Andrew Robson
Shohin
The most recent tree that my father and I purchased is this massive European Beech. The tree was delivered today by John Muth of Bonsai Northwest, who I purchased the tree from.
John has had the tree for about 10 years, and prior to that it was grown in the ground by one of his students for about 15 years from a 3 year old seedling. While the age of this tree is only about 27-30 years, it feels like a much older tree, due to the careful and meticulous pruning work that was done while this tree was growing in the ground.
While this tree is massive and has good branching, it needs quite a bit of work to make it an exceptional bonsai. It will be repotted this spring, and we will begin careful refinement and pruning techniques to chase the growth back into the interior of the tree and strengthen those branches. It also has several scars that need some healing.
Also, since it was grown in the ground for many years, the tree just has an average nebari. Subsequent repottings will help to improve this over time.
Special thanks to John Muth for delivering this tree and caring for it for many years, and to the excellent Matt Reel for helping me move it into the bonsai garden. I'm excited to work on this tree with Michael during the rest of my apprenticeship, and improve the tree over a lifetime. It will certainly be a conversation piece of my future garden.
Cheers!
John has had the tree for about 10 years, and prior to that it was grown in the ground by one of his students for about 15 years from a 3 year old seedling. While the age of this tree is only about 27-30 years, it feels like a much older tree, due to the careful and meticulous pruning work that was done while this tree was growing in the ground.
While this tree is massive and has good branching, it needs quite a bit of work to make it an exceptional bonsai. It will be repotted this spring, and we will begin careful refinement and pruning techniques to chase the growth back into the interior of the tree and strengthen those branches. It also has several scars that need some healing.
Also, since it was grown in the ground for many years, the tree just has an average nebari. Subsequent repottings will help to improve this over time.
Special thanks to John Muth for delivering this tree and caring for it for many years, and to the excellent Matt Reel for helping me move it into the bonsai garden. I'm excited to work on this tree with Michael during the rest of my apprenticeship, and improve the tree over a lifetime. It will certainly be a conversation piece of my future garden.
Cheers!
