Lack of front branches
• Excessive weight and length of branches on left hand side
• Awkward conjunction of branches on lowest right side.
• Poor surface root structure
It was quite good material but it was in need of a serious overhaul. The lower trunk was lying almost horizontally and some good low curves meant the overall movement of the bonsai was quite good. However, after the first two curves the trunk straightened and went on for too long without any more major curves. The front of the tree was also too flat, with no branches coming forward anywhere, and some front branches had been removed further up the trunk as well, leaving it looking a bit like a fish skeleton.
I wanted to emphasize the lovely movement of the lower trunk and so the first thing I did was remove the heavy low 1st branch on the left. (Fig 7) This allowed the lower trunk to be seen clearly and for the sinuous movement of the rest of the trunk to be appreciated. (Fig 8) The stub of this branch will be jinned to echo a remnant of another Jin under the trunk, where a large portion of former trunk has died or been removed. There is a cavity under the base of the trunk.
All carving or jinning should be completed before moving on to the shaping of the branches with wire.
The bonsai as a whole was too tall and the final third of the trunk was relatively straight and uninteresting. There was a branch about two thirds the ways up the trunk on the right hand side and slightly to the front(Fig 6) that could be turned into an apex and continue the interesting movement seen down lower in the trunk.
I removed the top third of the bonsai and considered leaving a Jin at the apex. (Fig 9) There were two distinct portions of foliage on what was to become the new apex and so the back branch portion of this new apex was covered with raffia and wired and tied into position. The branch was very flexible and posed no problem for this severe bending. The Jin at the top was eventually removed as it would have clashed with the final position of the new apex.
The two branches remaining on the left hand side were too long and they were carefully reduced by about one third. The back branches are very elongated and they were lightly reduced as well. The branches on the right hand side were effectively not reduced at all as I wanted that side of the bonsai to become the dominant side. (Fig 10)
All the needles from last year or older were cut off with scissors. This allows wiring to be carried out much more easily and more precisely. It also doesn’t damage the potential buds that may have formed or are able to form where there are existing needles. It also allows the sun to penetrate into the interior of the bonsai and encourages new buds to form. We should do everything we can to encourage new buds to form and to keep in good health all those that we can keep, because pines are very slow to mature.
The rest of the tree was now wired and where necessary more raffia was applied. (Fig 11) This was simple but time consuming. A stainless steel screw was drilled into the trunk at the back of the tree to act as an anchor point to pull down the lowest back branch. Once the entire tree was wired right to the tips of every branch it was then tightened up. That is each branch was compacted as much as possible and set into a coherent and artistic pattern. (Fig 12, 13, 14, 15)
) is there a chance we could get an update on how the tree has progressed. i love what you have done and have made a better tree from what was there