BUKUNA

Fagus sylvatica as bonsai is always long term project. I know that for a while. Tree produces its buds only once in a season, so one must work with it with a lot of patience and right feeling. Totally different as Carpinus which sprout from everywhere; more you cut it, more it grows. So, the Lady, which I worked on today is in pot for last five years. Before she grew happyly in a mountains for 70 yrs. Her first photograph shows how dense she was, but the green was too far from trunk. I was impressed by her line, obviously she was wounded in a struggle for survival. But I was prepared for long process of branch-selection and getting green closer to the trunk.

Da je bukev kot bonsaj vedno dolgoročen projekt, mi je že dolgo znano. Drevo nastavlja brste za naslednjo sezono le enkrat in zato je z njo treba delati z zvrhano mero potrpežljivosti in občutka. Povsem drugače kot z gabrom npr., ki poganja od vsepovsod, bolj kot ga režeš, bolj poganja. Skratka gospa, na kateri sem delal danes, je v posodi zadnjih pet let, prej je 70 let zadovoljno živela visoko v hribih. Njena prva fotografija jasno kaže, kako gosta je bila, žal pregosta, saj je bilo zelenje daleč od debla. Navdušila me je linija debla, očitne šosledice boja za preživetje, toda treba se je bilo pripraviti na dolgotrajen proces izbora vej in bližanja zelenja deblu.

After two years I did a first selection of branches, the rest were cut to the last bud. A long voyage started.

Po dveh letih sem že napravil močnejšo selekcijo vej in ostale skrajšal do zadnjega brsta. Dolgo potovanje se je šele začelo.

After two more years the skeleton of future bonsai started to show. Slowly opening of the crown and cutting at the right time was resulting with budding near trunk. On thicker basic branches first smaller ones grew, I'll use them for creating a crown. 

Minili sta še dve leti in okostje bodočega bonsaja se je začelo kazati. Počasno odpiranje krošnje in pravočasno obrezovanje se je obrestovalo s poganjanjem brstov bliže deblu, na debelejših osnovnih vejah so se pokazale prve tanjše veje iz katerih bom sproti ustvarjal krošnjo.

This year I cut branches even more, some of them are already so short as I want them, I already started with detailed shaping on that ones. I must still cut others. But silhouette is emerging. The long voyage is still waiting ...

Letos sem jo še skrajšal, nekaj vej je že tako kratkih kot jih želim, na njih sem se že lotil detaljnejšega oblikovanja. Druge še čaka krajšanje. Toda počasi se kaže obris. Pred nama pa je še dolga pot ...