sreda, 30. december 2015

ORIENTALIS

Carpinus orientalis is one of three Slovenian native hornbeam species and at the same time also the best one for bonsai. Small leaves and tiny shoots are perfect. This one was collected by Matej and later came to my collection. It has nice nebari and tapering and a lot of branches to choose from. The main fault is die-back area at the back of the tree's trunk. I'll deal with that in future development of the tree.
 
Kraški gaber (Carpinus orientalis) je ena od treh vrst gabra, ki raste na naših tleh, in hkrati najboljša za bonsaj. Majhni listi in drobni poganjki so idealni. Tega je izkopal Matej in je kasneje prišel v mojo zbirko. Ima dober nebari in ožanje in veliko vej, med katerimi se da izbirat. Največja pomanjkljivost je mrtvo območje na zadnjem delu debla, ampak s tem se bom ukvarjal v bodočnosti.
 
Carpinus orientalis before first styling, December 2015
 
At first photo you can see, how vigorous the tree is: it can grow up to one meter long shoots and the development of ramification is extremely quick. I made a selection of the branches and wired them all. At this stage of development is very important to pay attention to the structure of the branches: they must have tapering like trunk - from thick start at the base to thin ends.
 
Na prvi fotografiji je lepo videti, kako močno je drevo. Lahko požene tudi meter dolge poganjke in zato je razvoj razvejanosti zelo hiter. Napravil sem selekcijo vej in jih vse  ožičil. V tej fazi razvoja je zelo pomembno paziti na strukturo vej: podobno kot deblo morajo imeti ožanje, od debele baze do drobnih vejic na koncu.
 
Carpinus orientalis after first styling, December 2015
 
Tapering of branches is very important and difficult to achieve
 
In next season I'll try to improve nebari with some shoots and work on ramification; hornbeam will continue to grow in the same pot for one season more, I am planning to re-pot it into the first bonsai-pot in spring 2017.
 
Naslednjo sezono bom z nekaj poganjki skušal še izboljšati nebari in delal na razvejanosti. Gaber bo še eno sezono rasel v tej posodi, v prvo bonsajsko posodo ga nameravam presaditi spomladi 2017.
 
Carpinus orientalis before first styling (black background)

Carpinus orientalis after first styling (black background)

četrtek, 24. december 2015

BREST

Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) is very common and widely spread species in commercial bonsai. Rare pieces in the West are good and quality is usually low. Nevertheless the Ulmus species are one of the best for bonsai use. We have three native species of Ulmus: glabra (Mountain elm), laevis (Long-penducle elm) and carpinifolia (Field elm). Ulmus has nice bark, small leaves, tiny shoots and is very vigorous: this are all great atributes for bonsai. This is a story about Field elm, nothing special, testing one, but just an example what can be done with elms. The tree came into the shop as gift from Gregor in winter 2014/15. I started to work on it in March 2015, so only 9 months ago.
 
Kitajski brest (Ulmus parvifolia) je običajna in zelo razširjena vrsta v komercialnem bonsaju. Le redki primerki na Zahodu pa so dobri in kvaliteta je nizka. Vseeno pa je brest kot vrstaena najboljših za bonsaj. V Sloveniji imamo tri avtohtone vrste brestov: glabra (gorski brest), laevis (dolgopecljasti brest) in carpinifolia (poljski brest). Brest ima lepo skorjo, majhne liste, drobne poganjke in poganja iz starega lesa: to so vse odlične lastnosti za bonsaj. To je zgodba o poljskem brestu, nič posebnega, gre bolj za test, toda je dober primer, kaj se da storiti z brestom. Drevo je v delavnico prišlo kot Gregorjevo darilo v zimi 2014/15. Z delom sem začel marca 2015, torej le 9 mesecev nazaj.
 
Ulmus carpinifolia, Field elm, March 2015
 
The main problem of this tree was nebari. It has reverse tapering, so I decided to use a radical technique: I take the tree out of the pot and dissected the lower part of the trunk. This was also a good test of how vigorous is this tree.
 
