BOR M

Here is another story about pines from my collection. This one was also collected in 2009 which was obviously very good year for collecting pines! :-)  After 5 years in the pot I decided to give this pine to my dear friend Andrea Melloni for demo at International bonsai exhibition in Ljubljana. We agree with the plan and he executed the demo on very high level. The only thing I would do it different is main jin. But Andrea wanted to show, how this big dead-wood could be bent, and so he bent it in to position.

Tu je še ena zgodba o borih iz moje zbirke. Tudi ta je bil izkopan leta 2009, ki je očitno bilo zelo dobro leto za kopanje borov! :-) Po 5-ih letih v trening posodi sem bor dal prijatelju Andreu Melloniju za demo na Mednarodni razstavi bonsajev v Ljubljani. Strinjala sva se z načrtom in Andrea je demo opravil na visokem nivoju. Edina stvar, ki bi jo sam napravil drugače je glavni džin. Toda Andrea je hotel pokazati, kako se krivi tudi tako debele kose mrtvega lesa, tako da ga je zvil v pozicijo.

Pinus sylvestris before the demo, May 2014 (Photo: Roland Petek)

Andrea Melloni bending main jin in to position (Photo: Roland Petek)

Pinus sylvestris after demo, May 2014 (Photo: Roland Petek)

After the show there were many worries about surviving, but with proper care the tree not only survived but has a lot of new growth.

Po demotu je bilo veliko skrbi o preživetju drevesa, toda s pravo oskrbo drevo ni samo preživelo ampak pognalo veliko nove prirasti.

Pinus sylvestris with a lot of new growth, October 2014

After wiring, October 2014

On the white background, October 2014

Now, after 9 months, the tree was wired again, excellent work by TORA apprentice Gašper, and it is ready for re-potting in to first bonsai pot. That will be done in March next year. Then some more years for maturity will be needed before pine will be ready for showing.

Po 9-ih mesecih je bilo drevo znova ožičeno, Gašper je opravil odlično delo, in drevo je pripravljeno za presaditev v prvo bonsajsko posodo. To bo opravljeno marca prihodnje leto. Potem bo potrebnih še nekaj let za zorenje, preden bo bor pripravljen za razstavo.

After third wiring, July 2014

Current status, July 2014

POLETJE

Since almost all students of TORA International bonsai school are on vacations there is more time left for work on my trees. Summer is ideal for working on pines and junipers. Here is one of Pinus sylvestris from my collection: 

Ker so skoraj vsi študentje šole TORA na počitnicah mi ostaja več časa za delo na mojih drevesih. Poletje je idealen čas za delo na borih in brinih. Tu je zgodba enega od borov iz moje zbirke. 

This pine was collected in 2009 and styled four years later. The silhouette was OK, but the branches were leggy and long, so I couldn't avoid "spaghetti" kind of styling. I was far from satisfied. Nevertheless the bark on this pine is fantastic.

Bor je bil izkopan leta 2009 in prvič oblikovan štiri leta kasneje. Silhueta je bila OK, toda veje so bile razpotegnjene tako, da se nisem mogel izogniti "špageti" slogu oblikovanja. Daleč od tega, da bi bil zadovoljen. Vseeno pa je skorja na tem boru izjemna. 

Pine before styling 2013

After first styling 2013

Silhouette was OK, but inside the crown - chaos

A season later, in autumn 2013, I decided to cut all "spaghetti" branches and start all over again with proper branch structure. Step backward? I don't think so. This was a right step for the future development of this tree. 

Sezono kasneje, jeseni 2013, sem se odločil, da porežem vse "špageti" veje in začnem znova s pravilno strukturo krošnje. Korak nazaj? Mislim da ne. To je bil pravi korak k razvoju tega drevesa. 

After second styling in autumn 2013

Now the tree is already in it's first bonsai pot. With help of Gašper, TORA apprentice, we wired the tree once more. I am still developing the proper branch structure, with each wiring a little step further. Pine has already gained quality and I am looking forward to see how it will evolved in future!

