At the bonsai show last month I took a class in the kabudachi (clump) style. We used maples there were from seeds brought back from Japan many years ago and is a somewhat rare variety in the US. I was surprised at how easy with was to do!
We started off by selecting our trees to use, they were seedlings of various sizes. Each person picked whatever ones they wanted - in an odd number. I picked out seven.
This is what we were going to recreate.
Our teacher Bjorn has apprenticed in Japan under a bonsai Master. The guy is GOOD!
This is how the base has connected into one tree over time.
You work the dirt out of the roots of you little trees and cut back any heavy or excess ones. After that, you arrange them roughly in the form you would like. Usually smaller ones circling a larger seedling tho you can have a grouping of similar sized trees also.
Then you wire it together. In a fairly short amount of time it will grow together and become one tree. How cool is that!? Then you have to wire each tree and gently bend it into the shape you desire.
My tree at the end of the session…
That looks like a fun project. Bjorn looks pretty good, too.
ReplyDeleteWow, can you do that with most any "tree?" I wish we had classes like that here. Well we might, but you have made me interested! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBjorn is a handsome chap there hun! lol Any spaces onthe course?
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