Around 2006 I bought a Shimpaku Juniper from Bonsai NW. It’s one of the few that I bought from Bonsai NW. I was told that it was one of Gene Goulds trees. I never met the artist but apparently he passed and they were selling off his trees. When I got the tree, it was basically a stick with some greens on the end. It was precariously balanced with a bamboo so it will not fall off.
I repotted it that same year and pulled the foliage closer to the trunk. Grew healthy but the trunk had no character. During one of the study group session with Dave DeGroot (now retired Pacific Rim Bonsai Museum curator). Dave suggested incorporating a shari on the trunk. Roughly around 2008 in the fall, I began a shari on this tree. Meanwhile, I continued to pull the green foliage closer to the trunk.
This tree has grown well and last restyling was October of 2014. The foliage has become too visually heavy for the trunk size. I pruned it that last time to thin it and I also removed the top foliage and incorporated a jin. The jin and shari will be painted with lime sulfur and the trunk will be cleaned to show the red trunk. The current pot appears to be too small compared to the remaining foliage. I would like to repot this in a thinner pot but slightly wider brim. Probably a “nanban” style pot or maybe a custom pot.
I’ve called this the “infinity tree” because looking at the loop it makes with its coiled trunk, it looks like the symbol for infinity. I know some bonsai trees could live a very long time if well cared for, infinity tree will not live infinitely but I hope it will live along time.