Največja težava tega drevesa je bil nebari. Imelo je celo nasprotno ožanje. Tako da sem se odločil za radikalno tehniko: drevo sem vzel iz posode in razcepil spodnji del debla. To je bil tudi dober test, koliko lahko drevo prenese. 
 
The problem was reverse tapering

The same area after work
 
After re-poting and work on the roots, I also made a selection of branches, then I wired all of them and started to work on structure of the branches. All in one day and the tree survived without a problem!
 
Po presajanju in delu na koreninah, sem napravil še selekcijo vej, ostale požičil in začel delati na strukturi vej. Vse v enem dnevu in drevo jepreživelo brez težav!
 
First step completed, March 2015
 
Elm reacted very well, after 9 months of growth it was time for the second step. I wired it fully again and just after one growing season the tree started to show the potential.
 
Brest je reagiral zelo dobro, po devetih mesecih je bil čas za drugi korak. Spet je bil v celoti ožičen in že samo po eni rastni sezoni je začel kazati ves svoj potencial.
 
Elm before second step, December 2015

Elm after second step, December 2015
 
In the future I'll concentrate on developing a proper roots for nebari, and also the transition between trunk and the top is still too obvious: the top must thicken a lot. This are main tasks for the future; I am planning to re-pot it in a bonsai pot in spring 2017.
 
V prihodnje se bom skoncentriral na razvoju korenin za nebari, tudi prehod med deblom in vrhom je še preveč očiten, vrh se mora odebeliti. To so glavne naloge za bodočnost. Presajanje v bonsajsko posodo načrtujem za pomlad 2017.
 
Elm (black background) before second step

Ulmus carpinifolia, December 2015 (black background)

ponedeljek, 14. december 2015

DELAVNICA

Ta teden se dobimo v četrtek, 17. decembra!

sobota, 12. december 2015

SMREKA BLAŽ

 
Another tree, another story, another friendship ... Blaž Jemec is one of the founding members of the Slovenian Bonsai Club; we started the club in 2003 and since then Blaž was always one of the most active members, we also became friends, not only bonsai friends. Blaž is now focusing also in other things in his life, not only bonsai, so he decided to reduce his collection of trees. So this big spruce became a part of my collection. Blaž, thank you again!
 
Novo drevo, nova zgodba, novo prijateljstvo ... Blaž Jemec je eden od ustanovnih članov Slovenskega bonsaj kluba. Ustanovili smo ga leta 2003 in Blaž je bil vedno med bolj aktivnimi člani; postala sva prijatelja, ne zgolj bonsajska prijatelja. Blaž se zdaj v življenju posveča tudi drugim stvarem, ne le bonsaju, zato se je odločil, da bo svojo zbirko dreves zmanjšal. Tako je njegova velika smreka postla del moje zbirke. Blaž, še enkrat hvala!
 
Blaž Jemec working on the same tree in 2010
 
Here is a story about this tree - as always, special trees have a special story! Spruce was collected by Blaž in Slovenian mountains, many years ago. It was meant to be styled for the first time in 2010 on workshop with Steve Tolley. But because of volcano eruption Steve couldn't fly to Slovenia, Blaž did it alone. This was the outcome.
 
Tu je zgodba tega drevesa - kot vedno, posebna drevesa imajo posebno zgodbo! Smreko je v hribih izkopal Blaž že pred leti. Prvič naj bi bila oblikovana leta 2010 na delavnici z Stevom Tolleyjem. Ker zaradi izbruha ognjenika Steve ni mogel prileteti v Slovenijo, jo je Blaž oblikoval sam. To je rezultat.
 
Spruce before work in 2010
 
After first work of Blaž, 2010
 
Blaž was not satisfied with it; but nevertheless the spruce grew strong and two years later it was re-potted into the first bonsai pot.
 
