An open window into the comings and goings of students and their trees attending our regular weekend and midweek bonsai classes under the ever watchful eyes of John Hanby.
Classroom Corner -Keith’s Libani Cedar
The tree had been field grown for bonsai and when it was put up for sale in the autumn of 2010 it was purchased by Keith almost immediately.
The top section of the tree was substantial but lacked taper and we had a very useful lower branch that could continue the trunk line, and produce a much more powerful smaller tree. The dominant top was pruned back and the tree was left for 12 months to enable the lower area to get stronger.
In March 2011 the tree was given it’s first wiring and styling. The top section was removed completely.The tree grew strongly and during 2012 the wire had to be removed to prevent it from biting into the bark.
On our last workshop of the year in December 2012 the large stump from the top section was reduced in size and made to look more natural. The wood was torn back using a concave cutter and jin pliers. A shari was introduced to deal with a slight inverse taper problem and to improve the flow of the tree into the new trunk line.
The tree returned to a workshop in January 2013 and was totally rewired. The density in the foliage of this tree has increased dramatically since we started the work.
As the tree develops further this coming season it should be possible to start refining the foliage clouds but some complete branches will probably have to be removed.
The lower branch on the right is starting to look very worried!!!…….
roy hicks
March 2, 2013 at 6:07 pmsuperb John, if only i had been coming to your classes before I failed with my 3 attempts with Cedars, i would have had 3 more trees now 🙁