Prunus mahaleb_The Hug

One of my favourite mahaleb ...

2015




2018

... after mid summer pruning.  Still need to get more taper on  structural branches and a few more twigs to fill the space.  Not too many as the crown should reflect the harsh conditions the tree lives.





Naturally weathered dead wood






My attempts to match that.  Due to the extremely slow growth the wood is as hard as a stone.  No chance to use a scalpel to cut some lines to imitate the cracks.  So a burr has been used instead.  The lines are too wide/missing the depth but no chance to improve it now.  Lets wait to see what the winter can do with it.
I do not expect too much.  Just simply do not have better idea how to get there.  

great age !

I love the way the live gnarled bark contours the dead wood!

@Kevin&Alexandra  I do appreciate your effort to find a positive feature on this little guy   .

As I have written on my blog I know that it is quite controversial "bonsai".   It looks much more like a juniper than a deciduous tree.  Both jins are too heavy,  the crown looks strange and the planting angle goes against all bonsai traditional principles. Unless I select the current back side that shows only dead and a top section of the live vein.   But that view is  for me  far too aggressive and it doesn't reflect the true character of the tree..  The current front shows a tree that is keeping its distance from the viewer but at the same time it shows its empty hands saying Piece...

C'mmon, guys.  Give me your sincere and honest thoughts.  I need it

Hi Vlad,

Just from the visual feelings point of view, there are a few things that disturb me a bit.

The bigger "hand" seems a little too big to me, maybe reducing it a bit might help?

At the point where the white deadwood line ends, there is a straight half-dead-looking branch sticking up, I can't see from the pictures whether there are any living branches coming from it but it definitely disturbs the otherwise quite smoothly flowing trunk line.

And finally, I do not like the branch going down left into the V-shape space created by the trunk and the bigger "hand", I don't know why but I'd rather see that "heart" area empty.

Not sure this actually helps or not but this is what I saw when I was looking at your tree.

By the way, I absolutely love the transition between the bark and the deadwood on the trunk and you made a great work with imitating of the weathered structure on the small hand.

Good luck with this, it already is an interesting tree and I am sure you will only add to the beauty of it over the time.

Vlad wrote:@Kevin&Alexandra  I do appreciate your effort to find a positive feature on this little guy   .
... ...It looks much more like a juniper than a deciduous tree.  
So, what? Why is it bothering you if the tree itself wants to show itself like it does?

... ...the planting angle goes against all bonsai traditional principles.
I think (if my memory serves me correctly) we had a short conversation in the past about "rules" and I know that you give them importance but I dare say that if the image looks right to your eyes why bother if the angle is not in conformity with "rules"?

... ...Give me your sincere and honest thoughts.  I need it

First of all, I didn't put effort at all!
I loved it first sight!
Secondly, you have tempted me to show my amazing qualities in photo editing  


Imagine the tree being moved a little to the front and given a slight lean to the right and having more and tight foliage! Lovely to my ignorant eyes

@Vitusus & Alexandra

I am full of emotions. You guys have taken a lot of your time to give me your views and ideas. A great posts from both of you. I would take some time to digest, discuss it with the Hug and then I am back with you.

Contrary to what The Hug thinks about its opponents ( has anybody noticed the little middle finger on the "smaller hand" ?   I am more that happy for any suggestion that shows interest and give a clear oppinion.  So once more: thank you for your comments and ideas.

@Vitusus   I do love your comment about the smaller hand ( just kidding )  I do agree with all your suggestions (not kidding on this one ).   I am very happy about your comment  on the "hanging" branch. Spot on, my friend.  For the time being I will keep it there as it gives more depth to the crown from a slightly different front view. But it a longer run I need to take care of it.

@Alexandra   About rules: The rules are connection to the collective wisdom of generations of our forebears.   I tend to follow my own rules but the effort to understand the reasoning behind the rules of bonsai masters helps me to cross the lines without carelessly endangering the wellbeing of my trees.

Regarding your suggestions: having look at the Hug after your photoediting I must say: Yep, that is a tree with a true/believable story. ( I am sure without the hanging branch..)  Not sure though if I got right your point regarding " having more foliage"? I believe that the current amount of green mass is OK ( there should be definitely more leaves but much smaller ones - so the green mass should stay as it is now).    Rich clouds of folliage would kill the story written by the other parts of the tree.   Don't you think?