AusBonsai

Hi guys and gals,

Happy New Year!

Bought a new tree from Leong just after Christmas - A Cedrus deodara. This tree represents my most expensive purchase thus far, and also, the most challenging piece of material I have tackled on my own to this date.

I thought, hey, why not? Time to extend myself!

This is the tree in its original form:



Pretty much a giant hairy bush. But it had lots of branches and movement to the trunk, both of which are desirable for a newbie, particularly since cedars don't tend to grow branches back, even if they're chopped off 'accidentally'...

This is the tree after a couple of hours on day 1. Took my time cleaning it out, and being probably over-cautious. At least a front was picked out, and a design decided upon - A tall, swooping tree with a bit of a natural bent to it.

I got two foliage pads done on this day... (and a jin, which admittedly, is a little thin, but I feel probably necessary for balance's sake, and is a pretty good representation of what happens in nature - thin branches on the bottom die)

I remember a few old timers saying they repot their cedars on the hottest day of summer. Might almost be tempted if it was me.

And this is the tree after its first styling.

It's a little conservative, I know and please excuse the poor wiring technique, but I'm actually pretty happy with the design. After it grows some, and I get to see how they react to certain things, it might change but I think this design is worth growing into for the time being.

Hope you like it!

Owen

Brian wrote:I remember a few old timers saying they repot their cedars on the hottest day of summer. Might almost be tempted if it was me.

I read that somewhere too. However, Leong, who grew this tree said I'd best not do that. I might also err on the side of caution and let the tree recover rather than try to do it all at the same time and kill the tree.

Very nice, you did a great job
Cheers

Thanks, Kirky, that's very kind

Nice work mate, looks great!

Thanks, Kelvin8r!

I like your enthusiasm mate and you're not the only one to err on the side of caution. You might find that in a year's time your taste will change, you've left plenty of options to change it later on.

If you're not happy with the wiring, this would be a great tree to practice on, you have plenty of branch options ranging from think to thick. What's the wire around the trunk doing? Did you put any bends in it?

Thanks, Jarad.

This tree certainly presents many opportunities to refine my wiring technique.

No bends were put in the trunk, the wraps of wire there anchor the wiring for each branch. Didn't want to make any more opportunity for scarring than necessary.

Cheers,

Owen

Nice effort and much tidyer.
You might like to think about lopping a little off the top tho to stop the leginess up there. About where the shadow crosses the trunk in the apex or maybe just a little lower where there is a branch on the upper side.

Ken

Repotted this tree 'Hagedorn' style yesterday/today. It's surprising how much moss it takes to cover a little mound... Hopefully, the tree settles in nicely.

Photo seems to be a broken link

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Weird, since it shows up on my computer. Does this work?



If it doesn't, I blame Photobucket...