Leptospermum laevigatum Cliff Face Cascade
This tree was originally purchased as raw field grown material from Michael Simonetto at the AABC convention in Melbourne 2018.
Michael grows material with plenty of exaggerated movement, the kind of material I love to work with, and especially suitable for this species.
Raw stock as purchased Sep 2018
Sep 2018. Downsizing the nursery pot and changing the potting angle. Some basic directional wiring, pruning and deadwood work done. Note the sphagnum moss used to cover and protect exposed roots from change of angle.
Feb 2019. Some further pruning and adjustment of branch placement to better form a crown. Nursery pot placed in what I had picked out to be a potential pot at the time.
Feb 2019. Re-potted into ceramic I ended up choosing. The ceramic was a $2 find at a local thrift store that I drilled out and re-purposed for Bonsai use. It pays to keep an eye out for potentially modifiable objects.
Feb 2019. Close up of the work done on deadwood and ageing the trunk. I prefer to peel the bark off this species, as it better shows the subtle muscling in the trunk movement. If the bark layer builds up too much you lose the detail.
April 2019. Further refinement of crown. In the last photo it was built using two primary branches, whereas at this point you can see I chose to turn one into deadwood and build the crown from the one that remained. First use of the custom stand I built for this arrangement.
March 2019. Crown is beginning to flush out properly now. Could still use a bit more density, but progress is good. You can better see the custom stand in this picture.
March 2019. The tree being used as part of a three point display. Playing around with ideas for the 2019 AABC native display.
July 2019. Crown density is nicely developed. Added some rocks to the panting to emphasise the 'cliff side' element and to break up the green mass the pot had become.
Sep 2019. Major re-style of the tree. I felt the branch holding the crown was too visually thin to be supporting that much crown. Instead of waiting years for it to thicken, I chose to elongate the design to expose more of the branch/trunk, reducing the need to thicken it. This is sometimes referred to as the 'rubberband effect'. Rough placement of branches, still working out how the crown will be formed.
November 2019. Further development of crown structure. One major branch turned into deadwood and remaining branches rearranged.
February 2020. More deadwood added, large branch removed and crown built from remaining fine branching. To my eye, the tree feels comfortably in proportion for the first time. Rocks removed and root mass reduced. Unfortunately I had to sell the tree to move to NZ before the trunk set in place and I could remove the chopstick holding it all together. If I get an updated picture from the new owner I will request to add it to the gallery.