by Glenn Smith
The tree which is the subject of this article was gifted to me from the collection of Derek Stringfellow who recently passed away. Derek was an important part of BSQ for many years, however in the last decade or so his interest turned to wood carving at which he became an expert. It is a great honour that I am able to share with you the work on this tree.
It is important to know the growth pattern of trees that you are working on. Pines grow in a cycle of producing buds, then candles, then shoots which have needles. This cycle repeats once or twice a year. What is important to know is that buds will only form where there are needles, and needles fall off after three years. So, what this means is that if Pines are not treated appropriately to get back budding within the old needles the opportunity to get buds on the old wood is lost.
Old Pines, or more specifically, Pines that have not been maintained for some time, will have long extended branches. This is not a problem on species such as Figs as branches can be cut back, or completely removed, and new shoots will form on the old wood and the tree can be rebuilt. This is not the case with Pines, if the branches are cut back past where there are existing needles, the branch or whole tree will die. This poses a problem when faced with some older Pine stock.
Here we look at the challenges of a particular Pine and how it is being overcome. This Pine was previously a bonsai and would have been a well styled tree. It was probably styled about 25 years ago but has been left untreated for the past 10 years or so. Consequently, it has outgrown its trunk, that is the silhouette is now much too large for the relatively thin trunk. This is primarily because the branches have elongated and only have needles at the extremities. Some longer branches were cut back to points with needles closer to the trunk, but there were only a few places available to do this.
Styling the tree could be done with a broad canopy, but this would diminish the strength of the trunk. The plan was developed to reduce the height of the tree by bending the upper section of the trunk down towards the lower section of the trunk. This is the sketch made when deciding on the plan. There were three branches at the point where the trunk first splits. The right side branch is to form a jin. This will reduce the risk of further thickening of the trunk at that point and causing reverse taper. The branch could be cut off completely, but the jin will tell the tale of a tree that has been damaged and has found another way forward. The other branch is used to create depth in the composition. The final, and thickest branch, will form the new trunk line.
The main trunk line must undergo significant bending to achieve the design. It had been wrapped with raffia for protection, then heavy wire was applied. Using bending tools to allow slow but forceful bending the first bend was created. There needed to be a sharp bend, as a gentle curve would not suit the style and impression to be achieved. The wire helps to hold the shape of the branch but was not strong enough to hold it in place. A guy wire was used to hold the final position.
The next step was to bring the trunkline back upward. This bend reduce the distance between the base and the apex of the tree, producing an overall shorter tree which will help make the trunk look stronger.
The upward bend also required the use of bending tools, heavy wire, and a guy wire for final placement. The final section above the second bend was twisted while being bent to further reduce the height but also to place the branches in the correct position.
The branches to be jin were set in position, but not cut and debarked at this time. This is to allow the branches to set in the correct position first before creating the jin. It also reduces the amount of stress put on the tree at this point in time.
Further development is required and some more detailed wiring needed. This final photo has been “edited” by covering the foliage to be removed in the future with black cloth to give a better impression of what the final structure will be.
For now, the tree will be left to recover. It will be repotted into a bonsai pot in August. Further refinement of the structure is needed, but the main decisions have been made.
I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to share the work on such an important tree from a truly missed member of the club. I look forward to bringing it back in the future to show you the progress.
