Hi guys,

So, one of the members of my Bonsai Association wants to get rid off several trees of his collection. One of those trees is a hawthorn he collected five years ago and he has been working on him ever since. As you will see in the pictures this tree possesses a very nice seemingly old bark and wood and is in full health. Also its trunk girth and taper look pretty nice. Still needs work, specially in the positioning and development of branches and ramification, but I sense it could be in a future a good, if not great, tree. Now, and here is where I need your help and opinions... He asking 115 euros for the tree and I wonder if that would be a reasonably fair price? Please, don´t hold back any insights and share them with me... I need to take a decision and I´d like it to be an educated one

Thank you all in advance,

Alain

About £80 in real money then - not too expensive IMO.

Dave

Hmm... difficult. Hard to give a good judgement as... well, I very much want to have one of these myself (I have two. Pencil thick... so they are going to take ages ).

Is it the lighting or is that top dead ?
Do I see it correctly that a branch is going up, along the trunk, so the foliage I see is not on the dead part of the trunk itself?
The texture of the trunk is nice indeed. No nebari though (maybe under the soil?).

Especially the 3rd photo is nice - but I find it hard to get a good impression of the branch structure.

I've seen worse trees in shops for three times the price - but that doesn't say much.
Prices here are better, and there are trees that seem to be comparable: www.bonsai.de/shop/b029-c-51_53_594.htm
Of course these are shop prices, not club member prices.

The price... I'm dutch and on a tight budget even :lol:
As you're both club members I'd want a slightly friendlier price

If I could get my hands on it you would not stand a chance!! Looks a very nice tree, and you know where it comes from and how it has been grown. So I would grab it and get out before he changes his mind.

Auk wrote: Is it the lighting or is that top dead ?

Yes, the upper part is plain dead. It has dried out naturally and it presents a very realistic appearance. Also it has a shari that comes from the nebari all along the tree´s trunk and up to the top dead ¿jin?.

Auk wrote: Do I see it correctly that a branch is going up, along the trunk, so the foliage I see is not on the dead part of the trunk itself?

Yes, you are right Auk. The foliage is not in the dead part of the trunk. The foliage still has a few spots that needs to be filled by it, but in general the foliage is taking the almost always desired triangular shape. It also surronds the trunk, embracing it in the upper part, but leaving the trunk exposed in a manner that the fine bark and deadwood can be seen clearly.

Auk wrote: The texture of the trunk is nice indeed. No nebari though (maybe under the soil?).

Yes, this time I have to say that the nebari must be hidden under the soil. I haven´t checked it yet, though.

Auk wrote: Especially the 3rd photo is nice - but I find it hard to get a good impression of the branch structure.

I´ll try to take better pictures of the foliage and the tree in general tomorrow for you all can see it better.

Auk wrote: The price... I'm dutch and on a tight budget even :lol:
As you're both club members I'd want a slightly friendlier price

Ha... Too late now Auk. I just couldn´t resist the temptation and finally got the tree :blush: . Today when I went to the association weekly reunion the previous owner brought it back for me to give it a better and closer look and it was simply irresistible to let go. Actually it was even better than those photos he had sent me and that I had posted here when I saw it for real. Consolation price besides the tree itself? Well, he did give the possibility to pay it in three quotas... So, in general my pocket won´t suffer from extreme starvation :whistle:

As usual... Thanks Auk, your opinion is well appreciated,

Alain

m5eaygeoff wrote: If I could get my hands on it you would not stand a chance!! Looks a very nice tree, and you know where it comes from and how it has been grown. So I would grab it and get out before he changes his mind.

Ha... Thanks Geoff and yes... You are absolutely right. As I previously posted I had my doubts when I had just looked at the pictures. But the thing is that today I saw it live and it was a beautiful sight to behold. The leaves, trunk, bark, deadwood, flowers, branches... Everything was quite appealing. Perhaps the only problem would be the nebari, that at first sight seems to be non existent or hidden beneath the soil. Either way I´d know it better tomorrow when I provide the tree a second and more detailed inspection.

So, as you say, at the end I didn´t give the previous owner the possibility of having second thoughts I couldn´t resist the temptation either. And an added bonus is the fact that I know how it was taken care of and that it is a tree in good health that possibly I won´t have to repot until next spring. I would just concentrate myself in letting the tree grow and perhaps design a better ramification.

Thanks a lot Geoff,

Alain

Nice find.

The basis, the trunk, is ok. It has some natural deadwood, you will have to see whether youw ant the bark to cover it or not.

At this point I would just let is grow, wait till fall or midsummer (And defoliate). You then can see the branches much better which will determine the sort of work to be done. These trees are tough and getting back budding is realistic.

The price.. Considering the size of the trunk and the structure of the bark it is an older specimen. And you do pay for age. I have seen worse deals (And got a better one myself last year : Free). but nothing outragious.

As for club prices.. I am often amazed at the prices for which people let go fo their trees. Both on the high as well as the low side. It is all in how badly the person wants to get rid of the plant and the amount of personal attachment they have. In-club prices are based on emotion, not on actual value I find.

Yes well done I am sure you will not regret it. I have bought trees from members and they have always been worth it. Usually cheap, but sometimes because of who it was I paid a bit more than I wanted, but it still was worth the money.
I have also paid too much from a nursery, but that was from lack of knowledge,

alainleon1983 wrote: Ha... Too late now Auk. I just couldn´t resist the temptation and finally got the tree

In that case: you have seen the tree, you clearly like it, I guess you have the budget
So all I can say is : well done, congratulations!

Thanks for sharing. I enjoy the fact we're talking about bonsai!

Hi again guys... As a promise is a debt, here I´m leaving you some better pictures of my newly acquired hawthorn. Hope to hear your comments!

Enjoy