Daisaku Nomoto Bonsai Award
Bay Island Bonsai was fortunate this year to have Daisaku Nomoto around to help with its 13th annual exhibit.
Daisaku Nomoto
Nomoto, Boon’s senpai at Kihachi-en, wired trees, prepared moss top-dressings, and carried many trees before, during, and after the exhibit. Somewhere along the way, he took a liking to a Western juniper. So much so, it became the recipient of the first Daisaku Nomoto Bonsai Award.
The winning tree – Western Juniper
Nomoto is a fan of trees styled in this fashion. The tree has a somewhat bunjin-gi feeling, but has a more substantial trunk and silhouette than typical bunjin bonsai. The tree is full, healthy, and well balanced. I’ll add that it points to the right.
Having seen the tree develop since it was collected, I can say that it’s come a long way in a very short time. It is a deserving recipient of the first Daisaku Nomoto Bonsai Award.
The award
Repotting a Western juniper
While preparing a Western juniper for exhibit, I became curious as to why the tree was planted so far to one side of the pot. I was somewhat concerned because I couldn’t show the tree as it appeared below.
Western juniper
My worry was that all of the roots came from a single spot at the far end of the pot. After removing the tree from pot, I learned that the roots were healthy.
Western juniper roots – note new growth in December
The mystery would wait for a few minutes – first I had to prepare the pot. The pot was made by Michael Hagedorn and has a number of features that make it bonsai friendly.
Wired pot from above
Note below the recessed areas on the bottom of the pot for the wire. Note also the recessed area mid-way along the grooves. It’s designed to make room for wire cutters. A number of bonsai pots have similar grooves but no easy way to get to the wires. This can make removing them a challenge. If you find a pot with such grooves, you can avoid future trouble by running the wires perpendicular to the grooves.
Wired pot from below
Once the pot was ready, I combed out the roots. There were plenty after just one year of growth.
After combing the roots
I clipped away the roots that hung down and found the large root that forced the tree to the side of the pot. I removed a fair chunk of it.
Large root distil from the trunk
I combed out the sides and top of the rootball and was left with an odd shape to work with. The rootball was high on one side and low on the other; flush with roots on the right and devoid of roots on the left. The tree was tippy – some engineering would be required to secure it in the pot.
Rootball prepared
The solution Boon and I came up with used a block of wood, an extra wire, and a chopstick. Unorthodox, yet effective.
Tree secured
An extra bit of chopstick held the distil wire snug. After working the soil between the roots, the tree stayed put.
Chopstick to keep tie-wire in place
A few weeks after repotting I prepared the tree for exhibit – what a difference.
Tree and accent as displayed at BIB’s 11th annual exhibit
Although the result was an improvement, I expect an even bigger gain when I repot next year. I’d like to center the tree in the pot and rely more on new roots growing on the left side of the trunk. I’m looking forward to the work – every little bit helps.
Western juniper
When Akio Kondo came for a visit this summer he worked on a lot of trees. My favorite is a semi-cascade Western Juniper.
Front as styled by Akio Kondo
Although the tree has only been in training for a few years, it has a very bright future. The movement is attractive and the deadwood is spectacular. It will be a boon to any exhibit in which it appears.
Its first exhibit was earlier this year in Bay Island Bonsai’s Exhibit of Fine Bonsai. Michael Hagedorn styled the tree for this outing and it looked great. Previously Boon had worked on the tree, carving the right side of the trunk to add interest where previously the deadwood had been smooth.
Right side
Over the past five years, I’ve seen many collected Westerns become amazing bonsai. If collectors can continue to find such great specimens, we’ll have a wonderful generation of them to display in coming years. Even then, however, this tree will stand out among them.
Left side
Back
From above
Whether viewed from the sides or from above, the tree appears to be styled like many other bonsai. What makes the work special can be appreciated better from below.
From below
Collected trees rarely have the branches necessary to create an attractive silhouette. Rather, they are frequently long and leggy. And until new buds can be developed closer to the trunk, much bending is required to get these trees into shape. This juniper is a good example of this. As you can see in the photo below, long branches are bent back and forth to bring the foliage closer to the trunk. Guy wires hold the more extreme bends in place – well applied wires take care of the rest.
Wiring detail – note at least 3 guy wires
When new buds pop and young shoots develop, the longer of these branches will be cut. This will help the tree develop the kind of character we appreciate in bonsai. In the mean time, the tree will look great thanks to good wiring technique.
Kondo’s work on this tree is some of the more beautiful and creative I’ve seen. While it’s hard to appreciate in photographs, it’s surprisingly compelling in person. And it’s great encouragement for me to do my wiring homework.
Big bend
What to do with a large Western juniper with one large branch that grows the wrong way? Bend it. To bend juniper branches over 2″ in diameter, hollowing out the branch before bending greatly increases the severity of the bend one can apply. Ever since Kimura popularized the technique in Kindai Bonsai and later in the English language compendium of his early work, The Bonsai Art of Kimura, bonsai artists around the world have been gouging out branches willy-nilly. When done well the technique can be a crafty solution to otherwise insoluble bonsai dilemmas.
Gouged-out branch with aluminum wire
Gouging out branches is best done with small, circular saw blades. The trick is to hollow out as much as possible but not too much as breaking through to the cambium on the other side of the branch greatly decreases the integrity of the branch and bites into the very few paths that will keep the branch – and in this case the tree – alive. The gouged-out area is filled in with aluminum wire to preserve the shape of the branch during bending. Performing sever bends to hollow branches can easily yield flattened, broken branches.
A well-wrapped branch
After filling the branch cavity with aluminum wire the branch is wrapped tightly in raffia. The first layer of raffia is placed lengthwise on the outside of the bend and then held in place with tightly spiraling loops. Well-wrapped raffia is secured with as few knots as possible to avoid the possibility of uneven pressure being applied to the branch when it is wired or bent.
Reinforcing wire
Large copper wires are then placed on the outside of the bend. These wires will help keep the branch intact and the bend in place.
Securing the reinforcing wires
The large copper wires are temporarily held in place with wire. At this point a second layer of raffia is applied to hold the large copper wires in place.
Boon, “Jackie,” and Kondo
All of this preparation is required to make the next part of the process a success. Jackie is enlisted to provide leverage, Kondo provides strength, and Boon removes slack from the line that will keep the bend in place.
The primary challenge for this bend was figuring out how to set up the jack. Several wires were needed to keep the jack in place and additional rubber padding was used to protect the spot where the jack pressed against the branch. Brute strength, however, was required to get the bend going.
Double jacks
Once the branch had more angle to it, the bending continued in a more civilized manner with the assistance of two jacks.
Using two jacks to make increase the bend
The danger here is that it becomes easy to over-bend with little effort. Kondo performed this part of the bend incrementally while paying close attention to the various stress points along the branch.
A second bend takes shape
Once the bend reaches the appropriate angle, the work is secured with a single copper wire. From here more raffia is applied, more branches wired, more progress made.
This large bend completed Kondo and John’s work for the day. The next day they wired the main branches and put the tree back on the bench. The main task for the coming year is to keep the tree as vigorous as possible to help set the bends – perfect preparation for next summer’s workshop.
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