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Classroom Corner – Junipers, Taxus and a Cedar enter the fray!

An open window into the comings and goings of students and their trees attending our regular weekend and midweek bonsai classes under the ever watchful eyes of John Hanby.

Classroom Corner – Junipers, Taxus and a Cedar enter the fray!
This selection of trees recently attended classes held in December 2013 and February 2014. It is a typical mix to be found in most workshop classes and one of the things that makes them so interesting.
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The first Juniper was one from the Christmas Special batch but Steve had been unable to make the December date. Options were discussed and a number of significant branches had to be removed. Some deadwood was created and then the remaining branches were all wired and positioned.
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Once the tree has had time to settle down and recover the live veins will become more obvious and a shari can then be safely introduced to link up the dead jins and give this shohin bonsai some real character. Derek’s Cedar had originally been a full long cascade but over the years the lower section had become very weak.
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IMG_2203Derek wanted to restyle the tree and make it smaller. The lower cascading branch was removed. A heavy branch to the rear was unnatural and was also removed.
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IMG_2208The resulting small tree is impressive for the variety but obviously is now overpowered by the pot. It will be repotted in April into a more suitable shallow pot and then it should look really well. The leggy Juniper was another find by David……he generally manages to come up with a challenge on every class.
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The tree was radically reduced and simplified.The foliage was arranged closer to the trunk to create a compact and much older looking tree. David had acquired the Taxus as a sick tree but had grown it on and restored it’s vigour. it was now ready for a wiring and styling.
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Only a relatively small amount of pruning was required but the finished shape is much better and the foliage lines of the tree are now clearly defined. Bob had pre-wired his Taxus Cuspidata so it was simply a case of positioning the branches….but wow what a difference. This is becoming a very impressive mature tree with a great future.
Five trees entered the fray and all escaped relatively unscathed and looking much better for the experience……..unfortunately the same cannot be said about the students and the teacher!!!