Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Alright @Bananaman even though I have no right to critique trees, you've asked for it. So here's how I view my trees, in my mind. I usually don't see weak points as unfixable. I see them as challenges to learn from. To get better. The same way I see comments from others. I've stayed in my liberal safe space for now. But I'm ready to face the pitbulls. Burn away on this one people!
Here's my Juniperus Procumbens, aqcuired 2 months ago. Rootless soil has been exchanged for coarse stuff, because I believe that builds feeder roots. That's a discussion for later. I'm not diving into that, since it doesn't add to building this tree. It will be repotted in spring.
The tag says it costed 5,95. That's around 6.5 dollars.
First, the entire view:
Front and back.
Immediately poking your eyes would be lack of a bonsai pot. This is not a bonsai. We're done here, class dismissed.
But for the sake of improvement, let's act like it is.
Foliage weak points:
1. Juvenile foliage, yuck. Get rid of it, or wait for it to become adult foliage. It's a pitchfork in the eye.
2. Foliage is messy, not worked a lot, stringy instead of paddy.
3. Half of the foliage is wired, the other half is not. It's a trainwreck. My intention is to have some branches - the unwired ones- to become deadwood when they're big enough. But there's no reason not to make it look good in the mean time. It's good training and I did not do it.
4. Second pic, you see that there's one branch with foliage only at the end. Why is that? It's chopped off, everyone can see that.
5. Yeah, not just the branches are wired, sometimes the foliage too. That pisses me off.
Foliage strong points:
1. There is foliage.
2. It looks kind of healthy.
3. There's lots of it.
Trunk weak points:
1. Fucking tape man. What's up with that?
2. Why is there wire everywhere?
3. Where does the trunk end and the roots start?
4. Around halfway up the tree, what is the trunk and what are branches?
5. S-shaped bends. Come on guy wires, you know that it looks man-made.
Trunk strong points:
1. Movement. There is movement. That's about all the points it can get on trunk strengths.
Planting angle:
Could be way more dramatic. For the time being, there's something in the works and it shows. But it doesn't move with grace, elegance or drama.
Nebari weak points:
1. It doesn't look aged.
2. There's lots of roots, and they're crossing.
3. It looks like a freaking mess.
4. Thin and thick roots all over the place. That's way to natural looking.
Nebari strong points:
1. There seems to be a nebari in development.
Overall:
The tree is way to two-dimensional. The foliage is not developed, nothing is developed. Everything seems to be 'in development'. Something you would expect for a beginner.
The wiring is wonky, messy, there's too much of it too. Too many different types and colors. No raffia, which will damage the bark. It's wired in summer, which should not be done ever. The deadwood in development is not yet deadwood and keeping the branches does not add to the tree overall. The tape is screwing up parts of the tree, even though it is meant to help heal the splits in the bark (which is working).
Old and dead foliage is not removed, making an overall messy tree. There is no distinct apex either. It's just cluttered foliage. There is no distinct padding and no play of spaces. The tree is young, and it shows that. It does not have a front, or a back. It has sides.
And no cool pot.
And seriously? You thought nobody would notice this?
Or this?
So overall, few out of 10 points.
Personally, I think I can make this work. Maybe get 6 out of 10 after years of work.
Here's my Juniperus Procumbens, aqcuired 2 months ago. Rootless soil has been exchanged for coarse stuff, because I believe that builds feeder roots. That's a discussion for later. I'm not diving into that, since it doesn't add to building this tree. It will be repotted in spring.
The tag says it costed 5,95. That's around 6.5 dollars.
First, the entire view:
Front and back.
Immediately poking your eyes would be lack of a bonsai pot. This is not a bonsai. We're done here, class dismissed.
But for the sake of improvement, let's act like it is.
Foliage weak points:
1. Juvenile foliage, yuck. Get rid of it, or wait for it to become adult foliage. It's a pitchfork in the eye.
2. Foliage is messy, not worked a lot, stringy instead of paddy.
3. Half of the foliage is wired, the other half is not. It's a trainwreck. My intention is to have some branches - the unwired ones- to become deadwood when they're big enough. But there's no reason not to make it look good in the mean time. It's good training and I did not do it.
4. Second pic, you see that there's one branch with foliage only at the end. Why is that? It's chopped off, everyone can see that.
5. Yeah, not just the branches are wired, sometimes the foliage too. That pisses me off.
Foliage strong points:
1. There is foliage.
2. It looks kind of healthy.
3. There's lots of it.
Trunk weak points:
1. Fucking tape man. What's up with that?
2. Why is there wire everywhere?
3. Where does the trunk end and the roots start?
4. Around halfway up the tree, what is the trunk and what are branches?
5. S-shaped bends. Come on guy wires, you know that it looks man-made.
Trunk strong points:
1. Movement. There is movement. That's about all the points it can get on trunk strengths.
Planting angle:
Could be way more dramatic. For the time being, there's something in the works and it shows. But it doesn't move with grace, elegance or drama.
Nebari weak points:
1. It doesn't look aged.
2. There's lots of roots, and they're crossing.
3. It looks like a freaking mess.
4. Thin and thick roots all over the place. That's way to natural looking.
Nebari strong points:
1. There seems to be a nebari in development.
Overall:
The tree is way to two-dimensional. The foliage is not developed, nothing is developed. Everything seems to be 'in development'. Something you would expect for a beginner.
The wiring is wonky, messy, there's too much of it too. Too many different types and colors. No raffia, which will damage the bark. It's wired in summer, which should not be done ever. The deadwood in development is not yet deadwood and keeping the branches does not add to the tree overall. The tape is screwing up parts of the tree, even though it is meant to help heal the splits in the bark (which is working).
Old and dead foliage is not removed, making an overall messy tree. There is no distinct apex either. It's just cluttered foliage. There is no distinct padding and no play of spaces. The tree is young, and it shows that. It does not have a front, or a back. It has sides.
And no cool pot.
And seriously? You thought nobody would notice this?
Or this?
So overall, few out of 10 points.
Personally, I think I can make this work. Maybe get 6 out of 10 after years of work.
