Outrageous clump

[Joe Dupre']

Safe to say this is a unique clump mulberry. I had marked it early this past summer and when I went today, the mowers had attacked again.

You can barely make out the the knobs and pieces of the various trunks among the debris.



This is how it looked all cleaned up. Lots of roots.




Potted up in about the only thing I had that would fit.



She's definitely going to be a challenge to style. I like it for it's unique character.

 

[leatherback]

Ohw.. This is going to be sooo ugly !
Ohw.. This is going to be so amazing !



Great find!

I think you could trim back the two long vertical stalks on the left. And possible eventually trim back the piece coming over the rim towards the viewer.

Nice.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Leatherback, I think you're right on both parts. And also on the trimming advice. I had already gone and trimmed everything back.

And now, we wait.

 

[leatherback]

And now, we wait.

But I do not wanna wait. I wanna see it grown out noooww!

 

[Joe Dupre']

And don't we all?!!

 

[Joe Dupre']

Update on "The Clump". It's definitely alive! I'm just letting it grow this first year. I have NO idea what I'll do with it, but it sure is interesting!

 

[TinyArt]

Sure it’s not a raft?

I think it will be handsome... will watch & see!

 

[Cadillactaste]

Very cool material...this will be a blast to take to the next level!

 

[leatherback]

Gorgeous CRuft bonsai!

 

[Mikecheck123]

Update on "The Clump". It's definitely alive! I'm just letting it grow this first year. I have NO idea what I'll do with it, but it sure is interesting!

View attachment 368814View attachment 368815

Looks great!

I think you could still trim it with the mower.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Sure it’s not a raft?

I think it will be handsome... will watch & see!

A raft would be a tree laying down with trunks ( branches ) rising from it. This one didn't have the distinctive original root ball. It appears to have been chopped repeatedly and just grew out in an ever widening circle.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Looking at the pic showing all the roots got me thinking. I may be able to split the root ball into a couple of more manageable pieces. I'll address that at the next repotting.

 

[TinyArt]

A raft would be a tree laying down with trunks ( branches ) rising from it. This one didn't have the distinctive original root ball. It appears to have been chopped repeatedly and just grew out in an ever widening circle.

Gotcha — I see it now — that middle section fooled me
“Twin trunk raft” probably isn’t a thing, anyway

 

[Forsoothe!]

I think your only hope lies in rotating the whole mass ~90° to the right to make an unruly upright. It's way too big for any pot/slab/whatever when horizontal, and the left mass which is interesting doesn't have the roots of the uninteresting right mass. Anything more than 10° tilt will make it too big to be styled effectively. All the roots under the righthand mass would need to be greatly diminished to make those sticks above it into a clump/forest. As they are now, they are the antithesis of bonsai which is small roots+big top. They are big roots+small top. The roots have a job to do, but are not attractive. The major wood is attractive, but only as a focus. All of the sticks that would be a clump/forest if as displayed now will be un-useful when the wood is turned vertical and will need to be sacrificed. There is a nice bonsai in there, but not as discussed above. There are practical limits to bonsai and they begin with size. Size matters, but not like in boats or houses. It needs to be a one-man bonsai and there's only one way to get there with this stock. Sorry to be the wet blanket, but every wildfire needs one.

 

[leatherback]

I think your only hope lies in rotating the whole mass ~90° to the right to make an unruly upright. It's way too big for any pot/slab/whatever when horizontal, and the left mass which is interesting doesn't have the roots of the uninteresting right mass. Anything more than 10° tilt will make it too big to be styled effectively. All the roots under the righthand mass would need to be greatly diminished to make those sticks above it into a clump/forest. As they are now, they are the antithesis of bonsai which is small roots+big top. They are big roots+small top. The roots have a job to do, but are not attractive. The major wood is attractive, but only as a focus. All of the sticks that would be a clump/forest if as displayed now will be un-useful when the wood is turned vertical and will need to be sacrificed. There is a nice bonsai in there, but not as discussed above. There are practical limits to bonsai and they begin with size. Size matters, but not like in boats or houses. It needs to be a one-man bonsai and there's only one way to get there with this stock. Sorry to be the wet blanket, but every wildfire needs one.

