Mugo Pine Quasi-Raft

For those still interested in seeing this project completed here it is. In the past I had jokingly named this tree the drunken dragon. Here it is once more in it's inibrehated glory.

[video=youtube_share;d_OUTdzKMhA]http://youtu.be/d_OUTdzKMhA[/video]
 
Great job! I like the lighter feel to the tree. I didnt notice before how that trunk snakes around on the surface, very natural.
 
Been following this thread since it started. Fantastic progression and really helpful for a newb like me. Having something more 3D as a progression allows a lot more to be seen than just pics can protray. I love the name btw. Breathtaking work Vance.
 
bonsaiBlake said:
Been following this thread since it started. Fantastic progression and really helpful for a newb like me. Having something more 3D as a progression allows a lot more to be seen than just pics can protray. I love the name btw. Breathtaking work Vance.
Click to expand...

I'm glad the project was a help to you. I have to get a better angle on the tree I am not happy with the final video its angle does not clearly show the definition between pads.
 
bonsaiBlake said:
Been following this thread since it started. Fantastic progression and really helpful for a newb like me. Having something more 3D as a progression allows a lot more to be seen than just pics can protray. I love the name btw. Breathtaking work Vance.
Click to expand...

Hopefully as you develop it wont take you a week to do a job like this one. I am getting really slow.
 
Thank you for the update! Looks great as I suspected it would;) The thinning out really gives me a much better view of how good it really is as I suspected. I can also now anticipate how it will look next season.

Grimmy
 
My favorite tree. Need to see it in person again. Thank you Vance!
 
I think a slab is just the thing to bring out the ruggedness of the tree. I imagine you already have one? Or you have an idea where to get one?
It looks great already Vance.
 
M. Frary said:
I think a slab is just the thing to bring out the ruggedness of the tree. I imagine you already have one? Or you have an idea where to get one?
It looks great already Vance.
Click to expand...

I have some ideas and I know some sources, even if it means making a concrete slab for the tree.
 
Dusty Kraft has a lot of really cool granite slabs for sale. Check him out on FB.
 
Vance, I like what you've done with this tree very much. I think it would look great on a slab... Eventually. I don't think it's ready yet.

You know more about how Mugo grow and their repotting work than I, so I'll leave all that up to to. I'm just going to comment on styling

The issue I see is it's potted too high. Like on top of a mountain. I would prefer to see the branches laying just above the soil to be more IN the soil. So that it's not a "quasi-raft" it IS a raft. What I'd like to see is the branches that are now just on top of the soil half buried in the soil. They would become a nebari of sort.

So, I think to make that happen it first needs to be planted on a deeper pot for a couple years to develop roots higher, so you can cut the roots on the bottom off. Thus lowering the entire composition. THEN, put it on a slab.

Regardless, you have made a nice composition out of difficult material!
 
Adair M said:
Vance, I like what you've done with this tree very much. I think it would look great on a slab... Eventually. I don't think it's ready yet.

You know more about how Mugo grow and their repotting work than I, so I'll leave all that up to to. I'm just going to comment on styling

The issue I see is it's potted too high. Like on top of a mountain. I would prefer to see the branches laying just above the soil to be more IN the soil. So that it's not a "quasi-raft" it IS a raft. What I'd like to see is the branches that are now just on top of the soil half buried in the soil. They would become a nebari of sort.

So, I think to make that happen it first needs to be planted on a deeper pot for a couple years to develop roots higher, so you can cut the roots on the bottom off. Thus lowering the entire composition. THEN, put it on a slab.

Regardless, you have made a nice composition out of difficult material!
Click to expand...

Thank You. I'll consider your suggestions.
 
I have been following this tree since you first put it up. Thanks for continuing to show us the progress.
Joedes
 
Joedes3 said:
I have been following this tree since you first put it up. Thanks for continuing to show us the progress.
Joedes
Click to expand...

I will do so. Sometimes it amazes me that an experienced bonsai grower thought it an impossible tree so he sold it to me dirt cheap, twenty dollars or so. It remained very ugly for a lot of years but it kept growing and I kept working on it and as I grew and changed it did also.

This is a lesson many in our society don't learn. You may not be happy down the road with the trees you have today, leaving you with two choices down the road. Chalk it up as a failed attempt and get rid of it or look at it as raw material and make something of it. That is what I have been doing with all of my collection. I have been taking what many for years people have been telling me are ugly bonsai and giving them a second chance.
 
I would love a mugo like this one, it's a very nice tree and I love the snaking lower branch!
 
It looks great in pictures. But in person it's so much better. It's bigger than it looks and seems to be healthy as a horse.
 
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