my mentor’s trees

[pandacular]

Over the past several years, I have been working more and more in my mentor’s garden, and I plan to document that work here. I met my mentor in the club, of which she is a longtime member, and we fast became friends. She lived in my old neighborhood too, so it made helping out a lot easier.

One of my central mantras is to focus on working on great trees, not owning them. My mentor has a significant collection of legacy trees, many started by her own mentor, who was one of the pioneers of bonsai in the region—so many that there is no shortage of work to be done. Being 50 years my elder, it was important to both of us that we work together to ensure these trees are handled properly into future generations. A true mutually beneficial relationship, and that’s before accounting for our friendship.

 

[pandacular]

In April, I repotted this red pine from her collection. It’s a nice old tree that has been on the backburner as she has not had an image for it. I noticed it was in need of a repot, and thought an angle change would help the desiign—so much so that apparently I neglected to take photos of the previous inclination.

Because of the pot shape change to a slightly larger round along with the angle change, I wasn’t able to comfortably get the tree at the angle we liked for the design. Rather than push the root reduction, she advised me to achieve the angle change over two repots.

I had hoped to revisit this tree this fall and work with her on a styling, but unfortunately it has been somewhat weak this season and battling scale, so it will have to wait another year—likely for the best regardless as we skipped decandling this year.

 

[River's Edge]

In April, I repotted this red pine from her collection. It’s a nice old tree that has been on the backburner as she has not had an image for it. I noticed it was in need of a repot, and thought an angle change would help the desiign—so much so that apparently I neglected to take photos of the previous inclination.

Because of the pot shape change to a slightly larger round along with the angle change, I wasn’t able to comfortably get the tree at the angle we liked for the design. Rather than push the root reduction, she advised me to achieve the angle change over two repots.

I had hoped to revisit this tree this fall and work with her on a styling, but unfortunately it has been somewhat weak this season and battling scale, so it will have to wait another year—likely for the best regardless as we skipped decandling this year.

Based on the photos I would plan on a lengthy recovery period and place a focus on returning the tree to health. Would avoid pruning and wire out to allow some light into the interior while growing out to benefit future back budding required before styling. It appears the tree has not been maintained with sufficient density and compactness to proceed with styling.
Likely why she suggested slower pace to repotting in the first place. Appears to be a lot of older compacted soil to deal with, possibly the result of irregular repotting.

 

[pandacular]

Based on the photos I would plan on a lengthy recovery period and place a focus on returning the tree to health. Would avoid pruning and wire out to allow some light into the interior while growing out to benefit future back budding required before styling. It appears the tree has not been maintained with sufficient density and compactness to proceed with styling.
Likely why she suggested slower pace to repotting in the first place. Appears to be a lot of older compacted soil to deal with, possibly the result of irregular repotting.

Most definitely, Frank, appreciate the input—a number of her double flush pines in particular are in need of medium or long term recovery projects, as the year’s just prior to our meeting were difficult for her and her collection. In fact, I’m writing this up sitting in front of an old black pine that needs similar treatment. Repotting (if I can convince “the client”, into boxes or large pots), laying out foliage for light penetration, and several years of cutting back are in order. Double flush pines can certainly get away from you, but they’re strong and reliable enough that they can brought be back with the right care. Pine grafting is one of our big tasks for this coming year.

 

[pandacular]

A recent work in progress on an old black pine we are rebuilding. This tree was originated by my mentor’s mentors, who was a club OG and one of the most well represented artist at PBM. I’m quite fond of this tree—it’s a good example of a slant and has some interesting characteristics. The key branch being the second branch is unique. I will try to extend the left side foliage and compress the right to enhance the directionality.

Horticulturally the tree needs to be reinvigorated. It has strong buds but the wet soil has made the needles long and yellow. It seems to have lost a number of branches in recent years (I’m guessing 3-5 years from what I know about the circumstances) but it isn’t dropping more recently. In the process of weeding, I found some mushy pockets that prompted me to do a bit of surface cleaning. Most likely, it will be repotted into a larger pot or even a box in the spring.

Below is after working it, but before getting fully set—I am taking it to a workshop tomorrow to get some final adjustments and more thoughts.