Multiple Pine Experiments and Projects at ACBS Meeting

by Michael Rusnak

Randy with his dynamic scots pine

Greg discusses a wild tree

During last month’s meeting I thought of the saying that there is a real quality in quantity.  The sheer number of pine projects that Greg and Randy Pepper had going on created a certain excitement for what these tree would look like in future seasons.  Additionally, their presentation was a reminder of how the art as well as the skill in creating a bonsai is a matter of doing. It is learned by doing.  Talking and reading are fun and helpful, but nothing substitutes for the act of working with trees—and in these case lots of them.  That was for me very exciting.  To go from tree to tree and talk with others about how it might develop, creating dynamic trunk movement, it’s future crown was just plain fun. 

I read an article once that said UK bonsai artist Kevin Wilson (http://www.kevinwillsonbonsai.com/) ordered a couple of hundred of young larches, and worked on them one after another in order to learn how to create dynamic and interesting bonsai. 

Starting a new bonsai project is just and exciting venture. Greg and Randy’s excitement grabbed everyone in the room.   Bonsai is always like looking to the future.  How will this tree look next summer, in two summers? What movement can I give it and what line should it follow? Where will the apex be?  Greg and Randy fed our excitement for pine projects and the kind of things that can be developed from simple nursery stock.

Pine from a construction site

a small literati develops over time

And there was more. The story of this large pine (right) was a great one.  Greg related that the tree was dug from the end of a driveway on a construction site, and that it had actually been run over by several times. They pulled it out of the ground, and have managed to bring it back to health. In addition to its terrific lower trunk, it has some good deadwood sections, and plenty of possibilities for creating something exhibit worthy out of this piece of raw material.