Having long been a fan of zombie movies, particularly those of George A Romero, the idea of things coming back from the dead is quite appealing.
This post tracks a tree, that similarly to the un-dead hordes, came back from beyond the grave.
Sometimes you do things that go against your best judgement.
This tree is a good example of that in my case. A white Pine on its own roots, great movement, interesting exposed roots, age and also ramification on the branches that could be shaped into something. Very rarely do all these features align, let alone be available to me……… the only down side was that it was dead, or so it seemed.
I think I was likely only offered the tree because of it’s poor condition. I also likely was only able to afford it because of this. If it was healthy, it would have been well outside of my price range. All that said, against my better judgement, when this tree came up and I was offered it, I agreed on a price and and bought the tree.
When I traveled to pick it up, it was worse than the pics I had received and the guy delivering it (who was not the owner) said they felt bad to be delivering a dead tree………. All the same, I loaded the tree into my car and began the trip back interstate.
At the time I bought it, it was the most I had ever paid for a bonsai and once it got onto my benches back at home the doubt and regret crept in. What was i doing? ……………Buying expensive, dead bonsai!
The only hope left (and why i went through with the sale) was that while most of the needles were burnt, dead and brown, the buds seemed to still have some life left in them.
I set about re-potting the tree to inspect the roots, removing old soil along the way and getting it into a mix i knew and trusted. The roots seemed surprisingly healthy and a picture of potential causes emerged. Perhaps the tree was just terribly sunburnt? If the roots were strong and the buds looked not quite dead, maybe there was a chance…… From there i crossed my fingers, was careful on the watering and began to look for signs of recovery.
Some time past and the buds seemed to be swelling, so i slowly introduced fertiliser which i ramped up over the course of a growing season and slowly saw the buds turn into shoots, and then shoots turn into needles. All the brown needles the tree had when it arrived it dropped, leaving the tree sparse but with stunted yet green new growth.
White pines usually are fed only sparingly and often only in Autumn but I fed the whole time slowly building strength and soon the autumn buds that began to set looked healthy, plump and closer to what i would expect on a healthy tree.
After another season of feeding and healthy growth I was convinced that the tree was over the hump and back from the dead.
Which jumps the time line to now, where I could finally think about styling the tree and starting it on a path back toward refined bonsai.
Essentially the work formed a first styling. Given the original damaged needles, the canopy was still somewhat thin but there was enough there to shape and form what will likely be the structure of the tree into the coming years.
The process of reshaping the tree I tried to capture above. In the shadow of the trees recovery the styling seems minor but it still involved a number of heavy bends to bring branches and foliage into their respective positions that on a normal styling would constitute major work. I was surprised at just how nice the available foliage was and for the most part created a fairly complete canopy.
I am looking forward to this coming seasons’ growth to further fill in the tree and refine both the silhouette and fill in some small gaps here and there.
All in all the risk paid off, the tree rose from the dead and now, should grow into an impressive tree with time. It’s rare to find white pine on it’s own roots and this one, being styled as it is also scratches my semi cascade itch. I am pretty happy that the risk paid off this time and who knows, in a year or two it might be in a state that is ready to be shown if i play my cards right….. time will tell.
Moral of the story, dunno…… perhaps sometimes you need to put your better judgement aside and take a risk if the reward seems worth it. That said and while I would like to think some skill was involved in the tree’s recovery, there was also definitely a solid dose of luck that played on my side. The above post could have very easily gone the other way and at the time, many of my friends questioned the purchase……. and rightly so. So buyer beware……..but don’t write every sick tree off……. it may rise from dead.
Nichigo Bonsai 