Acer palmatum sharp's pygmy [#07]

[MACH5]

Thanx for posting this, its interesting to read.
The moss is nicely done, its looking very nice.
Funny to see how bjorn says it would be considered a good tree in japan and walter or jim said you wont see a tree like this in japan.
I think the truth is you wont see many trees like this in japan or anywhere else for that matter which look as good as yours does in this style.
It really is a good looking tree.
Any plan of removing the lowest left branch now?

Thanks Tommy! Yes I also took note of that. I think Bjorn was referring to 10 to 15 years into the future while perhaps WP and Jim was more of what it is now. I personally don't get overly concerned about whether a tree of mine is good enough to be in Japan or not. My only criteria is that is looks natural but refined.

I am considering Mr. Kobayashi's suggestion. I will be looking into this but will not rush into it. I want to make sure it will be an improvement and not necessarily just different.

 

[MACH5]

You recapped my notes pretty well. As you said, Walter noted that in Japan this would not be shown because it is a "faux twin trunk. however we appreciate it as it is truly a remarkable tree." He noted, pot, tree, stand and accent all complimented each other. His only note of concern was to watch the apex in years to come.

Jim seemed to love this tree. He was looking for his LED flashlight so he could highlight the silhouette, as he said the lighting and backdrop didn't provide the best way to view this. He noted the branching and ramification and how the buds indicated it was in good health. He said the container, height of the stand were nice for this tree. He wrapped up by saying he wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks Will for chiming in. Honestly I felt that the tree did not look its best against the curtain. I thought it was rather distracting and would have preferred a black one instead. The lighting was not great either but you work with what you got.

 

[MACH5]

I believe it would be shown here though as it is now it has no chance to get into a show like kokufu but the main reason for this would be age, this tree is too young looking . Simply age would benefit this tree greatly, nothing to do but wait for that.

I also agree on the apex which i believe i mentioned once before, it looks very nice but left like this and it might turn into a problem area.
I wonder if kobayashi san mentioned something about it.

Tommy I agree. I do think this tree still needs to mature in age as well as in its design. Right after the show I cut off the thickest branch at the apex. I am reconfiguring it now in oder to improve it in the future. No Kobayashi did not mentioned this but given more time I am sure he would have.

 

[MACH5]

Is the stand the correct height, or should it be shorter?

Its a great tree. Good to have comments from the judges. I'd be curious to hear their opinions on how this tree compared to the ficus, crab, larch and shimpaku; not judging it on its own merit but rather as against the others....

Don I had two stands almost of the exact same design. One short and the other one that I ended up using taller at about 12". I felt that given the height of the table, the tree looked best on the taller stand. Is it too tall? Yes I think so but given what I was working with I felt this was the better choice.

 

[MACH5]

I have nothing negative to say about this tree, it's a good tree now, and as it ages, it'll become an amazing tree. I like the way it has it's own feel, that is what sets the crabapple apart as well. This makes us take notice.
I have two questions. I have heard other people being criticized for not having moss covering all the soil. So am wondering about this. Also although the prime viewing angle is said to be straight across the pot, it is rarely that we actually see exhibition photos that are that low. Maybe the exhibition books photograph from that angle. I tend to think that a slight bit above the tree sometimes can look better than straight across.

Judy I believe this may vary from exhibit to exhibit. At the Naionals, you are required to moss the entire soil surface. At MABS apparently there was no such requirement. I decide to let some of the soil surface show as this looked a bit more natural to me. It also picked up the brown tones of the accent which help tie the two together. In any case, soil surface whether mossed or not should be carefully considered.

When you mean straight across the pot you mean in perfect profile?

 

[whfarro]

Ah...mossing. WP commented quite a bit on mossing. He really liked the moss with Sergio's maple. He felt that some trees, such as collected junipers or those species found in mountainous or arid areas should not be mossed or only partially mossed, with some or all sand or soil exposed. He mentioned that in Japan, because trees are often formally displayed indoors, the soil must be fully covered regardless if that was "natural" because of housekeeping and cultural practices.

A debate for another thread I am sure.

 

[johng]

I have nothing negative to say about this tree, it's a good tree now, and as it ages, it'll become an amazing tree. I like the way it has it's own feel, that is what sets the crabapple apart as well. This makes us take notice.
I have two questions. I have heard other people being criticized for not having moss covering all the soil. So am wondering about this. Also although the prime viewing angle is said to be straight across the pot, it is rarely that we actually see exhibition photos that are that low. Maybe the exhibition books photograph from that angle. I tend to think that a slight bit above the tree sometimes can look better than straight across.

I wonder if this is a fallacy...if "straight across the pot" was the prime viewing angle...would not every show(including those in Japan) strive to achieve this?? ...thus having tables somewhere near 5' in height. WE go to extreme measures for display already...changing table height is a relatively easy step....yet no one does it to this extreme??? I am sure you have seen the books...rarely are the photos taken from such extreme low angles... Perhaps it is just me being a tall guy in short person's world

I have tall benches and posts in my garden...many folks have commented that some are too tall...even so they are not tall enough to provide the prime view you suggest...at least for me anyhow.

