Pinus Sylvestris Yamadori

[AndyJ]

Or you decide what YOU like best .

Starting WITH deadwood is easier than without.. Removal is always still and option.


afaik that is only possible with a new thread.

Thanks @leatherback This is probably the oldest / best tree with the most potential that I’ve got - and I’m being to indecisive with it! I don’t want to do something wrong and ruin it! I guess I’ve got to just bite the bullet and decide.....

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Thanks @leatherback This is probably the oldest / best tree with the most potential that I’ve got - and I’m being to indecisive with it! I don’t want to do something wrong and ruin it! I guess I’ve got to just bite the bullet and decide.....

When I'm unsure of the direction I want to go with a tree, I focus on function over form. In this case, you could clean up the deadwood, and this would be a good time to do that. You could also clean the branches (remove foliage from the undersides, remove dead or dying foliage, etc) and then wire for function, ie spreading the limbs to ensure proper light gets the branches in an even manner. You could put a little bit of movement into the branches, etc.

I find, when I focus on function, the form comes to me...

Good luck. Just remember, you can't learn from your mistakes if you're too afraid to make them.

 

[AndyJ]

Hello folks I’m back again! Ok, I decided to keep the dead wood - I think Peace was right - the deadwood adds age. So today, I had a close look at what I had to work with. Three of the stubs in the old whorl were actually rotten - when I stripped the bark, pieces of the stub fell away. I used some cutters and a screwdriver to gently tease out the rot and see where I went back to and chased it back to some hardwood at the top. That left me with two stubs.

I cut away some of the dead trunk underneath the remaining two stubs and pulled it down hard, tearing away some of the old wood and some that I’m guessing is still alive, and got a nice tear drop shape. I did this all round. Next I stripped the bark off the stubs and cut the heavy trunk a bit. I had to leave it as my back started to complain.

So this is where I am. A start (reasonable I hope) but with more to do. With the two stubs that were left, after I’d worked them, I’ve left myself a kind of bull-horn effect - really ugly - and there’s two much weight in these top bits. I don’t have power tools to do this work - it’s all been done with cutters, hammer and chisel and pliers. I‘m not sure if I should keep both stubs in this top or just reduce down to one? If using hand tools how do I do this? I’ve got to kind of work backwards and upwards haven’t I?

 

[leatherback]

If using hand tools how do I do this? I’ve got to kind of work backwards and upwards haven’t I?

Make them uneven in size. One a side-branch of the other, so to speak.

Best is to use your concave cutter or a knife to get individual large fibres and pull them out along the length of the wood with yin pliers (Or any other fine-beak pliers you might have). This will help to bring the direction of the wood fibres out, and will look most natural.