Shohin Pussy Willow restyle

soda · Post by **soda** » September 5th, 2011, 12:51 pm

A pesky possum knocked this leggy pussy willow off the bench and I lost a branch, so I went for quite a chop. It was ugly at first but very happy now,a year later, even if it is a bit stereotypical.

BEFORE Oct 2010

Yesterday

Post by **kcpoole** » September 5th, 2011, 1:47 pm

That has made a MUCH nicer tree

Hope you gave Thanks to the possum

Ken

nealweb · Post by **nealweb** » September 5th, 2011, 1:59 pm

very nice

my possums specialise in defoliating, usually trees that i DO NOT WANT defoliated

Craig · Post by **Craig** » September 5th, 2011, 2:10 pm

Great work Soda!
very nice Shohin in the making

NathanM · Post by **NathanM** » September 5th, 2011, 9:10 pm

Seems a good thing that the height was reduced, it looks much better now

bodhidharma · Post by **bodhidharma** » September 5th, 2011, 9:14 pm

Definitely a change for the better i say. Well done, a nice Shohin.

hugh grant · Post by **hugh grant** » September 5th, 2011, 9:18 pm

good on ya possum!

its coming along to be a very nice tree now

Hugh

Stewart_Toowoomba · September 5th, 2011, 9:31 pm

Hi Nathan

I recon this simple tree progression should be a must view for all self nominated bonsai newbies...

As the more experienced members in my club are keen to tell - always cut to taper and less is best. This shows the benefits of being courageous when styling and then waiting for the tree to fillout and mature. Cut for the future and not the present.

Good one. Definitely a much more pleasing tree

Stew

soda · Post by **soda** » September 6th, 2011, 9:34 am

Wow thank you all for your positive comments. This tree definately benefitted from the school of AusBonsai, and a Pesky possum.

Post by **Steven** » January 8th, 2013, 11:59 am

G'day Soda,

Just checking in to see how this one is looking.
Any chance on an update?

Regards,
Steven

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » January 8th, 2013, 3:23 pm

Hi Soda,

A very nice balanced tree, well done on the restyle and improvment

soda · Post by **soda** » January 13th, 2013, 8:37 pm

Just saw this and will post an update pic. Has been a bit knocked around by the heat, I need to give it some more love.

Meagi · Post by **Meagi** » January 14th, 2013, 6:15 am

Look forward to your up date soda .
Beautiful little tree huge improvement .
Cheers

fireworks · Post by **fireworks** » January 14th, 2013, 7:19 am

That pesky possum certainly did your Pussy Willow a favour. I'd be putting an apple close to any other leggy tree that you might have.
Looking forward to picture of an update on this tree. Well done, great chopping!

soda · Post by **soda** » January 15th, 2013, 7:46 pm

Thanks Steven for the update request. Not much change but starting to fill in. It suffered a bit of heat and this shows from browning leaf edges and it lost maybe 50% of leaves to boot. I lost my two best trees in 2012 and my others suffered as i sulked and wondered if the game just wasn't for me.

With more love I may get another flush this growing season. Wire marks from last year when it bounced along after the last repot. From my limited experience, Pussy Willow look great on first flush, not so great later in the season as the leaves are a dull flat green. Would love to see the article that was in Bonsai International a few months back.

AusBonsai