Entry #41
Judge #1: Great development, interesting design.
Judge #3: Multiple appealing “fronts” possible. Container choice a little restrictive for the style.
Black Olive (Terminalia mollineti or Bucida spinosa)
Mexico
68cm (26.7") high and 70cm (27.5") wide / 69 cm (27.1") high and 98 cm (38.5") wide
Before
Terminalia mollineti previously known as Bucida spinosa or black olive. This is one of the nices species to work, do to the small size of the leaves, the good character of the deadwood and bark and movement. The species creates a very nice pattern of growth that looks almost man made. This will be a nice small informal tree a bit slanting with a few long jins. I choose this tree due to the movement and good base as well as the size. Not to big not to small, just a good size to be able to be handle by one man.
One Quarter Progression
Terminalia mollineti previously known as Bucida spinosa or black olive. It is one of the best species for bonsai, the first quarter involved was to dig out this tree remove all the leafs and pot in to a proper pot, a large 7 inch diameter root was cut from the side.
Half Way
Terminalia mollineti previously known as Bucida spinosa or black olive. The tree was placed inside a large plastic container with a lot of fine soil, the perfect recipe to kill most trees but this particular species love this terrible conditions of accumulated wet soil. And as such the tree is recovering
Three Quarter Progression
After a few months know the tree quartes show the tree know recover and it is going to begin the part of adjusting on the pot only, also some carving has begun. I it still needs to carve one more jin and to wire the tree branches.
Final
Terminalia mollineti (bucida spinosa, aka bucida mollineti) one of the best species for bonsai in the tropics, however it is one species that requires specific care in order for it to thrive. This particular bonsai has great nebari, and the movement of the tree is a very nice shakan. The lower branch helps to balance the composition but also to maintain the left nebari alive and well. In time it will thicken and make it a stronger compositions filling the negative portion of this section and increasing the visual negative area on the other side, those achieving a nice but stable asymmetry of the tree, which goes well with its movement. Since the base is so strong this lower branch it’s needed unlike that of a literati which would do well with a smaller nebari and more compact growth. During the last few months the wood was carved and the branches adjusted to provide a clean composition. The moss is somewhat new after the birds poke on it during the last few days. The small weeds like plants are small premna that will develop into miniature bushes that would add to the complexity of the display, also they were next to my other tree when I was pruning it! The future of this bonsai is to thicken those branches improve the top, get more ramification and smaller leaves to make this a great bonsai