Taming the Tamarisk

Bonsai Club auctions are a funny thing and here’s the story of the “Ugly Duckling” lot I brought in 2008. Kindly supplied by Monkey Yamadori (aka Andy Pearson) this little lump was shunned by all so I took pity and took the poor little blighter home. I was given plenty of “are you sure?” warnings but thought what have I got to lose?

Fast forward to early 2010. The tree had been tucked away, growing freely, all through 2009 but this Spring I decided to dust it off and have a look. As you can see not much to write home about but I thought at least I could hone my carving skills on a piece of material that cost me less than a pack of ciggies.





Unfortunately, my weapon of choice was not up to the task so Andy kindly offered to block carve it for me at our October Club meeting.





As you can see, Andy has given this lump of firewood a new lease of life which will be refined over the coming years. Just for fun I started to wire the heavier branches just to help the new image that I’ve formulated in my mine for this tree. Am I going in the right direction?



I will be giving the tree its first proper pot, rather than a washing up bowl, in the Spring any suggestions? Thanking you in advance,
Kindest Regards,
Simon

That's about the only direction you can go with one of these. Be very careful bending after wiring. Those feathery branches would rather break than bend, and once broken, they're gone from the break to the tip. There's no mending like you might hope with a juniper.

You will get unexplained branch dieback, too, so the more branches you can design into the tree the more likely you are to keep up a decent design.

Looks like a challenge.

Just wondering what the orange things are hanging from the branches?

Looks like something clipped on, or like some rubber like thing, to hold the branches down, instead of early wiring...?

One of the beter ways to mak a tamarisk "weep" is by hanging weights on he branches. I use fishing sinkers. Some folks use washers.

Looking good! Looks like a good candidate for a windswept style,but i'm no expert though...keep us posted,good luck!!

I've seen some fantastic examples of Tamarisk bonsai and my favourite is in Harry Tomlinsons Bonsai book. I think it was styled by Hotsumi Terakawa. Great first styling Simon. The orange blobs look like Plasticine to me.

Thanks for your kind comments guys. This tree will be hours of fun and keep me on my toes.
I'll keep an eye out for die back Jim.

will baddeley wrote: The orange blobs look like Plasticine to me.

Spot on there Will, not much gets past you my friend
Okk, Okk,
Simon

UPDATE



Re-pot and new planting angle complete, well almost, here’s where we are as of today. Still a long way to go but the more I’m understanding this tree the more it is improving. The deadwood needs refinement, which I’m hoping to tackle soon but I love the forward movement that we have got into it already making it look like waves crashing on the beach or the horses from the Guinness advert. For those non-UK member, google it!!

I’m going to take it to our next Club meeting just to show what can be done for a fiver with patience, determination and a few power tools!! Thanks for looking,
Regards,
Simon