AusBonsai

I'd been putting off trimming this one and doing the easy ones first. Theres a lot of branches and twigs on a forest and it does take a bit of time to do. As it was it took a couple of sessions with interruptions and visitors, etc.
Any way here are the before and afters. This group was put together at a workshop with Tom Yamamoto about 20 years ago. He complained at the time about the quality of the trees I had. I did not understand at the time but now realise what he meant. I now make a habit of putting 2 and 3 seedlings together in pots (as well as singles) to grow on for future use in groups.
While it is not a perfect group it does have some appearance of age now and looks ok I think

Wow...
I'd die to have one like that!!!
BEAUTIFUL.

Very nice. Looks like it's ageing nicely. Great work.

Hi Shibui , i'll agree with you is does look ok i think , but "i" think it would look even better at my place . Very very nice ,i could get lost in that every day .Cheers

Thankyou Shibui.
And it is a lot better than OK.

Cheers,
Mojo

yes thats the one excuse me why i pick my jaw up off the floor

shibui wrote:This group was put together at a workshop with Tom Yamamoto about 20 years ago. He complained at the time about the quality of the trees I had. I did not understand at the time but now realise what he meant. I now make a habit of putting 2 and 3 seedlings together in pots (as well as singles) to grow on for future use in groups.

Excuse my ignorance but I am not sure what you mean.

Could you please explain a bit further what you mean about the 2 and 3 seedlings in pots?

Maybe to form smaller groups that can be used in a bigger composition?

Thanks

Scott.

Sensational

This composition has had a lot of thought put into it Shibui. I think you are being modest I like the separation of the group and the path through it so you can imagine yourself walking through the forest. When you repot do you separate each tree and then root prune or do you leave them in groups and have you ever taken the group apart and grown them separately

Tom Yamamoto was a much underated bonsai person in my opinion. He lived in Japan after the war (he was American) and did some sensational bonsai.

He was very much about building and refining slowly.

A very thoughtful man and the results show that.

a lovely group.

Grant

Scott, The idea of putting 2 or 3 trees in a pot is to grow subgroups for later use in a larger forest like this. By growing them together you get better trunk alignment (similar curves and movement) and branching around the group rather than inside it. It is also easier to get trunks close together when they are grown together from the start - note it is much better to have varying distances between the trunks in a group - some almost touching, others further apart. This helps the group look natural. I have seen groups with similar spacing beween the trunks - very artificial looking.

Bodhi, This group has never been apart. When I repot groups they are treated as a single unit - remove mix and roots from the sides and base then repot back into the pot. I have replaced a couple of smaller trees on the right side though. It turned out they were a slightly different variety to the majority. They were only noticable in early spring when the leaves opened but it was glaringly obvious so they were replaced.
My other largish trident group was taken apart once. I realised that there was a space through the centre so it was cut into 2 and one side turned slightly behind the other to close the space. Now it is repotted as a single unit too.

Thank you for sharing this lovely group and your methods of growth, shibui.

I can easily imagine taking a stroll along the path and into the forest. Well done recreating this

That is so nice.
I tried to make a path but i just doesnt look good without all tha moss.