Shohin Barberry, repotted and wired

[davetree]

Berberis seems to be a common thread on the forum, so I thought I would add mine. Here is a tree that I have worked on for several years. It is the variety 'Bagatelle' which has very nice reddish purple foliage turning crimson in fall. I didn't like the look so last year I cut most of the branching off and regrew new ones for the new front I had planned. I rotated the tree 90 degrees to better see the movement of the gnarly trunk. Everything is in place, now I will work on the ramification. There is a couple of buds in place for the space near the top on the right. This bonsai was a large shrub that I cut back in stages, I finally like where it is at.

 

[cquinn]

It's quite nice. Very believable. Good bonsai.

 

[october]

Excellent shohin... Proportions are exceptional.. I did notice the little bud in the space on the right..after a small branch grows there it will practically be perfect as far as branch placement.

I was wondering if you have any pics of the tree when you first got it or shortly after...

Usually, I mostly hang around the juniper forum. However, maybe I should spend some time in this forum...

Rob

 

[davetree]

Here is a pic of the tree when it was a shrub. Beer can is there for reference only, heh heh.

 

[october]

After seeing the rough material I can say that this is exceptional work!

Rob

 

[milehigh_7]

Ouch!

After all the talk about Berberis lately, I took advantage of an opportunity to pick up a few bare root Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea liners that were really cheap. Just to see if they would live here.

You all were not kidding about the thorns! Where I come from we call those things needles and we normally see them on cacti. Anyway this is my first experience with them so we will see what happens.

 

[mcpesq817]

Yeah, the thorns are pretty nasty. I noticed too that some can be so small and thin, that they almost act like splinters where you don't notice them right away.