 

[Don Blackmond]

In my session, neither WP or Jim provided any comparisons to other trees other than a casual mention, such as "here is another collected Larch and you see this one has a bit more character...." kinda thing.... and at the time of their critique the top trees were not yet announced/made public.

Right. I would not expect an open comparison, but sure would love to hear one. Why this tree is more befitting of the award instead of that tree- type of discussion.

 

[M. Frary]

Right. I would not expect an open comparison, but sure would love to hear one. Why this tree is more befitting of the award instead of that tree- type of discussion.

Perhaps it is just me being a tall guy in short person's world

It's a burden us above average people must deal with.

 

[coh]

I wonder if this is a fallacy...if "straight across the pot" was the prime viewing angle...would not every show(including those in Japan) strive to achieve this?? ...thus having tables somewhere near 5' in height. WE go to extreme measures for display already...changing table height is a relatively easy step....yet no one does it to this extreme??? I am sure you have seen the books...rarely are the photos taken from such extreme low angles... Perhaps it is just me being a tall guy in short person's world

Was just looking through the photos in the last National Exhibition album, it appears most of them were taken from a viewpoint near the middle of the tree height-wise. And that is pretty much what I've always thought (from everything I've read and been told) the "prime viewing position" was supposed to be...not exactly at pot height but somewhere above. There is a fair amount of variation in the album, though, including a few "pot skimmers."

It's interesting, the issue of tree/display height is always a hot topic at the shows I've been to. Almost everyone involved in bonsai seems to agree that the table heights used are too low, and even with stands most trees are displayed lower than they should be. So why don't we use higher tables? Expense, difficulty?

 

[JudyB]

When you mean straight across the pot you mean in perfect profile?

Yes indeed. I find that I agree with Johng, that it's one of those things you think of as a concrete "rule" but often isn't actually shown. I like the slightly higher angle for viewing personally. And I'm a short person!
I do like this moss job with this tree, and always have thought that it looks more natural with some open spaces in many cases.
Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Adair M]

Was just looking through the photos in the last National Exhibition album, it appears most of them were taken from a viewpoint near the middle of the tree height-wise. And that is pretty much what I've always thought (from everything I've read and been told) the "prime viewing position" was supposed to be...not exactly at pot height but somewhere above. There is a fair amount of variation in the album, though, including a few "pot skimmers."

It's interesting, the issue of tree/display height is always a hot topic at the shows I've been to. Almost everyone involved in bonsai seems to agree that the table heights used are too low, and even with stands most trees are displayed lower than they should be. So why don't we use higher tables? Expense, difficulty?

At the Atlanta Bonsai Society, we raise the tables up about a foot. We use sections of PVC pipe, about 18 inches long. Big enough diameter so that the legs of the folding tables slip into the pipe sections.

It helps a lot. Most of us have rather low stands.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

At the Atlanta Bonsai Society, we raise the tables up about a foot. We use sections of PVC pipe, about 18 inches long. Big enough diameter so that the legs of the folding tables slip into the pipe sections.

That's what we do in Bham. It makes a world of difference.

 

[JudyB]

Actually at the CBS show they do the same with the PVC on some but not all of the tables. Looks better, but still not at eye level.

 

[coh]

Yeah, I've seen some of you post about the PVC leg extenders before. Not sure why we don't do that here...have to ask about that.

 

[MACH5]

 

[fredtruck]

Very nice pictures, and I love the container color!

 

[Dan W.]

Thanks Sergio! I'm glad to hear everyone else loves the tree too.

I also found it interesting that the Japanese artist and the artist highly trained by the Japanese both loved the tree, and even spoke about the tree being showable in Japan in the future... While the Western artist/s loved the tree but said that it wouldn't show in Japan. -- I feel like there is a lot of bias in the Western bonsai world, and we think there's a lot less to Japanese bonsai than there really is. Maybe I just look at too many bonsai on line and in books, but I think too many people have a very narrow view of what bonsai looks like in areas outside of their box.. lol.

 

[Djtommy]

this is from an an exhibition last weekend
there were a few odd entrys as actually rather often happens but overal very high quality.
this is a maple trained as broom/multitrunk.
not complete same as sergios tree but same style i think

 

[Adair M]

this is from an an exhibition last weekend
there were a few odd entrys as actually rather often happens but overal very high quality.
this is a maple trained as broom/multitrunk.
not complete same as sergios tree but same style i think
View attachment 102820 View attachment 102821

Very nice!

Yes, more of a broom than Sergio's. There are two kinds of broom, though. One kind is this tree where the main trunk splits up into many branches pretty much at one place. The other is a "Center Line" broom where there is a center trunk and lots and lots of smaller branches emanating off the main trunk. Sergio's is more of that character.