Bonsai Study Group

Jim was a vendor at East Bay Bonsai Society exhibit.  He brought his tree for the exhibit.  i forgot my camera.  this tree was in the pot that was too big.  i asked him to come over and pic a pot.  we picked one and this is it.
he grows this tree from cutting. 14 years old.  he has done a great job.
enjoy,
Boon

Wow, I'd sure like to see the process by which he takes the cutting and puts such natural twists and bends in it to make it look like a yamadori shimpaku. His trees are always fantastic!

I bet he peeled strips of bark off when it was young and let the tree twist itself up.  This technique is shown in Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai series 2, episode 2.

http://www.bonsaifarm.tv/ (http://www.bonsaifarm.tv/)

Ah, no. He does quite a bit of early wiring, then plants out in the field then after it has reached the size he wants he revisits and starts to develop the shari and jin. I have one from him that I reduced back to the core twisted trunk this year, next year will begin the process of getting the shari started.

John

Japanese will not tell you everything unless you are students and work side by side with them.
John Kirby is correct.  wiring young whips of shimpaku cutting is the key. 
no wire = no bend = no curve = poor bonsai material

So, first the wiring, and later, the shari. That makes sense, since in the earliest stages, when the trunk is very thin, it is too early to create the shari. Wiring is what creates some good curves. Later, when the trunk has some volume, the shari can add to the contorted shape.

Since Ross mentioned the Lindsay Farr video, this is a question that is not related to the shimpaku, but I hope I will be forgiven for asking: There was a black pine growing field with thousand of young black pines. How ofter are they root-pruned? Every 2 to 3 years, or may be they grow much longer before getting root-pruned? Does somebody have any idea how they do this? I prune mine every 3 years, and I thought that it is not a good idea to grow them longer without root-work, but I wonder how they do it in Japan?

Would this method of bark/cadmium layer removal work on pines as well to cause a twist over time?

I think what Boon and John are saying is that a good early wiring is the important part in making nice bends in the trunk, and that shari just adds to the character.

Ah - thanks - I understand now.   :)

I know old thread, I ended up buying this tree from Jim Gremel when I was out at the BIB show. It now resides at Boon's and is going to be made a bit more compact over time, with more refined and reduced jins and more shari work. Jim worked on this tree for over 15 years, from striking as a cutting to placing in the show. He sent me a picture of the tree from 4 years agom when he was digging up out of the ground at his place.

John

This is an updated picture of the Juniper after it was worked on by Daisaku Nomoto from Japan. Daisaku was Boon's senior at Mr. Kamiya's nursery when he was an apprentice. Daisaku has prepared a number  of trees for exhibition at Kokufu-ten (and other major shows) and has trees that have won awards in the show. I was supposed to have Daisaku out to my home this month, but my move to Rhode Island messed up those plans. Anyway, I asked if Daisaku would be willing to work on a couple of trees, this was one of them. The picture is by Jonas Dupuich who is also a BIB member and has the really thoughtful bonsaitonight.com blog.

Big change.

Thoughts?

John,

I had seen this on Jonas' blog, but had forgotten it was yours.  Looks great!  What more thoughts did Daisaku have?  Any suggestions for a new pot?  The jins seems a bit thick still, did he have any thoughts on them?

Rhode Island?

John,
You know as much as I do, Daisaku is in California and I am in Rhode Island. The pot is a very nice Japanese pot that when cleaned up is a really nice fit, with the bigger/old version of the tree. It looks thick with the trees sitting at angles on blocks, so will need to see what it looks like in person. I have always thought that a nice oval or blossom shaped pot could work, but it will need to be pretty nice to work.

The jins were too large before, they are going to be refined a good deal, shortened and "thinned" to bring them in scale.

John

This is an absolutely fantastic tree. Wow, just wow. I know there is no such thing as a 'perfect' bonsai, but this one, from the picture, appears to come close. What an amazing tree. Thanks for sharing, trees like this inspire me a lot.





Regards,
Shimsuki

Shimsuki,
Other than just liking the tree for its obvious strengths (even when weighed against the things that will need to be improved- the jins for example, etc) the thing I like best about this tree is that it was grown in the US from a cutting by one of the best bonsai people that you will ever meet- Jim Gremel. Jim is spectacularly talented and is amazingly hard working. He has a large number of spectacular trees, many of which he started from seed/cuttings or as grafts that he has completed.

Regardless f how long that I own this tree, this tree will always be "Jim Gremel's Shimpaku".

John

I think it makes it more special that it was grown from a cutting. Totally inspiring.


Shim

I should clarify.  I like the old pot, but figured with the new angle you would likely change the pot as well.  Something Boon has taught us both, change the pot to change up the look and keep it fresh, new, and exciting.  I like the idea of an oval or blossom shape.  Can't wait to see it all cleaned up and ready for show.  Looking better and better.  I'm sorry I too missed Daisaku.  Thanks for sharing!

There is a thread by Bwaynef, under the general topics heading, on what kind of tree can you develop in to a showable bonsai in three years. Well, this tree took 4, but it did have to be dug out of the ground first, stabilized, then styled. SO if you started with a tree that already had a reasonable root system (for a small container) then why not in three years? This tree went from raw, well developed material, to show tree in 3-4 years. Now this tree doesn't meet the price constraints, but there is very good prebonsai material (not just nursery liners that are transferred into a different pot and called prebonsai...) that can rapidly be turned into showable material, trees that can be shown many times and their improvement noted over time.

THe photo this time....