SMREKA

At the regular weekly meeting of the Tora group Andrej continued to work on Thuja, Matej continued to work with maple. Roland wired his Cotoneaster (shohin size) for the first time. Cotoneaster has good potential, slightly worse nebari as Roland expecting, but still very good tree - bonsai at the beginning of its path. Thinning out branches and wiring was necessary to prepare the tree for the new season, when the crown will be carefully built from the inside out. At the next session the tree will receive some adjustments, but after the first day of work on it the difference is obvious: the first branch is still much too thin, even positioning of the branches is not quite finished, but the base is here:

 

Na redno tedensko srečanje skupine Tora so prišli Andrej, ki je nadaljeval delo na kleku, Matej, ki se je še naprej ukvarjal z javorjem in Roland, ki je prvič ožičil svojo panešpljico (Cotoneaster) šohin velikosti. Panešpljica ima dober potencial, sicer nekoliko slabši nebari, kot je Roland pričakoval, a vseeno zelo dobro drevo, na začetku svoje bonsajske poti. Redčenje vej in žičenje je bilo nujno za pripravo na novo sezono, ko bo krošnja pazljivo grajena od znotraj navzven. Drevo bo ob naslednjem srečanju deležno še nekaj popravkov, že po prvem dnevu dela na njem, pa je razlika očitna: prva veja je sicer še veliko pretanka, tudi pozicinorianje vej še ni čisto končano, a osnova je tu:

 

 

 

Last night Janez finished wiring his spruce. This is species that requires a lot of wiring, but on the other hand, it is extremely sensitive to touching. The first rule, when working on spruce is: constantly spraying and wet fingers. When I watched Carlos Van Den Vaart at recent Noelanders Trophy at demo on the spruce, I didn't beleive what I have seen. Throughout his demonstration Carlos didn't spray the spruce, even not for once, and after a few minutes needles began to fall out of his fingers; at the end the poor spruce was like a New Year's tree which is put into a corner after New Year holidays. Without needles it was doomed. While Carlos was constantly talking that spruce do not like wiring - one in a warm place, without spraying and working on with dry hands, certainly not. Within minutes our hands soak a protective layer of essential oils from needles which are then exposed to air and dry and fall off. Therefore: always spray and work with wet hands. Janez was wiring the spruce for the last four sessions in the Tora, but there were no broken needles. But he used a lot of water :-)

 

Janez je sinoči le dokončal žičenje smreke. Gre za vrsto, ki zahteva največ žičenja, po drugi strani pa je na dotike izjemno občutljiva. Prvo pravilo pri delu na smreki je: neprestano pršenje krošnje in mokri prsti. Ko sem na nedavnem Noelanders trophyju pri demonstraciji na smreki opazoval Carlosa Van Den Vaarta, se mi je kar milo storilo. Carlos ves čas demonstracije smreke ni niti enkrat popršil in že po nekaj minutah so se izpod njegovih prstov začele usipati iglice; uboga smreka je bila na koncu demonstracije podobna novoletni smrečici, ki jo oguljeno po novoletnih praznikih postavimo v kot. Brez iglic je bila obsojena na propad. Obenem pa je Carlos ves čas govoril, da smreke nimajo rade žičenja - takšnega, v toplem prostoru, brez pršenja in z suhimi rokami gotovo ne. Naše roke že v nekaj minutah izsesajo zaščitno plast eteričnih olj z iglice, ki se nato na zraku posuši in odpade. Zato torej: ves čas pršenje in mokre roke. Janez je smreko žičil na zadnjih štirih seansah v Tori, a odpadla ni praktično niti ena iglica. Zato pa je ob žičenju porabil tudi veliko vode :-)

 

Starting material

Final adjustments

Result with inclination

Without inclination

 

Before - after

 

For the first shaping the result is more than excellent. Good work, Janez! The crown is slightly to round because the first lower branches are slightly too short. But this is the smallest problem. Meanwhile, one looking at the tree can easily imagine a powerful, ancient spruce in the mountains that grow on virtually identical manner. The final design will incorporate a little more empty spaces in the crown. Until then Janez will find a suitable pot!

 

Za prvo oblikovanje je rezultat več kot odličen. Bravo Janez! Zdaj je sicer krošnja nekoliko preokrogla, ker so prve spodnje veje nekoliko prekratke. A to je najmanjša težava. Že zdaj pa si človek ob opazovanju drevesa zlahka predstavlja mogočno, starodavno smreko v Karavankah, ki rastejo na praktično identičen način. V končnem dizajnu bo v krošnji tudi nekaj več praznega prostora, ampak o tem drugič. Do takrat pa bo Janez našel tudi primerno posodo!

 

P.S.: I started a new project with red pine. I'm in the middle of work, which will last for a week or two. The report follows of course!

 

P.S.: Jaz sem začel nov projekt z rdečim borom. Sem sredi dela, ki bo trajalo še kak teden ali dva. Poročilo seveda sledi!