AusBonsai

Atlantic cedar. This tree, presumably grown from nursery stock, was first styled in 1964. It was created by a talented Canberra bonsai artist, now deceased. Cedars were a favorite subject of his. The leaning trunk and the carved dead wood seen in this particular bonsai are typical of his work, giving the impression of an ancient tree that is relentlessly battling to survive adverse conditions. Shortly before the artist's death in 2005, a group of his friends and admirers purchased it for the National
Collection.
Artist: Joe Micallef We are working on the apex of this tree.

i love it its so natural

great bonsai

I saw the national collection a few months back, I am enjoying these posts very much.
It gives us little snippets of the trees history and most importantly trees now have some high quality photographic records.
Great work guys.

Regards Gerard

Great tree!! Love the way it looks. Mahalo for posting.

-Tim

Hi all,

Seeing as someone is asking about Atlantic cedar I thought I would update you on our Atlantic cedar at the collection.
We had been trying for about 4 years to grow a heavy low branch on the right hand side to replace a branch that died many years ago. However last week I got fed up with waiting for it as it was just not thickening or elongating.

It had gotten a bit fluffy so I trimmed quite a large amount of foliage out and rewired most of the tree. It only took about 15 hours. The right hand branch is very precarious as it was severley bent/broken by old Joe Micalef many years ago.

I moved the apex back to the right as well, more in keeping with his original design.

I like working on Cedars in January! You get the benefit of the spring growth then you can trim it back hard in early January and all new growth comes out in a much more refined manner. I will leave this tree alone to settle now for a few months at least and then just compact it a little bit more this year.

Grant

Hi Grant,
beautiful tree. The last photo where you have moved the apex over to right, the top jin is now in front of the apex. It looks quite long and straight in the photo, but in the flesh I don't remember it being that 'obvious' if thats the word!?
The last photo looks as if the tree has been slightly turned to the right as well showing off more of the movement in the lower trunk and shari. Is that right, could be an optical illusion.
Would you consider shortening the top jin or wait for the apex to fill out more and maybe hide some it, blend it in with the top?
Andrew

nice tree-do you have any plans for the future--I see this tree planted deeper in a slightly wider oval pot of the same depth and colour-also some foliage from the left branch brought across the front of the upper jin to cover its straightness

Andrew E wrote:Hi Grant,
beautiful tree. The last photo where you have moved the apex over to right, the top jin is now in front of the apex. It looks quite long and straight in the photo, but in the flesh I don't remember it being that 'obvious' if thats the word!?
The last photo looks as if the tree has been slightly turned to the right as well showing off more of the movement in the lower trunk and shari. Is that right, could be an optical illusion.
Would you consider shortening the top jin or wait for the apex to fill out more and maybe hide some it, blend it in with the top?
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

You are correct that we rotated the tree slightly to the right . Well spotted.

At the moment I am waiting for the foliage to catch up with the Jin rather than shortening the Jin.. I have to think very long term with this tree so I am not in a hurry to change the Jin, Shari or any other Japanese words.

Since the photo the tree has grown well and been trimmed back and pinched over the last 6 weeks or so and it is bulking up nicely.

We will take photos when able and post.

Grant

Guy wrote:nice tree-do you have any plans for the future--I see this tree planted deeper in a slightly wider oval pot of the same depth and colour-also some foliage from the left branch brought across the front of the upper jin to cover its straightness

I think what you suggested is already starting to happen. The foliage pads are bulking up and will hide a little of the Jin and we will assess the pot when we next repot; may be a year or two however.

Grant

I have had this species and tend to kill them--I cant work out whether its with kindness or neglect--I guess they need a balance that I cant supply

Guy wrote:I have had this species and tend to kill them--I cant work out whether its with kindness or neglect--I guess they need a balance that I cant supply

Cedrus atlantica may be innapropriate for your climate. Check with a local bonsai person with lots of experience.

Grant

Hi Everyone

We have done some work to this wonderful cedar over the last few months.
I think it is looking better than ever.
Hope you like it.

Cheers
Leigh

Wow, that is stunning, a definite improvement on a tree that was no slouch to begin with. I am not sure how I missed this thread when I searched for cedars previously. I'm glad you updated it.

Nice improvment. Trunk is a little to stark. Needs some foliage to break it up

Regards,

Peter

Hi All,

The balance in this tree is exceptional. Well Done.

Cheers,

Brad.