Zdaj je drevo že v prvi bonsajski posodi. S pomočjo Gašperja sem znova ožičil drevo. Še vedno razvijam strukturo vej, z vsakim žičenjem en krak naprej. Bor je že pridobil na kvaliteti in veselim se njegovega razvoja v prihodnosti!

Pinus sylvestris, summer 2015

BIG BERTA

Here is a new story from TORA atelier: this spruce (Picea abies) was collected in early spring 2012. My dear friend Hans van Meer was our guest and we made yamadori trip to the Slovenian Alps. There was still a lot of snow on the forrest roads, so we did walk quite a lot to Alpine meadows. But the true suffering started at returning down - while others could walk on the hard snow I, with 80 kg of fresh weight, sink in to the snow with every step. At the end Janez Oblak helped me to drag this beast to the car; if he wouldn't help me, I'll be still on that mountain!

To je nova zgodba iz TORA ateljeja: smreka je bila izkopana zgodaj spomladi leta 2012. Prijatelj Hans van Meer je bil naš gost in skupaj smo odšli v Karavanke na lov na jamadorije. Na gozdnih cestah je bilo še veliko snega, tako da smo do visokogorskih pašnikov morali prehoditi kar nekaj poti. Toda pravo trpljenje se je začelo šele ob vračanju - med tem, ko so ostali lepo hodili po trdi skorji, sem se jaz, z novimi 80-mi kilogrami na hrbtu, ob vsakem koraku ugreznil skoraj do pasu. Na koncu mi je na pomoč priskočil Janez Oblak in mi beštjo pomagal zvleči do avta. Če mi ne bi pomagal, bi bil še zdaj na tistem hribu! 

Hans talked about his experience and potted his own spruce after that trip :-)

I put spruce in the big wooden box where it happily lived for three seasons. Then, in September 2014, time for first intervention came. I cut all redundant branches and opened the crown. I also wired all the main branches and bring them in to position. I didn't touch the secondary and tertiary branches.

Smreko sem posadil v veliko leseno škatlo, kjer je srečno živela naslednje tri sezone. Septembra 2014 je bil čas za prvo intervencijo. Porezal sem vse odvečne veje in odprl krošnjo. Ožičil sem tudi vse glavne veje in jih pozicioniral. Sekundarnih in najtanjših vejic se nisem dotikal.

This is the oldest photo of spruce I have. This is after the branch selection and before wiring, September 2014

Now, one growing season later and after the tips of new growth hardened off, the spruce was fully wired for the first time. As always Gašper, TORA International Bonsai School apprentice did a lot of work. 

Eno rastno sezono kasneje in potem, ko so novi vršički otrdeli, je bila smreka prvič popolnoma ožičena. Kot vedno, je veliko dela opravil Gašper, študent šole TORA.

Gašper working on Big Berta

The main feature of this tree is secondary crown on the right-hand side, I was also considering to cut that branch once, but then I decided to go with it and make it in to secondary crown. It is something special and will stay on the tree for sure.

Glavna zanimivost tega drevesa je manjša krošnja na desni strani. Razmišljal sem celo o odstranitvi te veje, toda po natančni analizi sem se odločil, da jo uporabim in iz nje napravim drugo krošnjo. Je nekaj posebnega in bo zagotovo ostala na drevesu.

Slowly finishing first styling

Tree has so many great details ...

The secondary crown is still weak, but in season or two will catch up with main crown, and then the tree will be re-potted in to bonsai pot

Big Berta, July 2015

P.S.: Even though I try to photograph all trees that came trough our atelier, sometimes some of them slips trough without photo-shooting. So, first part of this tree's history is poorly documented, but nevertheless, as you can imagine, there is still a lot of stories to tell. Even without photographs ... :-) And this is all about: to feel, to live bonsai!

P.S.: Čeprav se trudim fotografirati vsa drevesa, ki gredo skozi atelje, se tu in tam zgodi, da mi kakšno uide. Tako je prvi del te zgodbe slabo dokumentiran. Toda ne glede na to, si lahko predstavljate, da ostaja veliko zgodb, ki si jih pripovedujemo. Celo brez fotografij ... :-) In to je tudi bistvo: bonsaj moraš čutiti in živeti!