Page 46 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2013Q3

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The bonsai in 2007
1. The final touches to the plant. The foliage is resized
to allow more prominence to the trunk and makes the
deadwood the real focal point of the plant.
2. The juniper seen from the future front.
3. Detail of deadwood of the upper trunk has a
magnetic attraction.
4. Jin also do their part.
5. The foliage in recovery after a shaky start.
6–7. The tree once again has grown many roots and is
ready for its new pot.
8. Preparing the custom pot I asked John Pitt to make.
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9. Settling the tree into its pot using only Akadama.
Facing page; October 2008, Lo Scorpione, shows
its elegance.

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shortened to emphasize the trunk and the
dead wood, the real focal points of the plant.
So without further delay I shortened the
length of the lower branches and reposi-
tioned the rest of branches.
The result was in line with the design I had
in mind, but I could not display it correctly.
With plants this old and valuable, if you do
not have a clear idea on how to proceed, take
the time necessary to achieve your objective.
8 9 Don’t make hasty decision from which you
In spring 2006, the day arrived to repot the the early stages of germination and cultiva- cannot recover.
plant. I had delayed until then expecting to tion, and akadama and pumice when it is in The plant needed two more years of thicken-
find a suitable container to the plant that did a bonsai pot. ing as well as a new pot with a very jagged
not arrive on time. So I decided to repot the During repotting I tried to remove the ma- edge that would allow me to place the thick
plant in a provisional pot because the plant jority of the very fine lava that remained con- dead root outside it. The pot was made by
was beginning to show the first symptoms of stantly wet. After a month of uncertainty the my friend John Pitt, a great English ceramic
intolerance to lava that in the south of Italy is tree responded slowly to the transplant, but I artist. I waited for one year to place it in the
an excellent soil for cultivation but in north- new pot.
ern Italy holds too much water which this had to wait until the spring of 2007 for abun-
species does not tolerate. The hemispherical dant vegetation that prompted me to style On the facing page you can see the tree in its
new bonsai pot.
juniper prefers frequent watering associated the plant for the third time.
with a perfect drainage and little water reten- At that moment I had a clear idea of the Good bonsai to all.
tion of the soil. For this, I advise pumice in final length of the foliage that was further

44 | BCI | July/August/September 2013