Trident Maple Major Branch Removed
I felt that this root-over-rock Trident Maple lacked movement and did not feature the rock and the trunk dynamics enough so I made the decision to remove the large RHS branch.
To me this is a major improvement in the overall quality of this bonsai. The movement in the trunk, and in the overall style, has created more drama and has highlighted the best features of the design.
Bonsai is all about recognizing the best features of your bonsai, building on these features, and going about showing them at their best.
With the 'Root-over-Rock' style it is essential to allow the tree to grow into the style and scale of the rock. I have seen far to many trees 'out-grow' the rock, making the composition look completely out of scale.
This, and all others in the gallery collection, have been grown from cuttings. One year old cuttings have been selected for their long roots and placed around 2/3rds the way up the rock, and allowed to grow into the scale of the rock.
Personally, I have an aversion to planting bonsai on the top of a rock. In old Chinese landscape paintings you see trees growing on the tops of mountains BUT notice the scale.... the 'rock' is a mountain and the trees are small.... and to scale. Many bonsai planted on the top of a rock can never reflect this scale and look 'contrived' (un-natural).
I would be interested in your opinion.!!!
