River's Edge
Masterpiece
Thanks Judy. It makes me wonder at times about the eventual outcome. I work with collected yamadori often, in those cases it is common to perform rather drastic makeovers and deal with transition stages that seem so out of step with the intended final product! With trees developed from the start it is unusual to make major changes, often small changes can have a more pronounced effect if the basic structure is well done.That is a big change coming for this tree. Thanks for sharing this project so fully, it's great documentation, and shows how big of a change can be made to even an older established tree.
in this case as one studies the tree the areas that could make the most difference to the overall aesthetic are primarily the beginning of the apical structure and the uneven gaps in the nebari.
The simplest approach would be to accept the overall structure and improve the ramification of the branching!
It is exactly like a home renovation, one idea leads to another, the time frame, work involved and number of changes increases exponentially as the planning continues. Not sure that the outcome will meet the expectations of others, but that is not the goal. My goal is to try and improve the aesthetics, make the most out of the material as I am able. With the documentation I hope to give an indication of the planning process and considerations that go in to such a project. I do expect the transition stages to appear as " ugly duckling ' chapters. Hopefully short chapters with happier endings!
Which reminds me, just in case I cannot get the proper bends on the more mature cuttings for root grafting, I ordered lots of seeds from Schumacher and they will arrive Tuesday. Express Post means 16 days from New York to Vancouver Island. Perhaps they meant pony express. I will plant them just in case! My intention is to use the trees own material if at all possible. If that is possible then the germinated seedlings will go for trident forest plantings in the future.