29 | January | 2012 | Bonsai Eejit

This is John’s raw material Austrian Black Pine.

This is young nursery stock that has a long way to go before it will be ready for any real work. However, this doesn’t mean we just leave it as is. The centre of the tree is of no use in the future of this tree as a bonsai. It is too straight and is without branches for some distance. We looked at viable branches with some ramification at the bottom of the tree and removed all the branches that were not needed in the future. This tree will now be left to grow and will be pinched during the year to encourage more back budding and ramification.

I see a lot of material like this and in many cases it isn’t suitable for bonsai or at the very best, it’s a long way off being ready for work. However, that doesn’t mean that people new to bonsai like John can’t learn from working on this tree for a few years, seeing how it responds to pruning and pinching.

Graham brought this Larch Forest to the garage night yesterday. It’s made up of young larch seedling and was put together by Graham a few years ago. It’s planted on a slate slab. This was the first time I had seen this planting as Graham had been hiding it in his back garden until now.

The photo doesn’t do it justice as the slab actual zig-zags a bit and adds interest to the composition. He had lost a few trees from the back and we discussed if they should be replaced. I liked it as is but felt that the tree to the far right might be better added to the rear behind the main tree. A few others where adjusted and shortened. This was the result.

Still a few tweeks to be made here and there but I think he’s made a fantastic job out of this using what was very young and cheap material. The slate was from the base of an old pool table. Here is Graham with the forest for scale.