Sometimes I work on nursery trees, sometimes I work on client’s trees……and sometimes if I’ve been a really good boy I get to work on my own trees. Hopefully these regular visits will give you an insight into what goes on behind closed doors……….
Studio Stories – Taxus Cuspidata from the nursery (Part One)
This tree arrived from Japan at the beginning of 2005. It was one of four similar pieces of raw material that came wrapped in hessian sacks…..the pots had been retained in Japan.
Two of these trees were acquired by me…..the other one having been featured before as a Demo Day tree. This tree was purchased by one of my students and was brought to a workshop in January 2006.
February…..and the tree is nearing the end of it’s first rough styling and branch selection.
About 2 years ago I was contacted by my student to help him dispose of his trees. This was a reluctant decision but one that unfortunately was necessary due to his illhealth. With nobody showing interest in purchasing the tree, and with some really strong growth I took the decision at the end of last year to carry out another wiring and styling.
First we concentrated on checking the live veins and removing any bark which had now died.
The deadwood was cleaned up and treated with lime sulphur…….quite a transformation.
In Part Two we start thinning out and dealing with the foliage…..to be continued.