Crazy Shimpaku from Evergreen Gardenworks

[Brian Van Fleet]

Bjorn brought this inside yesterday afternoon and had it tidied up in about 45 minutes. I will be growing out a branch to partly obscure the horn-shaped jins, and extending the lower pad of the canopy out to the left. Right now the area looks a bit bare, but it is coming along nicely.

 

[KennedyMarx]

I'll be honest with you, I didn't like the initial styling, but it's coming together nicely.

 

[Giga]

I'll be honest with you, I didn't like the initial styling, but it's coming together nicely.

I have to agree, I didn't like it at first either. Just goes to show that a artists vision is not always seen at first glance.

 

[LanceMac10]

Dead wood horns look incongruous now....whittle a bit away in the future? Sweet accent with a hot pot!! Iron your backdrop. While I'm being so demanding, howzza' bout an Alabama Slamma'.....

Great tree!!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Took a slightly better shot after cleaning up the bark and mossing up the roots exposed by the planting angle change. The stand is about the right height, but definitely very chunky.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Shaggy shot, still fully wired with what Crazy applied 3 years ago. This fall, it will be time to remove and trim.
I’ll need to repot it in the spring and get the angle corrected, roots worked, and the Jin up off the rim.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Update after last weekend’s work. The long cascade branch was removed, and everything was tightened up and wired.

 

[LCD35]

Update after last weekend’s work. The long cascade branch was removed, and everything was tightened up and wired.
View attachment 247436View attachment 247437

What lead to your decision to remove the long cascade branch?

 

[Smoke]

Looking way better. Now if that crown were moved back about three inches over the base and reduced in visual size it would be killer.

Nice tree

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

What lead to your decision to remove the long cascade branch?

I didn’t like the look, it was difficult to keep healthy, and it very hard to keep stable on the bench.

Looking way better. Now if that crown were moved back about three inches over the base and reduced in visual size it would be killer.
Nice tree

Thanks Al. I plan to keep the apex forward like it is, but tighten up the space between the apex and the cascade.

 

[YAN]

Any updates?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Any updates?

Bushy.

 

[leatherback]

Bushy.

Nice.
I like Junipers when they have just been brought back from this. All wired, trimmed and looking sharp. Yet.. The bushy look gives this very natural look. In a way I am always a little sad after working over junipers and see them all bare

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Somewhere along the way I stuck this one in the ground and ignored it for a few years. When we moved, I potted it and decided to stand it up and see if something would eventually inspire a new look. It still had some wire on it from the 2019 work, which was removed, and trimmed back. I shortened the long branch again, and will let it gain some strength and maybe give it another run this fall. There is still a decent bonsai in there somewhere, but I think it will need to be rebuilt with some new shoots as the upper portion is leggy.

 

[JudyB]

I like this better as an upright I think.

 

[WavyGaby]

Great progression of the evolution of a shimpaku. I think I liked the leftward angle and offset apex more. It was different and created interest. The apex is now more over the root base like Smoke demands though.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Great progression of the evolution of a shimpaku. I think I liked the leftward angle and offset apex more. It was different and created interest. The apex is now more over the root base like Smoke demands though.

Maybe more of a revolution. It photographed better than it looked in life as a left-facing cascade, and was better after working on it some with Bjorn. I am starting to think about a new direction, but it will be to my demands. I’m thinking light and simple.