Many people familiar with bonsai and collecting, think that good yamadori are to find only in the high mountains. Well less is truth. I was born on one of the many islands along the Adriatic coast in Croatia. As a child, I went many times during the winter times with my grandfather on the north side of the island, feeding the sheep who where walking around freely. I remember that I could sit down on some of the “bushies” and I wouldn’t fall threw because they where so branched and full of tiny leafs, that was impossible. All the work of sheep eating almost anything thay can find. Around me there where also junnipers (juniperus oxicedrus) dead and alive, many looking so freakish, in that time, in my eyes expressing such grotesqueness that even as a child you have to look at them.
These trees are growing in “Karst”, a landscape with a very poor soil with high percentage of rocks. The second factor is the wind. Hard, north wind which can reach the speed of almost 200 km per hour during the winter. The wind is also very dry what is in my opinion important for good quality Jin and shari. Speaking about wild olives (olea oleaster), phirilleas (phillyrea latifolia) and some others trees, the sheeps are very important factor. Each spring, they eat the new growth, on and on again, so those trees remain little, they can only get thicker.
All these factors playing the roll in shaping young tree during the many years into a high quality yamadori that only we bonsai enthusiasts can appreciate.Especially the junnipers (juniperus oxicedrus and phoenica) are looking so marvelously shaped, curving with incredible shari and jins that is pure joy for the eyes to watch them.
The wild olives and terrain are similar with terrain on the island of Mallorca where famous Angel Motta is collecting. But for untrained eye, man wouldn’t see that between these olives also growing Phillyrea latifolia. Phillyrea is typical evergreen shrub species which is to find in Mediterranian maquis. Collecting them is the same as collecting olives, (it belongs to olive family) which means one can collect them even without rootball, just a bit roots can be enough for surviving when pulled out. They sprout abundantly, even from old wood. In these karst landscape is possible to find very old, dwarfed specimen even without sheep help.
Along the coast on the nights between 300 and 600 meters is growing native Dalmatian sub-Mediterranean Hornbeam species, Carpinus orientalis. With naturally small leaves and beautiful light gray bark,this species will prove to be as good as korean hornbeam in the future.
Than we should not forget Mediterranean stone oak (Quercus illex). This species has already proved to be a great bonsai material by the Italians and Spaniards. I’m not going to mention all the spicies, that I know to be valuable for bonsai, because I hope that people don’t rush to Croatia to collect after reading this…
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