Newbie deadwood question

Hello all,

I have a couple of collected murrayana pines and was hoping to work on them in the next few days. I did have a question though. What exactly is deadwood? And how does one best expose it before using lime sulphur? Do I need to buy some tools - power or otherwise for this?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions all of which will be gratefully accepted.

Have a look at the second and third pictures here: https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/bonsai-f1/mrs-kimuras-garden-and-more-shohin-from-noelanders-x-2009-t60.htm

That is deadwood, though it can be much simpler than that. Deadwood includes the bare wood from a broken branch (jin), or a strip down the trunk (shari) from a presumed lightening strike, or other weather phenomenon.

Power tools are often required for ornate deadwood like those pictured.

Not all trees are suited for deadwood. And, it can be (and often is) overdone. I'd recommend starting out simple. Others probably can point you to other pictures of deadwood.

You probably should work with someone on your early attempts at more than a simple jin or shari.

Thank you Jim for your response. I am waiting on some workshops to get cracking. One more question though - on the trunk of one of my pines, the bark has pretty much peeled off in a smooth strip from soil to the top. Is this what one would consider dead wood? There is also some flaky bark on the other parts of the trunk. Should I leave this on or brush it off?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my very basic questions.

Its always best to post a picture for an exact answer. Pine bark is easily knocked off but this does'nt mean its deadwood. If you can see the grain of the wood and its a silvery colour it probably is deadwood.

There is also some flaky bark on the other parts of the trunk. Should I leave this on or brush it off?

Flaky bark on pines is to be treasured as part of the appearance of age. Don't brush it off.

okay! thank you all.

you should post a picture so people can better help you access your tree, and give advice for the most sensible move regarding making a jin or a shari.
if you want to look at some of the best work with deadwood you should check out the magician, Masahiko Kimura, he is world renowned for his work with deadwood and making jins and sharis.

here is a video compiling some of the masterful work of Masahiko Kimura:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq8eb2XK9Jw

hope this helps and happy viewing,
Justin