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Trash to Treasure - Pinging Away |
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American Bonsai Society
Trash to Treasure
Pinging Away
By Cheryl Manning
 Pity this poor, pathetic pine. It was full of flaws – but it had one great (small?) virtue: its compact size (21” high including pot) made it a perfect travelling companion for a trip to the Potomac Bonsai Festival at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. as demo material.
The lonely little black pine had other virtues as well: its radial nebari (surface roots) and its flaky bark. These two features showed the age and character that can only be achieved over time.
But the bottom third of the trunk was straight and almost vertical with a right-angle turn (Figure 2). This abrupt change from straight to curved and vertical to horizontal was dizzying and disconcerting.
 Part way up the trunk were the remnants of four branches (Figure 3). Pines typically send out numerous branches at the same point. Many people (me included) like dead wood on pines. But too many jin (dead branches) going off in too many directions is simply too distracting.
 Though there weren’t many branches, the needles were green, the candles were strong and the tree was healthy. Interesting movement and nice taper were additional features.
But the flaws were in the branching. The trunk split off into three branches – two thick and one leggy, long, thin one. Adding insult to injury, there was only a pompom of green at the end of the longest and thinnest branch (Figure 4).
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Trash to Treasure - Feisty Ficus |
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American Bonsai Society
Trash to Treasure
Feisty Ficus
By Cheryl Manning
 Florida – where snowbirds winter and tropical trees thrive. When my friend Elaine Graczyk lived there, she had a beautiful Ficus salicifolia which was particularly well suited to warm winters. But her favorite tree was the Japanese black pine, so she tried to train her Ficus as a formal upright. Branches were wired and pulled down (Figure 1).
But when the wire was removed, the tree rebelled at the idea of being shaped like a pine – and retaliated by sending its horizontal branches upward.
Later, Elaine and her bonsai moved to southern California. Every year she struggled to reposition the ficus’s branches. Then, one night, the climate gods brought an uncommon freeze. In just a few hours, every branch was dead. The aluminum harness strapped onto the tree was no longer necessary. Only the base of the Ficus had life when the temperature warmed up. In a few months, numerous sprouts had emerged from the base. Elaine wrote the tree
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Trash to Treasure - The Boxwood and Her Babies |
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American Bonsai Society
Trash to Treasure
A Boxwood and Her Babies
By Cheryl Manning
 This field-grown Kingsville boxwood exuded health and vitality with its lush canopy and massive branching. Unfortunately, the lush canopy prevented light from penetrating below, resulting in numerous dead branches and little or no ramification. From this perspective, the trunk displayed reverse taper. The upper trunk was thickened by the larger branches emanating from the same level. Perched atop the thin lower trunk, the large canopy and thick lower branches felt top-heavy and unstable.
Trash
Boxwood just out of the field
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