32 year old Acer Rubrum

A good bonsai should tell a story and be interesting, create some tension where there is none. In my design the tree is reaching for light in the upper right like on the edge of a forest. The bend at the soil line lends itself to this; there is this awkward negative space on the lower left side currently.

I did see this tree in person at Nationals so I am not armchair judging out of thin air. Again I am just supposin' as we all should be doing in this hobby more often to progress.
 
NaoTK said:
A good bonsai should tell a story and be interesting, create some tension where there is none. In my design the tree is reaching for light in the upper right like on the edge of a forest. The bend at the soil line lends itself to this; there is this awkward negative space on the lower left side currently.

I did see this tree in person at Nationals so I am not armchair judging out of thin air. Again I am just supposin' as we all should be doing in this hobby more often to progress.
Click to expand...
This was the original nebari that had a carved hollow trunk which was the story. All things must pass as the tree filled the hollow. :cool: I would make this the front of the tree but I would have to tilt the trunk so far forward it would bury to frontal roots on this nebari. It might work if it were in a much larger pot and mounded up so as to keep the front roots exposed. As for the slanting trunk style .......I'm simply just not a fan of that style and I'm the one that's got to look at it everyday. :D

IMG_1980.jpegIMG_1979.jpeg
 
ABCarve said:
This was the original nebari that had a carved hollow trunk which was the story. All things must pass as the tree filled the hollow. :cool: I would make this the front of the tree but I would have to tilt the trunk so far forward it would bury to frontal roots on this nebari. It might work if it were in a much larger pot and mounded up so as to keep the front roots exposed. As for the slanting trunk style .......I'm simply just not a fan of that style and I'm the one that's got to look at it everyday. :D
Click to expand...
Really nice base from that angle! It is common practice to rethink/redesign trees after showing them at their peak, and all options should be considered very thoughtfully.
 
ABCarve said:
This was the original nebari that had a carved hollow trunk which was the story. All things must pass as the tree filled the hollow. :cool: I would make this the front of the tree but I would have to tilt the trunk so far forward it would bury to frontal roots on this nebari. It might work if it were in a much larger pot and mounded up so as to keep the front roots exposed. As for the slanting trunk style .......I'm simply just not a fan of that style and I'm the one that's got to look at it everyday. :D

View attachment 539514View attachment 539515
Click to expand...
Impressive base/tree sir.
 
ABCarve said:
This was the original nebari that had a carved hollow trunk which was the story. All things must pass as the tree filled the hollow. :cool: I would make this the front of the tree but I would have to tilt the trunk so far forward it would bury to frontal roots on this nebari. It might work if it were in a much larger pot and mounded up so as to keep the front roots exposed. As for the slanting trunk style .......I'm simply just not a fan of that style and I'm the one that's got to look at it everyday. :D

View attachment 539514View attachment 539515
Click to expand...

This nebari rules.
 
THE 37 YEARS-IN REBUILD.
So all the talk of a redesign that @NaoTK approached last year got me to thinking. The reason I chose this tree out of the hundreds in my backyard was for the great nebari it had. Go back to post #1 for the whole story which explains why I flipped it. Now that the big scar has been totally healed for a year or so, I took a more serious look at putting it back to the original front. Below is the proposed new front and nebari. One problem visible in this view is the apex walking away a little too far to the right. You can also see how the nebari is cramped by the current pot.
IMG_2235.jpegIMG_2239.jpeg



So the next problem, which is more problematic, when looking from the side, the tree is bowing to the current front (right side of photo) and opposite to what you want for a new front. Side note: this bowing guideline would make for a good discussion in its own thread but not here. The tree could be tilted with a repot to make the apex lean in the other direction but would probably bury the important front root of the nebari.
IMG_2236.jpeg




The solid red line is the proposed cut to the apex. Removing this will get the direction of the apex starting to move in the opposite direction. It would also benefit better taper to the apex. The dotted red line will be a wedge cut pulling the top portion of the trunk to where it needs to be. Some may wince at the thought of this, others may not know what it is. I've done this dozens of times to branches twice the size of this trunk with zero failures. Maples are pretty flexible at the right time of year. I probably won't do that this year but wait to see if it's truly necessary. For those that would like to see the wedge cut technique.
IMG_2238.jpeg



These photos are with the old apex removed and the pot slightly tilted forward with its wider, shallower, new pot. A lot of the branching has been cut back, removing secondaries that were getting too chubby for good taper. I'm sure more will be removed before its all over. The new pot is about 3 inches wider than the current one allowing the nebari to stretch out and the tree to be mounded up higher. Hopefully that will expose more of the frontal root to minimize the effect of tilting the tree forward. Much of this speculation won't be determined until the actual repot in the middle of March.
IMG_2243.jpegIMG_2241.jpeg
 
The tree was already great before but the lower trunk is fantastic with this orientation. Definitely the right move!
 
Just to clarify, are you saying you would cut it back to here for the new apex? It's a bit hard for me to tell in the picture you shared, since it seems to be from a different angle.

IMG_3328.jpeg
 
Gabler said:
Just to clarify, are you saying you would cut it back to here for the new apex? It's a bit hard for me to tell in the picture you shared, since it seems to be from a different angle.

View attachment 582477
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This picture already has the apex removed, although I did consider the cut you show. Possibly still on the table......but not for now.
 
ABCarve said:
side note: this bowing guideline would make for a good discussion in its own thread but not here.
Click to expand...
It really would. Any chance you want to start that? I love this tree and my questions basically all relate to this point.
 
Very exciting to see a reboot on this great old tree. I admire the courage to reset something this established, but agree it is the correct thing to do. I would agree with @Tidal Bonsai on the new apex and would suggest not building a single line up like before but more naturalist. Most maples in nature in the upper 3rd will fan out and have multiple branches spread out to fill out a broad apex region. Whatever you decide to do, I look forward to following it over the years-- and love all your progression threads.
 
Tidal Bonsai said:
I love this new direction!!!

If it were my tree, I would cut here and regrow the branch in the center of the trunk as the new apex. The part above is way too straight compared to the rest of the tree IMO.

View attachment 582507
Click to expand...
ForrestW said:
Very exciting to see a reboot on this great old tree. I admire the courage to reset something this established, but agree it is the correct thing to do. I would agree with @Tidal Bonsai on the new apex and would suggest not building a single line up like before but more naturalist. Most maples in nature in the upper 3rd will fan out and have multiple branches spread out to fill out a broad apex region. Whatever you decide to do, I look forward to following it over the years-- and love all your progression threads.
Click to expand...
That could very well happen especially if the wedge cut doesn't go well. I've always found it hard to visualize design from a two dimensional photos. The cut that @Gabler described in his post was really the first choice but it is a pretty horizontal branch to pull up into an apex and missing a companion branch to fill in the right side. Might get one to pop with some hard pruning and off we go with another chop. The straightness of the upper trunk really doesn't bother me. For now it's a fairly prudent move. It's hard tellin', not knowin' what might pop and change the options as it moves forward. My mantra is "it will make itself evident".
 
You could approach or thread graft a new leader on in an ideal spot just above Tidal's mock up. I also feel that if you are rebooting it, then now would be rhe time to make a major improvement to the upper movement and taper in conjunction with the new front.
 
I don't see a problem with the "lack of movement." It's normal for a tree in nature to be contorted at the base and then grow up straight. Why not represent that phenomenon in bonsai?

In any case, it does have movement. It's just subtle.
 
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