I found this Hinoki forest on the Redwood Empire Bonsai Society website (from their 2009 Annual Show). I think it’s unusual and quite compelling in its naturalness. I’ve come across spruce groves while hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire that look something like this. You find them near the mountain tops, where the harsh climate causes the trees to dwarf and huddle together. These little forests of dwarf trees with their lush moss carpets and time worn rocks, can evoke a peaceful almost other worldly feeling when you stumble across them.
I think that to be able to see some tunks would greatly improve this neat little group.
I agree with John. I’d like to see more of the trunks and maybe also some spaces in the foliage so “birds can fly through,” as a bonsai teacher once told me.
I can’t decide if I like the density of this tree or not. When I look toward the hints of trunk and rock, I can imagine the interior of this planting containing a fox and perhaps a deer. However the overall image created by the canopy of the group reminds me more of dense tropics rather than alpine. I think this is due to the pot and its relationship to space. I think you would need some open space to indicate alpine.
That being said, now if I could just create something as lovely at this tree, I would be content.
Yeah, I had a similar thought after I wrote my comments. I really like those small spots where you can see some branches and think if they were larger and there were more, it would open the whole planting up.
Thanks Matt, Robert and John. I agree. You seldom see alpine forests that thick.
I know they talk about the “birds flying through”, but I just love the lushness of this piece.
Yes.