AusBonsai

That's awesome Alpine, great work again mate

Matthew wrote:alpine take your time with branch selection with this one. i can see a great tree there with some nice deadwood and jins. if you aint 100% sure on direction , take it to bodhis or mine as im closer

Hi Matt . about 80 klms up the road is a place called Myrtleford .I'll be here 24/7 for a few weeks to come if not more .This bugger is a 2-3 man tree , although i collected it by myself it wasn't potted then ,It weighs close to 50 Kilo's or so in the box . If i was as fit as a malley bull i would take it to the A/W Bonsai club for a demo workout . My brother is coming up in a few weeks , he spent a lot of time with Jack .T and Ted .P , he will be bringing a few of his tree up just for Baby sitting We may just hack it together , unless of course you wander over the hill .I can see a few very nice deigns in it , pics don't do it justice . I estimate at least 100 metres of wire might do it , possibly more . The wife is taking a break in January so i will be heading over to Daylesford to have a look at the scenery , i told her its on the Murray river somewhere

Cheers Alpine

Hi Craig , very little done thus far , just kept it alive .Had to convert an old heavy duty lawnmower base to use as a trolley just to move it , yes the wife helped again ,She's 1 of a kind .

Cheers Alpine

Well a long day of wiring yesterday ,just to get the basic heavy wiring done , paying the penalty today . With another day to set the finer wire i will be keen to have it done so it can be shaped and styled .Still toying with a front , but either of these 2 will no doubt be the better , showing the natural shari and incorporating the jinned apex . I expect by the end of the week it should be done and dusted including the carving .I definately need to rest these legs ,maybe set up a hammock to work out of , no skyhooks around here . As the old saying goes "No pain No gain"

I think pic 2 with the natural shari will be your final front. extending that shari and refining it in time would be nice too. the branch placement could be refined and compacted more expecially the apex closer to the jinned top when you get around to doing it. no rush thats for sure. you got to get better first. nice work though

Hi Mathew , i'm good and getting better , just keep breaking a bit more . Out this morning putting the finer wire on the side branches , seems once i start its hard to stop although the rain just spoiled that plan . Seems like i will have to rest up for an hour, looks like it will clear by then . Certainly need the rain more than the pain

The apex to be jinned is still green so a will put a couple of clamps on 2 of the heavier pieces to get a bit more bend/movement into them .I think another 6-8 hours should finish the wiring , then i will carve it before shaping and styling as its quite open for the carver to be used efficiently .Mate this is the biggest task i've taken on so i hope it works out . In pic 2 the rear foliage is one branch and the front is basically the other , there is a couple of minor branches in close to the trunk possible jins or utilize as foliage .There is probably 4-6 hours work just in the carving ,mind you this is only the first styling , got years to go to build it up to a Quality tree from the trainer it is now .

Cheers Alpine

hoping its raining out my way, did some slashing so it will help pop again. its pissing down in wangaratta atm

The radar shows a little bit out your way nothing like Wang , Just ripping through here now , then its all clear . Cheers

Great project this one Alpine!!
Although I don't have much experience,I like pic 1!
I realise the shari on the lower trunk is a key feature and should be utilised, however in my opinion, I like the trunk line and the trunk base best in the first pic...as well as the branch/minor sub-trunk that is on the right at the first major bend in the trunk, and think it could also be used in a good design. Obviously the apex would have to be adjusted etc in this view, but as you said it will all develop and fill out in time!
Whatever you do I am sure with a quality subject like this, it will be great!!
I am sorry to hear about the extra injury mate!
Yesteday was muggy but quite warm in Melb, and today is cold and raining!
Take care, Dario.

Hi Dario , I'm leaning towards the middle of the 2 pics , things change as they develop .The Natural shari can be seen from both picks its just a personal choice now. It may change again depends on how the jin and shari work comes up and how it responds to the treatment I'm dishing out . I won't re-pot for another season or two as the training box is more than adequate for the root system .Halfway through the fine wiring ,taken longer than anticipated that's for sure .

Cheers Alpine

After 3 days and 23 hours of careful planning , needle plucking ,trimming and wiring its taking shape .Still at a loss with some of the jins i would like to have .Basically i have wired the entire tree , including the branches that will be jins . I have used 15m of aluminium wire for the main branches and 35m of fine copper wire for the secondary and side shoot's .This was far less than i anticipated for the job .The lowest branch is not positioned as it will be jinned , however i may remove it because it is very thin , around 12mm with the bark on .This would make for a rather skinny jin when all the others will be around 15-25mm . Approximately 30 % of the needles and unwanted shoots were removed before and during the wiring process, its almost complete with the branches set in a position using shade cloth slings and wire hook and hold so as to give a clear indication of how and where the jin and shari work should be .Well tomorrows another day so i might just take a break from it or hook in with the grinder , router and dremel . Just a matter of releasing the slings and wires to allow the machines enough room to do their jobs .Its starting to look like a trainer now instead of a potted tree.

Cheers Alpineart

Nice alpine
Will look awesome once settles down and you get the tops jinned,

Ken

Hi KC , with a little more compression here and compaction there , jin and shari's cleaned up it ill be a nice trainer ,It a pity the lowest branch wasn't somewhat thicker as its placed nicely for a thick jin .Being low i dont think the energy will focus down there so it will probably be removed ..This is a better planting angle possibly a 10-15 degree rotation as well ,took more effort to lift this than i expected , weight here is an issue . Now all i need to decide on is a suitable pot , rectangle , round or oval to put it into next winter .Its been 14 months since it was collected and the growth has been slow , however back budding is and has been happening even on older wood .This to me says the roots are liking the scoria .

This is 1 of only 5 collected in the same season , all are thriving .My other attemps to collect Montereys/Radiata's has failed so i now know they will come back and survive in this blend . Considering the size of the original tree thats a good test ..The most difficult issue with this tree was collected as a cascade so all the shoots etc were growing from the underside . some or most of the branches were rotated 180 degree's , thats a fare twist just to maintain the new shoot where required .

Cheers Alpine

Yes, i like that Alpine. Not sure about the deadwood at the top yet but this will be a nice tree, retract that, a stunning tree. It will be great for all of us to watch its progression and learn how to make really great pines..

Hi Bodgi ,The jins will be bent and shortened so the blend rather than over power the whole tree .About 7-8 jins from top to bottom as well as the shari will look good after the canopy has fill out and concealed the majority of the deadwood . The top to be jinned is around 300mm but it will be reduced to 100 - 150 and 200mm maximum stubs from the fork section . It will only sit around 80-100mm above the apex with some added movement in the right direction as its not sitting too comfortable the way they are .

Cheers Alpine.