Classroom Corner – Taxus Class – September 2013

This Taxus class provided us with the opportunity to discuss and work on some really excellent bonsai. The really nice thing is that nearly all the trees featured here started on classes several years ago as very humble and basic pieces of raw material.

This class really is a testament to what can be achieved over a relatively short period of time if you apply the right techniques at the right time to a vigorous( “well-fed” ) piece of reasonable material.

Kevin’s huge windswept cascade needed a little tweaking which involved removing some downward/conflicting branches and a bit of serious wiring.

Len’s cascade needed thinning out/some branch removal and detailed wiring of some of the finer branches.

A heavy lower branch was removed completely.

Derek’s tanuki (wraparound) taxus had really grown well and needed a lot of thinning out.

From a small taxus seedling and a piece of aquatic driftwood this tree is truly amazing.

Henry’s taxus had also grown very strongly and needed a branch selection so that the open spaces could be more clearly defined.

The original tree was almost 6 feet high and was reduced to the large jin whilst the tree you now see has grown from a single side branch that was retained.

Derek’s Taxus Cuspidata with it’s strong deadwood is really looking impressive.

You would not believe how much foliage was removed from this tree and it still looks full.

Keith’s taxus has a very strong Japanese bonsai image and needs to be thinned out on a regular basis. It will soon be ready for it’s next wiring session!

Another branch selection was made on this small Taxus Cuspidata.

It can now be allowed to grow strong again before it’s first wiring and styling.

Most of these trees will probably need some wiring next year but otherwise it will be more of the same…….good feeding/watering to promote strong healthy growth that can be pruned back at the right time to develop/refine the desired image………already looking forward to Taxus Class 2014!