Sometimes it’s hard to represent nature in a bonsai due to un-natural cuts.  However with a little work you can create dramatic aging of your trees to look very natural.  My Blue Alps Juniper had a lot of branches removed with the thoughts of adding jins to help with the over all look of the finished bonsai.  I really enjoy the color contrast of the reddish bark, bluish foliage and the white jins. 

I had removed these branches last year, so the wood was completely dried, and ready for carving.  The following images represent the before and after carving.  Please keep in mind that Lime Sulfur will be applied after the final carving to bleach the wood white.  I used a Dremel tool for the carving and sanding of the jins.

Jin #1 before

Jin #1 After

Jin #2 before

Jin #2 after

Jin #3 before

Jin #3 after

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After consulting with a few other bonsai artist, in particular Mike Rogers.  I found that the pot that this tree was potted in was too “Heavy” mass-wise for the tree.  In Bonsai, everything is about perspectives and relationships.  The overall height of a tree, is six times the width of the trunk at the base of the tree.  The first branch should be located one third of the overall height of the tree.    The width of the bonsai pot should be two thirds the height of the overall tree.  The depth of the pot should be no more than then the thickness of the trunk. 

I know that this seems to be a lot of math for such an artform.  However the brain automatically makes these calculations and makes sure that all parts of the tree are in perspective as they relate the tree parts.  It is that immediate feeling one gets when they look at art, a human face, or even a structure.  If one aspect of the object are out of balance it can cause the viewer to see weakness, unbalance, or dislike for the object. 

So with that said, the pot that I had this tree in before was too wide, and too deep.  The color was good though, and that is why I used it in the first place.  The tree is now potted into a new Tokoname pot that is with in scale and the color, although darker, is an accpetable finish and color for Junipers.

New Pot for Blue Alps Juniper

This tree still requires plenty of branch work, but it will come in time.

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I was contacted a short while back by a woman who I had met a year or so ago.  Her brother was ill and she couldn’t keep up with his bonsai collection and asked if I would accept it as a donation with the agreement that I cared for the trees.  I could hear the sadness in her voice, and how deeply these trees meant to her and her brother.  I agreed without seeing them, but knew there would have been some neglect because of not being under the care of a bonsai hobbiest.

Ficus Nerafolia in need of pruning

Surface roots in too shallow of a pot

This is one of the trees that I was given to look after.  It is leggy, and the roots were in poor condition.  I know these trees are very forgiving though and knew after being repotted that it would be fine.

Of course this got me to thinking about my own collection, and what my trees mean to me.  Not to mention what will happen to them after my time on Earth comes to pass.  I often think that if I am able I will simply take the trees out into a nicely wooded area where I could plant them and allow them to grow into their full sized relatives.  I guess only time will tell

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