If you don't like perfect cookie cutter junipers, then don't look at this.

[october]

This pic was sent to me and I though I would share. There has been some talk about perfectly manicured, cookie cutter trees lately. For me, I do not think it is a bad thing at all.

Tell me who would not be proud to own this perfectly manicured tree...

Rob

 

[Joedes3]

I would love to have this tree in my collection.

 

[Smoke]

I had no idea you would post my tree here. Since you did, Thanks.

 

[Tona]

Amazing tree!! The type of tree that got me into this addiction!!
Thanks for posting!
Tona

 

[buddhamonk]

Don't see anything cookie cutter about it...

 

[Dwight]

Neither do I. BTW , thanks Al , I'm glad you like my work. You'll get the bill shortly.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Love the tree. Do not like the pot. It is not (to me) informal enough. The depth of the pot is ok given all the deadwood, but I am looking at a wall of flat clay.

I would go a little shallower. A little wider. And something less formal (for a juni).

 

[BigDave]

cookie cutter trees lately.

I'll take one please with Chocolate chips

 

[tmmason10]

I for one like both the "cookie cutter" trees and the "naturalistic" trees, as long as the tree presented is pleasant to look at. The trees like the one posted by Rob are what I aspire to create one day, but love looking at Walter's natural trees and style as well.

 

[GastroGnome]

Funny, I don't like the pot either, despite the fact that it follows all those "rules" about good pot selection. It's about the same depth as the width of the trunk, length looks to be about 2/3 the height, and color compliments the cinnamon red of the live vein. All that being said, I think a larger lip wouldn't minimize the girth of trunk, and more bow to the walls would go a long way, as would more deeply incised corners.
Ryan
http://japanesebonsaipots.net/

 

[Poink88]

Love the tree. Do not like the pot. It is not (to me) informal enough. The depth of the pot is ok given all the deadwood, but I am looking at a wall of flat clay.

I would go a little shallower. A little wider. And something less formal (for a juni).

I agree, I think the pot is it's weakest link right now. This is definitely not a cookie cutter bonsai.

I think anyone & everyone who knows bonsai would love to have that tree but (oh man I will be flagged for this)...it is too manicured for me. I'd prefer it with thinner leaves/pads and with more negative space.

 

[Walter Pall]

Here is another one. How is this in comparison. More natural? More artificial?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I would go with something more like this...

As far as Walter's tree goes... I would be honored to have a tree like that in my collection, but there is something about it that looks artificial to me. Perhaps it is the photography, but it almost looks plastic. Regardless, the styling is (to me) without flaw. Regardless of "artificiality" I would prefer the 2nd tree if I had a choice

(Happy to see you visiting, Walter)

 

[rockm]

Personally, I kind of like the pot. That "wall of clay" provides relief from the "Wall O Deadwood" above it. It is a simple visual foil that balances things out a bit. The feet provide a lightness to the heavy pot body.

I would NOT go with a shallower pot, as it would look unbalanced.

I think the excellent tree Walter posted overwhelms the excellent pot, or vice versa. Between the pot's scalloped corners, raised horizontal lines and the baroque twisty deadwood on the tree that seems to go on forever there is just too much going on in the planting to keep track of, at least for me.

 

[Poink88]

Walter,

That is just perfection (but the canopy is still too perfectly shaped for my PERSONAL taste).

Is it real? Some of the deadwood (esp at the ends) looks off.

 

[tmmason10]

Walter thanks for stopping in. I like the tree you posted and especially the deadwood on the right of the tree, something that probably cannot be replicated by man.

For what it's worth, I enjoy your more nautural stylings and your rocky mountain junipers are the backgrounds for my iPad. Maybe we could share one here?

 

[Gene Deci]

I know I am out of the mainstream here but I'm not sure what trees like those are. As sculpture they blow me away but as bonsai not so much.

 

[sean f]

Great tree but the foliage is to perfect for the gnarly trunk

 

[jk_lewis]

I know I am out of the mainstream here but I'm not sure what trees like those are. As sculpture they blow me away but as bonsai not so much.

Boy am I glad you said that! Now folks will have two of us to lambast!

All that deadwood appears as if it were created under the most adverse conditions -- icy, gale-force wind -- the works. Half the tree was killed! The bark was stripped away and polished by wind, ice and sand.

The canopy, on the other hand, might just have come out from under the hairdresser's helmet. It reminds me of hairdos in the JFK era (the mid 60s for you kids), every hair lacquered in place and woe on you if a single hair is disturbed.

A very conflicted tree.

 

[Poink88]

Well yes and no.

While I agree, note that environment change...especially for something that survived hundreds of years. Foliage can grow back faster but the beaten branch can only mend so much.

It is like saying that a battle harden soldier cannot come home and attend a gala. He can change clothes, even if the scars are there, or even if he is an amputee...nothing wrong with that.