So.. Last night the club had an auction. Too many trees, too few buyers. I managed to get rid of 9 plants. And I brought two plants home. This larch had loads of died branches and thus no interest of the members. Good fortune for me..

I have some ideas for this, but.. Any suggestions on the way forward?

Nice one. I would start by removing all the dead branches and see what there is left. I wonder what caused the loss of branches? Possibly roots, it looks as if it is potbound.

certainly roots. Will be in a bigger pot by the weekend.

Hi

I agree I think with a little care this would be a great tree and has potential.I agree with thinning out the dead branches so that you see what you have to work with the only thing I would do first is think about where you want this tree to head in the future before cutting all the dead branches off because you may want to keep one or two for dead wood / jin and shari.

Regards

Vanishtwenty

Vanishtwenty wrote:

the only thing I would do first is think about where you want this tree to head in the future before cutting all the dead branches off because you may want to keep one or two for dead wood / jin and shari.

Exactly my plan; At least one dead branch will be part of the final design, as far as I can tell.

For now, I have placed it in a bigger pot (the smell!) and will leave it to recover. Who knows which branches might open a bud once the roots recover..

leatherback wrote:

I have some ideas for this, but.. Any suggestions on the way forward?

Hi LB... This is a nice specimen indeed!

Now, besides the obvious suggestions and ideas of thinning out the tree leaving some dead branches to later turn it into jins I´d say that once the tree has recovered from the transplant (next year), you could consider reducing its size. I think it would beneficial to compact this tree so as to fulfil better the 1:6 height/trunk´s girth ratio and in general terms I think it would look nicer.

Also, I think this principle matches very well with your philosophy on Bonsai, where less is more

Alain

Hi Alain,

Great idea but.. Nope. Not going to happen.

I'll tell you why.

This tree was grown from seed, starting in mid-80ies. There are no visible scars. The bark is thick and crunchy. So.. Removing a section is going to undo all that hard word someone put in. Less is more, yes. But it does -for me- also depend on how much damage must one do; On your trees early in life I would say: Create the best tree and in 5 years time you won't know the different. Here I am not sure it would work. And.. One can always cut down later .

I am -personally- a fan of taller slender trees, although I know the general opinion is that they are not right.

This, for instance, I find a gorgeous composition:


s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5f/7d/...2fc312c973b31ede.jpg

leatherback wrote:

Great idea but.. Nope. Not going to happen.

This tree was grown from seed, starting in mid-80ies. There are no visible scars. The bark is thick and crunchy. So.. Removing a section is going to undo all that hard word someone put in. Less is more, yes. But it does -for me- also depend on how much damage must one do; And.. One can always cut down later .

Understood... Didn´t know the backgrounds of this beautiful tree. It amazes me greatly what you said... 30 years of continous growth from seed evokes a person with great passion and patience. It would be a shame alright to harm this tree after so much devotion. Also, you are right... You can always cut back later.

This fact of growing from seed 30 years before gives me hope... I´ve been watching a seedling for a while now... It sprouted on last year spring at the feet of its "mother" tree and this spring is now some 10 cms tall. I wanted to take it out and put it in a pot of my own, but I decide to leave it be... It is certainly better on the ground, but I´m keeping a keen I on it... Perhaps some day it could be a nice specimen and I might take it out

Alain

P.S.: I also like the composition of this tall and slender tree you posted before... It´s remarkably beautiful

A little update, picture from a few days ago... Wow, how time flies!

I am quite happy with the progress on this tree. This was a few days ago: