Posting for inspiration and accountablility

[bonsai barry]

I bought this shipaku last spring. I've let it sit on my bench, but it needs to be thinned and maybe even carved a bit. I'm posting it here as a "before" photo, which I hope will encourage me to work on it so I can post an "after" photo, too. I think it hesitate because I see a lot of potential in this tree and don't want to screw it up.

 

[fourteener]

I bought this shipaku last spring. I've let it sit on my bench, but it needs to be thinned and maybe even carved a bit. I'm posting it here as a "before" photo, which I hope will encourage me to work on it so I can post an "after" photo, too. I think it hesitate because I see a lot of potential in this tree and don't want to screw it up.

Where is the potential from the base to the first branch(aka...where is the front)? Figure that out first. The problem you have right now is that it's everything and nothing. Find what's cool at the base and maybe it'll be easier to let some other things go!!

 

[Poink88]

The problem you have right now is that it's everything and nothing.

Love this.

 

[Dav4]

"No guts, no glory!". I think everyone might be a bit hesitant to make that first cut on a nice piece of material, particularly when the tree within hasn't exactly shown itself to you yet. But, if the fear of ruining the material paralyzes you into inaction, you and the tree will never grow into something better.

I agree with Terry...finding the front, identifying the good aspects of the tree, etc., is where you start. Then, maybe, remove only the parts that are absolutely not needed. Also, there's no need to have this styled/pruned/wired all in one sitting. There's nothing wrong with doing a few cuts, then study the tree for another few months before removing more...this isn't a race (for most of us). I have several trees that were styled over a period of many years, with annual episodes of branch removal +/- wiring followed by uninterrupted growth on the tree's part and study and evaluation on my part. Branches that survived the first styling didn't always survive the next. This slow, methodical cycle of whittling down on the canopy and trunk, followed by thoughtful inactivity, have yielded pretty good results......but you gotta make that first cut. Have fun!

Dave

 

[bonsai barry]

I know where I want to go with this tree since it reminds me of trees from a specific grove of junipers in the High Sierra. But the potential is always so much better than the reality.

 

[jk_lewis]

Here's a possible start; gets rid of the fat, straight runk.

 

[bonsai barry]

Here's a possible start; gets rid of the fat, straight runk.

I like the motion and the flow of your suggestion; thanks.

 

[JudyB]

Not that this exactly speaks to this particular tree, but what I've finally discovered, when stuck on getting started with a piece of material is to get rid of the obvious flaws. The things that will always bug you about the tree. You know it, but you see a way it could be incorporated, so you are still stuck... And a few years later, you wish you'd chopped it just there.... because now you really see that flaw... and now you've wasted a few years.

If you take off the bits that will never be part of a good design, you start to see what is left, and how to use it. This is what I try to apply now.