I think you may have posted this in the wrong thread. None of what you state here seems to apply to the mulberry in this thread. If it is indeed in respect of this tree, could you expand your thoughts? To my ot looks like an excellent rafty-clump style tree material.

 

[Colorado]

Cool material! Would look awesome eventually with some ferns/small kusamono planted with it in a bonsai pot.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I think your only hope lies in rotating the whole mass ~90° to the right to make an unruly upright. It's way too big for any pot/slab/whatever when horizontal, and the left mass which is interesting doesn't have the roots of the uninteresting right mass. Anything more than 10° tilt will make it too big to be styled effectively. All the roots under the righthand mass would need to be greatly diminished to make those sticks above it into a clump/forest. As they are now, they are the antithesis of bonsai which is small roots+big top. They are big roots+small top. The roots have a job to do, but are not attractive. The major wood is attractive, but only as a focus. All of the sticks that would be a clump/forest if as displayed now will be un-useful when the wood is turned vertical and will need to be sacrificed. There is a nice bonsai in there, but not as discussed above. There are practical limits to bonsai and they begin with size. Size matters, but not like in boats or houses. It needs to be a one-man bonsai and there's only one way to get there with this stock. Sorry to be the wet blanket, but every wildfire needs one.

Opinion considered. Wet blanket allowed to slowly slide off of my shoulders. This is NOT destined to be any kind of standard bonsai type. It will never, in my estimation , look like any conventional tree. When finished, some may not call it a bonsai at all. That's cool. Really........it's fine by me. I will call it a bonsai, and that's all that matters. If Ryan Neil happens by my garden and gives it the thumbs down.........well..........that's HIS opinion. Art .........and this tree will definitely be art..........is an expression of the artist. Standard "cookie cutter" trees are not art. They are the works of a skilled craftsman. And that's MY opinion.................subject to approval or disapproval. I have the right to my opinion and I respect your right to have an opposite opnion.

 

[Kokosunica]

Nice project!
How its going?

 

[Joe Dupre']

Well, it's lost all it's leaves for the year. During the summer, I trimmed many unwanted sprouts and a few smaller branches that I figured won't add to the finished form. I'm still not clear on what to do with it. At repotting time, I'll take a stab at it. I may just trim some roots and put it back in the same container.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

I think your only hope lies in rotating the whole mass ~90° to the right to make an unruly upright. It's way too big for any pot/slab/whatever when horizontal, and the left mass which is interesting doesn't have the roots of the uninteresting right mass. Anything more than 10° tilt will make it too big to be styled effectively. All the roots under the righthand mass would need to be greatly diminished to make those sticks above it into a clump/forest. As they are now, they are the antithesis of bonsai which is small roots+big top. They are big roots+small top. The roots have a job to do, but are not attractive. The major wood is attractive, but only as a focus. All of the sticks that would be a clump/forest if as displayed now will be un-useful when the wood is turned vertical and will need to be sacrificed. There is a nice bonsai in there, but not as discussed above. There are practical limits to bonsai and they begin with size. Size matters, but not like in boats or houses. It needs to be a one-man bonsai and there's only one way to get there with this stock. Sorry to be the wet blanket, but every wildfire needs one.

I think the reason you have been having difficulty figuring out what to do with it is because you have some major reduction to do. You have strong and interesting pieces on the left and a million tiny seedlings on the right.

I agree with @Forsoothe! the left is strong and interesting where the right doesn’t have much going for it. Next repotting I would saw the extra rootball off, change the angle dramatically to the right and put it in a much smaller training container. This is very rough, but what I am seeing from the pictures provided.