New project Monstrous Ribes

This is a new project of mine,a big monstrous Ribes.
The nebari from this tree is very impressive,and the trunk from this tree is 96cm in thickness.
This is for now the biggest tree I will work on the coming years,this year I prune it back and let it grow freely next year.
Gr Ed

This is a nice one Ed. I had a few of these in the past but have given up on them, because of their hollow branches. It is a quite difficult plant to work on as a bonsai. Hope you succeed.

Thank you Nik,I never work on this species yet but it is a challenge for me to make something from this difficult material:D
The thick foliage is crossing in the tree,and the only thing that is ok is the massive root-base and so I have to prune it drastically and leave it alone for a year to grow.
Gr Ed

That really is a massive one you got there Ed.
Are you planning to keep the most of the main branches?
good luck on that powerful tree.

regards,
jun

Hi Jun,I will prune it drastically.
All the thick branches must be pruned because they will rot because they are hollow and with a thin lifeline on it,I will build this tree up with the new growth and so you get more fruit on it and of course flowers.
Next year I will leave this tree alone,and let it grow freely
Gr Ed

Update from this Ribes.
This is a very difficult species to work on because it is completely hollow inside,also in the new branches it will always be hollow.
The living parts of this tree are the middle and the left and right,the front has died and also the back this year.
I hope it will not rot any further,and this year I repotted in akadama to prevent that.
This tree is now 3 years in training,I changed also the angle of this tree.
I will wait to next winter to finish the work on the deadwood,I repot it this year and I give the tree time to recover from that.

The trunk is amazing. A few years of ramification and it will be beautiful and compleete tree.
All the best
Mike

Hi Ed,

what kind of Ribes is this? I got one 6 or 7 years ago. It was a garden Form with white berrys. It never had a nebari like yours and fell apart into 15 pieces when I repotted it for the first time.

hi Mike and Anja,thanks for the nice replies.
I don't know the kind of Rubes ribes specie it is[there are a lot],and it is surely a difficult specie to work on and you must pot it up in pure akadama and if you don't do this yes it will fall apart in pieces.
Gr Ed

hi ed i like what you have done so far mate.
i have a large escallonia with also a lot
dead wood that is very soft and rots
easy i treat the wood every year with
a wood hardener and apply my lime
sulphur when dry this seems to slow
the rot quite a lot i hope this helps
regards rob. a.

Hi Rob,thanks mate.
I have already treat it with wood hardener that i bought from Kaizenbonsai,before repotting.
And Rob,when you apply lime sulphur afterwards does it look very white or not?
Gr Ed

hi ed.
what i do on decidious dead woods
depending on the shade of the wood
i tone down the lime sulphur with soot
or a touch of ink.
regards. rob. a.

I think that working of this type species is lost of time and money , sorry

Why,don't you like challenges.
Gr Ed

sabamiki wrote:I think that working of this type species is lost of time and money , sorry

Some times all you need is a short moment, for example when some delicate flowers appear you never would have recognised on garden stook. ;-)

of course Ed I like challenges but on this type species and similar always in the course of time comes regress not progress like shari on this tree , if this material was taxus it was outstanding and future material . I don't like deciduous bonsai with lots of shari and death parts , especial species with soft wood because in time dead parts must decay and wee cant stop this process . In "European" bonsai is a loot of bonsai such this and I think is not good way.
Of course AnjaM sometime blossom forgive a lot but if wee want good bonsai flowers is not enough

I like deciduous bonsai with lots of deadwood,and the deadwood is treated with wood-hardener and will not rot further if you repeat this two times a year.
I have several trees in development such as these species I work on,and i hope to prove to you and many others you can make stunning bonsai with the material you can access in your country.
Of course yamadori is always a pleasure to work on,I have them also in my collection.
Gr Ed