Before and after (spruce)

[sean117Ply]

Before

[img]https://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh108/sean117Ply/albertasprucebefore.jpg[/img]

After

[img]https://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh108/sean117Ply/albertaspruce.jpg[/img]

any suggestions?

[kdodds]

NIce job. Lowest left needs to grow out a little to balance, but otherwise a very fine job. I actually like the rock in place, which, I guess, completes the balance, but with such a straight and pretty trunk it would be a shame to do anything but formal (or "semiformal") upright. VERY nice job, indeed.

[sean117Ply]

NIce job. Lowest left needs to grow out a little to balance. I actually like the rock in place, which, I guess, completes the balance, but with such a straight and pretty trunk it would be a shame to do anything but formal (or "semiformal") upright.

Thanks kdodds,

Yes, I had thought that but the rock just seems to detact away from the trunk. I am also thinking of putting it in a shallow oval pot just off to the side which I think will look nice.

[alisios]

Nice work! Looks good!

[kdodds]

Definitely agreed on the rock removal. The first pic looks very interesting, nice, but the second really shows the trunk, and the whole "scene" has a lot more "pop" without the rock. Have you thought about a darker pot, oval or rectangle, to allow the trunk to stand out more?

[moulman]

If you don't remove some of those whorl branches, it wont be long before you have a very large bulge in the trunk at those spots,, making a very unsightly reverse taper.

[Kenshin14435]

moulman,
what "whorl" branches? I don't see. Oh-well
This trees looks GREAT to me.

Ken

[kdodds]

At the canopy and directly below there are whorling branches.

[moulman]

The branches in question grow from the same place on the trunk - like the spokes of a wheel. When they all start at the same place (vertically) on the tree, the trunk will swell in that area and become thicker than the rest of the trunk. making a bulge..

[Ziplock]

Can someone elaborate on "whorling branches" I understand that some branches will cause the trunk to thicken if they are dominant. However do not fully understand the meaning and concept of whorling branches. Thanks

[Gnome]

Ziplock,

Whorled branches are points on the trunk where a group of branches emerge at the same location, like the spokes of a wheel. Pine and Spruce susceptible to this problem. This is similar to so called bar branches, where two branches emerge opposite each other, both situations cause an unattractive bulge at that spot. It is best to only allow one branch to remain at a given spot on the trunk.

Here is list of the 'rules of bonsai' they are really only observations of what works and what does not work aesthetically, suggestions more than rules.

[url]https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/rules.htm[/url]


Norm

[Ziplock]

Thanks Gnome for the informative and promt reply