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 – Looking back at attending trees…..
It’s easy to forget trees that have been put before you especially when there are so many. Taking photographs becomes so important…..a permanent reminder…..a moment in time, in the life of one of your bonsai (most of my students insist the picture is for future litigation in case I cut too much off…as if!!!)
Here are a few pictures, a few trees I may just have forgotten to tell you about. Some of these are from the end of last year whilst some are from earlier this year.
This large specimen Juniper originated from Korea and was supplied by us. It is beginning to shape up really well. It’s pretty obvious that the Cotoneaster was ready for some general pruning and shaping.
The Scot’s Pine was far too wide. The branches had to be pulled down and inwards to reflect the tall trunk and stature of the tree in shaping a much more compact design.
This Larch bush had to be drastically pruned back and branches selected before wiring and a first styling could take place. It was a case of selecting which of the three trunks would give us the best tree.
Unlike the previous Cotoneaster this one was really at the very start of it’s bonsai career and had to be drastically pruned back to find the basic trunk line. The good thing is that this material can recover and respond very well and very quickly to this type of treatment.
This Juniper Procumbens was first styled a few years ago and on it’s more recent visit some refinement of the image could be undertaken. Most of you are probably aware that this variety does not like excessive wiring unlike most other species of Juniper. It was a case of selective pruning and wiring of the main branches only.
Having been styled before this Juniper Pfitzeriana had now outgrown it’s shape. Once again a new branch selection had to be made but this now enabled a more compact tree to be formed for the future.
The sheer variety of material we find attending classes provides us with a strong learning curve from which we can all benefit. It really is so useful to see how each tree is treated, how it responds/develops and what we then have to do next to take it to the next level….
….and as you have no doubt heard me say so many times…..there is always another level!