Blaž z rezultatom ni bil zadovoljen; smreka je vseeno močno pognala in dve leti kasneje je bila presajena v prvo bonsajsko posodo.
 
Spruce in first bonsai pot, 2012
 
Then Blaž came with an idea how to further style it. He drew a nice sketch and according to plan he bend the strong first branch down and made further cuts in crown.
 
Potem se je blaž odločil, da bo nadaljeval z oblikovanjem. Narisal je lepo skico in glede na načrt je močno spodnjo vejo ukrivil navzdol ter v krošnji opravil še nekaj dodatnih rezov.
 
Nice sketch by Blaž, 2013
 
Good job with bending the main branch in 2013
 
Now, by my opinion, Blaž made some mistakes. Firstly, the sketch is two-dimensional and the tree in nature will never look like sketch on the paper. So he cut off way too many branches on the right side; but he did a very good job with bending the main branch.
 
Blaž je, po mojem mnenju, takrat napravil nekaj napak. Prvič, skica je dvodimenzionalna in drevo v naravi ne bo nikoli izgledalo tako, kot skica na papirju. Tako je na desni strani porezal preveč vej; toda s krivljenjem glavne veje je napravil zelo dobro delo.
 
After wiring in 2013
 
The tree now came to the TORA atelier. It is very strong and healthy tree, so I decided to style it right away. It has nice nebari, fantastic tapering, old bark and compact green. I tried to follow original design as much as possible.
 
Drevo je zdaj prišlo v TORA atelje. Je zelo močno in zdravo, zato sem se odločil, da ga takoj oblikujem. Ima lep nebari, fntastično ožanje, staro skorjo in kompaktno zelenje. Kolikor je le mogoče sem skušal slediti originalnemu dizajnu.
 
In TORA atelier, December 2015
 
But soon enough it was clear, that some branches on the right side are missing. So I decided to form a second, small crown from secondary branch. This form of growth is common on old spruces in the mountain. With that, the main problem of styling was solved.
 
Toda kmalu je bilo jasno, da na desni strani manjkajo veje. Odločil sem se, da iz sekundarne veje oblikujem manjšo krošnjico. Ta način rasti je pri starih smrekah v gorah običajen. S tem je bila glavna težava oblikovanja rešena.
 
The problem is solved!
 
If one is just pinching the spruce's tips and not cutting and make selection, the result is puddle-like growth at the end of the branches, but the inner parts are without green. So, before I wired every single branch I also made a selection of growth. I also cut some surface roots, and made a nice little jin out of one of them. Nice little detail!
 
Če smreko zgolj vršičkamo in ne režemo ter opravljamo selekcije, je rezultat gosta rast iz enega mesta na koncu veje, toda notranjost je gola. Preden sem ožičil vsako najmanjšo vejico sem torej opravil selekcijo rasti. Odrezal sem tudi nekaj površinskih korenin, eno med njimi sem spremenil v majhen džin. Lepa podrobnost!
 
Branch with puddle-like growth

The same area after selection of growth and wiring

Some nice details

Little jin and old bark
 
Gašper, TORA international bonsai school apprentice cleaned the pot and it was time for shooting the final result. Spruce has nice clean lines, Gašper also mentioned that it looks so Chinese (It was not meant pejoratively). Maybe. But in one growing season the lines of pads will soften, the tree will be potted a little diper in the future, the moss will be added and the tree will be ready for the show! I can't wait for it!
 
Gašper, študent šole TORA je očistil posodo in bil je čas za fotografiranje rezultata. Smreka ima čiste linije, Gašper je omenil, da izgleda zelo Kitajska (pa ni bilo mišljeno slabšalno!). Mogoče. Toda v eni rastni sezoni se bodo linije oblačkov zmehčale, drevo bo posjeno nekoliko globlje v posodo, dodan bo mah in drevo bo pripravljeno za razstavo. Komaj čakam!
 
Gašper celaning the pot

Final image