Is that it does both...and it does....allows for "developmental" health, and "refinement" in the same year.
How do you know this? Did you do it for say five years? How can you possibly know anything after a year. In my own case I don't really start to see really great measurable results till after three years. It takes me that long just to build an armature.
California Bonsai Art II? Can't wait to dive in to the "expanded" bonsai bunker!!! In my experience, pinching initial buds will give you the nice small leaves on a Japanese Maple. I did notice, however, that the tree will not grow for the rest of the season.
Actually since I started that page, I purchased a new computer. Still working the kinks out of that. Making disks of all my pictures on the old computer, to transfer to the new computer. Could just do it with a cable, but last time I did that I lost the whole shooting match so I want to have at least what I have thru half of 2020 on a disk now. Almost all the pictures I posted to bonsaiTALK are gone. I was able to retrieve a few while the site was puking, but for the most part...gone. Since the site will be only work related it will require me to do "work" which I have not done much in the last 60 days. I have been taking pictures and have them ready to go, and there has been some work, but not much. Stuff like re potting, major pruning, and building trees from cuttings and layers will happen as I take them off parent plants, which I have three ready to post soon. A lot of people think running a blog is easy but it's a lot of work if done correctly. It's like this thread, no one is showing much work as to what they are doing to their trees. I am shocked at the amount of people that do not think for themselves when it come to bonsai. This is gardening pure and simple. people get hung up on words and make it all angry and stuff. If you can grow roses you can grow bonsai. If you can prune topiary, you can prune bonsai. If you can prune a hedge, you can prune a bonsai. The difference between pruning a hedge and pruning bonsai is that if you can cut a straight line you can trim a hedge, but if you have no talent nor artistic ability, then bonsai is going to be difficult whether you prune or hedge. I see that here a lot.
I have been sitting around and doing a lot of watching on Youtube of painters and acrylic painting. I have watched so many that I started getting the idea that it was easy. This looks simple enough.
I make bonsai, I make diaza for stones, I make stands, and picture frames and all sorts of artsy stuff with my hands. Hey, this seems easy enough, I'm going to get some paints and some canvas and do some painting. If you follow me on FB then you saw the picture I posted of my first painting. This was tremendously hard for me. Not as easy as it looked at all! I wanted a mountain and a road and some mixture of trees. It looks like a fifth grader painted this picture. I'm not proud. This is beginner quality, as it should be. I'm not going to stop, I'm going to get better. Why? because I'm going to practice. A lot!
My point.....there is no way I'm going to go sign up on a painting discussion forum and start throwing my weight around about how great a painter I am, which pallet paper is best, badger hair brushes over boar hair. I don't know shit, and I don't profess to know shit. That is why I won't talk about painting like I know something. My next point..let your trees do the talking for you. You want to get into the frey and talk shit about something, post up a tree that you are super proud of, that probably no one will comment on, that's how I know their good, when the best artists have nothing to say about your work.... Let the tree speak of your skills and what you have found that works well. If you don't want to hedge a tree or use that part of the bag of tricks, then don't use it. But why do people find it necessary to disparage those that have had success?
I don't read people talking shit about selective pruning, pinching or clip and grow? Post up your trees with those sorts of pruning sessions and tell me how long you been working on it, then some others can show different methods and how long they have been working and maybe a consensus can be reached. Thats how you solve a discussion....with proof, as in pictures...anything less is just talkin shit....
