Tree History

SCOTS PINE 'BEAUVRONENSIS'

Pinus sylvestris.

Informal Style

19920502.Dwf Scots Pine,P.sylvestris'Beauvronensis',informal,nursery,UK,Briggs,1972 (1).jp

1992 as previous owner aquired it.

I bought this pine at a club auction in 1998.

The previous owner got it from a tree nursery in Kent and had been growing it in the ground from 1992 after they had a go at styling it and gave up.

It was going to take time and patience.

19980602.Dwf Scots Pine,P.sylvestris'Beauvronensis',informal,nursery,UK,Briggs,1972 (1).jp

1998 as I bought it.

19980602.Dwf Scots Pine,P.sylvestris'Beauvronensis',informal,nursery,UK,Briggs,1972 (2).jp

The lower trunk, June 1998

19980602.Dwf Scots Pine,P.sylvestris'Beauvronensis',informal,nursery,UK,Briggs,1972 (3).jp

The lower branches, June 1998

It had a lot of problems that were going to make designing it a headache to say the least. It was going to be one of those long slow projects doing one bit at a time.

The lower trunk was starting to show signs of inverse taper.

The first few branches were very thick, very low and very crowded.

A few tests of their suppleness soon gave only one answer.

They had to go.

The lower branches cut, June 1998

Removing the lowest few branches, I left enough wood to make some deadwood branches just in case the design needed something in the spaces left behind.

Once the branches were out of the way the image of the tree was instantly transformed.

With a few problems taken care of some more soon became apparent.

The lower trunk, June 1998

The lower trunk, June 1998

The lower trunk, June 1998

Another whorl of branches, swelling in the trunk and a snooker cue straight trunk above them to the top of the tree. These were going to be tricky to disguise. There was a curve in the trunk if the tree was viewed from the side but the nebari was very poor from both of the side views. It was decided to stick with the front as it was.

I stripped the cut branches to make jin, thinned out a lot of the unnecessary foliage all over the tree and wired the lowest two branches just to get them out of the way so I could see the remaining bits of tree clearly.

That was enough work for now. It was time to let the tree rest and recover a bit from the shock.

June 1999

This years work was to be a gentle repotting and some refinement on the deadwood features.

Some more wire was applied to branches further up the trunk but there was no heavy bending done.

Preparations are to get the tree ready for some heavy bending next year. Although there was not going to be any sharp bends the tree still needed to recover and gain some strength.

February 2000

The tree has made some good growth through the latter half of last year so progress can be made with the big bending that needs doing.

The existing curve that bends towards the front is good so no extra bending needs doing in that direction.

However viewed from the front the trunk is very straight and boring.

Rear view

Right side view

August 2000

The tree has grown well through the year so I am happy to progress with the work.

I fitted an iron bar by securing it to the lower half of the trunk with enough of an angle on it so I would be able to apply enough of a bent without hitting the bar with the top of the trunk. A block of wood was used as a brace to bend the trunk against. Rubber padding was used against the bark to protect it.

Brute force was applied carefully and tied off with a strong guy wire once the required bend was made.

All went well and the tree was allowed to rest again.

June 2001

The next job was to lower the lowest back branch which was pretty sparse to give the bottom of the tree some depth. It was another thick branch that wouldn't be easy to change.

The branch was shaved down on the topside to help with getting the branch bent into position.

Cut paste covers the wound and the healing will soon roll over the exposed wood. This new scar growth will set the branch into position.

After the work was done the tree was wired and the final appearance began to show through at last.

View June 2002-2005

View June 2012

After more trouble with spinal operations and family troubles, I wasn't able to maintain my bonsai properly so they began to look a bit overgrown and out of shape.