Shimpaku from Evergreen Gardenworks

[Brian Van Fleet]

I posted a sneak-preview of this on a different thread, and decided to start one that will hopefully run for some years to come. This is is a shimpaku from Brent Walston; among his first and largest, and has happily moved South! If it has a good winter, I may start some training this spring, but I'm going to take my time with it. The mica pot is 24" wide by 6.5" deep.

From Brent: "Did I give you the provenance on this one? This is one of two Shimpaku in one gallon containers that I purchased from a local bonsai dealer (Roscoe Morris, now deceased) from Treehouse Nursery. One has been in a bonsai pot the whole time and is still quite small. This monster has been let to grow and would have been even bigger if I had repotted it more often. It has been in my care since the early 80's , probably '81 or '82."

 

[tmmason10]

That looks to be some awesome starting material. Lots of choices for Shari and deadwood.

 

[Umeboshi]

I am looking forward to seeing what you do with this.

 

[JudyB]

Very cool that you have the history of this tree's starting point. I always love the backstories...

 

[Dav4]

It's going to make one hell of a nice shohin!!

Seriously, this one looks pretty complicated design-wise. Do you have any thoughts, Brian, since you can see it from all angles? Love the base of the trunk, by the way.

Dave

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It's going to make one hell of a nice shohin!!

Seriously, this one looks pretty complicated design-wise. Do you have any thoughts, Brian, since you can see it from all angles? Love the base of the trunk, by the way.

Dave

No doubt it will be shorter! It's about 40" tall now, but considering the primary material, it will probably end up somewhere between 20"-30" tall. I don't think the design will be overly complicated; there are a few sure-thing designs in it; but most obvious is reducing the right trunk to a nice carved snag of deadwood and styling the tree out of the left upright. It has lots of divides and close-in growth to work with:


Several long branches that are difficult to see (extending from the left-most trunk in this photo) are a good 1.5" thick with sharis already appearing and can be bent/twisted to continue an interesting trunkline and show plenty of deadwood in/around/above the foliage.

This is a cool tree with a great history, and I consider myself fortunate to be the next caregiver.

 

[Ron Dennis]

No doubt it will be shorter! It's about 40" tall now, but considering the primary material, it will probably end up somewhere between 20"-30" tall. I don't think the design will be overly complicated; there are a few sure-thing designs in it; but most obvious is reducing the right trunk to a nice carved snag of deadwood and styling the tree out of the left upright. It has lots of divides and close-in growth to work with:
View attachment 19921

Several long branches that are difficult to see (extending from the left-most trunk in this photo) are a good 1.5" thick with sharis already appearing and can be bent/twisted to continue an interesting trunkline and show plenty of deadwood in/around/above the foliage.

This is a cool tree with a great history, and I consider myself fortunate to be the next caregiver.

It is going to be really exciting to watch this tree under your care. I am waiting on frequent photographic updates as you move forward. Happy New Year!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

This juniper is going to be fun. When it started really pushing growth strongly this spring, I was able to safely remove some of the long sacrifice branches that simply couldn't be used in the final design. This allows light to get into the interior of the tree and chases growth in closer to the trunk and main branches. At this point, no design options are "off the table", but turning it around this weekend, a very nice potential front showed up. The heavy root would need to be reduced, but it takes advantage of the widest point of the base and great movement and taper. The entire main left side would be carved into a large Jin.

A few threads popped up lately discussing box stores as a possible source of material. The big differences are clear in stock like this...grown for 30+ years to eventually become bonsai...many choices for a front, plenty of low branches, and every angle shows movement, taper, and branches to work with.

Just for kicks, thought I'd try the video clip as well, much easier to see movement and taper...if it works...
[video]http://v2.nonxt7.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=48bb4ec2cd242e99&itag=18&begin=0&len=2147483647&app=picasa&et=INVALID&el=INVALID&ip=0.0.0.0&ipbits=0&expire=2912639703&sparams=id,itag,ip,ipbits,expire&signature=7955CBAB441E0E478E0A69B2F77D3E015A37D55. 6310E1EA84E38DDD6E6072337B0D1DE58770D9BF&key=ck1[/video]

 

[MACH5]

Very nice material indeed Brian!! Can't wait to see this one styled! Congrats and have fun

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

Look at all that growth coming straight from the trunk! Great material. Very nice Aussie, too

 

[edprocoat]

Thats a nice tree as it is. I think the bark really shows it age and should be the focal point of this tree. The first picture in the series above looks like an ancient forest tree.

ed

 

[mcpesq817]

Wow, looking really nice Brian. Excited to see what you do with it in the future.

 

[fore]

Damn Brian! That IS an extremely beautiful Shimpaku, with a cool history to boot! Opening it up really shows you got your money's worth. What a trunk, bark, movement and branching. All just fantastic! Too bad Brent had only one!! hehe
That just might be your best material yet to add to your already impressive collection. ;-))

The video worked, but I couldn't get over the size of your yard!! And very peaceful looking too.

 

[JudyB]

Thanks for taking the time to sort out the video clip, it's more 3d... And bonus aussie in the bkgrnd! What a joy this tree will be for you.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Really diggin' this tree, and it's settling in nicely. Next year, the work begins...

 

[fredtruck]

That's a tree that's full of promise for the future. Very nice.

 

[Dav4]

Yeah, that is going to be nice...totally jealous in GA.

 

[Dav4]

Really diggin' this tree, and it's settling in nicely. Next year, the work begins...
View attachment 25205

It's a good thing you have so many other nice trees to occupy your time...I'd have a real hard time keeping my hands off this one this coming fall.

 

[tmmason10]

Looks great Brian. Looking forward to its future.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It's a good thing you have so many other nice trees to occupy your time...I'd have a real hard time keeping my hands off this one this coming fall.

Ryan Neil is coming next year...