Entry: Itoigawa Juniper – Juniperus chinensis “Itoigawa” – United Kingdom
ofBonsai Magazine
Before
The styling I have chosen is a multiple planting of Shohin Itoigawa Junipers on a found rock. The trees were purchased at the EBA convention in Ljubljana, Slovenia May 2012 and the rock was collected in the Mountains of Northern Israel also May 2012.
The Trees: Six Itoigawa Juniper to choose from for the planting, at this stage I do not know how many will be used in the final design. The trees are quite small with good trunks that are not too contorted, they have lots of options and each will be fashioned according to the best style that will suit both the stock and its position on the rock.
The Rock: Collected in the Mountains of Northern Israel it is VERY hard limestone with fossils of shells forming the top of the stone. It offers many options for planting trees into natural holes. To make certain that the trees have a good secure hold I will be fixing ‘hidden’ anchor points into the rock. To ensure that the rock is stable I will be setting the base in concrete with a wire mesh skeleton for maximum strength, this will be ‘hidden’ below the soil level in the final pot.
The styling: I want to create a ‘distant view’ image with small trees ‘clinging’ to the edges of the rock. Itoigawa Juniper is ideal for this as the foliage is VERY delicate and creates good small foliage ‘clouds’ any Jin or Shari will be in scale to the design. I will use moss to enhance the effect and will put small accents plants at the base for visual stability. This will be a SMALL ‘bonsai’ that hopefully will be easy to transport and display.
The Challenge: I believe that good rock plantings are difficult to achieve, we see a lot coming from Asia but very few from Europe and America. This will only be my third in 25 years so wish me luck!
One Quarter Progression
Stabilising the stone so that it does not ‘rock’ in the pot and it is steady to work with and plant the trees is critical to the success of this planting.
I created a wire framework at the base of the rock that was held in place by smaller wires. An ice cream carton as a form and using waterproof cement a solid base was created.
After two weeks of drying the time came to fix the stone in the pot. I have selected a VERY shallow round pot by the wonderful Scottish bonsai potter Ian Baillie. The deep red colour will perfectly match the bark of the tiny trees and the depth is perfect. Deep enough to ‘hide’ the base of the stone yet shallow enough to balance the overall design.
I had made provision in the wire framework for ‘loops’ so that I could tie the stone is very firmly. A layer of bonsai soil mixture and a top dressing of moss complete the image. I will study the rock over the next few months before for placing the trees.
Half Way Progression
I have prepared the stones ‘holes’ with fixing to firmly hold the trees in place. Copper wire 0.5mm fixed with epoxy will hold the trees well. I will not be placing trees until late November when it is safe as the trees will be entering their dormant state.
Three Quarter Progression
I have started to style the small itoigawa trees prior to placing on the stone. Ideally I would like to have all trees ready styled however it’s not until I know how the trees will fit onto the rock that I can be sure of branch placement.
Final
Since starting this project I have looked forward to placing the trees on the rock. There is a fine balance between reducing the root ball enough so that the health of the tree is not compromised and the ability to fix the tree to the rock.
Five trees were used in the final design, the first placed was the cascade to the lower left side, this would act as a character tree, the second was the tree to the far right. This would balance the image and help with the overall upper canopy. I wanted to put some individual structure into the trees and not simply create a dense bushy crown so branches are wired. The remaining trees were placed so as to create a ‘full’ and ‘finished’ image with the top most tree providing stability.
Plastic mesh ‘cages’ were created to hold the soil in place, the trees were placed and secured with the wires located earlier in the year, these were then covered with Keto Tsuchi and small moss to completed to ‘mature’ appearance.
The composition is quite small in rock planting terms however it is easy for one person to carry, the trees are mist sprayed daily and the whole kept in a greenhouse until the trees are well established in their new location.
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Scores:
Selection: 6
Design: 7
Technique: 9
Final Outcome: 6
Documentation: 10
Originality: 7
Total: 45
Good rock, color unfortunately a bit too light, Result too top heavy, individual trees could have been wired in more detail and negative space defined better, pot unfortunately way too weak optically
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Scores:
Selection: 9
Design: 3
Technique: 9
Final Outcome: 5
Documentation: 10
Originality: 5
Total: 41
I enjoyed watching the progression, but was disappointed with the final result. The entire composition is not balanced. There is no connection between the top massive green area and the stark white bottom. A bit of moss crawling up the front of the stone would help.
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[tab title=”Judge #3″]
Scores:
Selection: 9
Design: 9
Technique: 9
Final Outcome: 8
Documentation: 7
Originality: 8
Total: 50
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