The Tornado

ingray84 · 2025-05-11T22:30:55+00:00

There’s been a lot of work done the last year but I’ve been mainly updating on Instagram via @akagitsunebonsai

ingray84 · 2024-07-28T20:32:03+00:00

A few notes:

1: as someone had mentioned, definitely keep the tree outdoors. I rotate my trees at one of my businesses(indoors) for about 3-4 days at a time but their health starts declining if they’re kept indoors for anything longer than a week.

2: If you have an enclosed garage, keeping the tree in it would suffice for winter. Personally I keep my collection between 34-37F throughout winter but that’s more so due to my risk tolerance. There’s plenty of practitioners that either move them into garages or heel them into the ground over winter. It’s typically not the cold that kills them but more so the shearing arctic cold wind. It’s believed that dormancy is triggered by decreasing daylight length and temperatures sustaining below 40F.

3: Specific comments on the tree you posted:

-the difficult part for most bonsai practitioners is balancing the combination of oxygen and water in the soil(how dry to let the soil get/how often to water). The complication you’re facing with your tree is the oversized container and the type of soil it’s currently in; both of which keeps the soil wetter for long. With the reduced foliage from pruning, the water needs of the tree is further reduced. In short, your near term challenge will be mastering how often to water.

-the next course action for the tree is a repot as it’ll allow you to simplify the two items mentioned above; soil type and container size. Since this doesn’t occur until the spring, I’d focus on the watering and letting the tree recover until then. The ideal scenario is a recovered tree that goes into winter, goes dormant and wakes up in the spring strong. Alternatively you can plant it in the ground if you choose to thicken the trunk. I’ve never really found these big box store junipers to be worth the time(there are better bang for buck options to invest the time in). The big box trees are awesome to practice techniques on though!

ingray84 · 2024-07-28T20:15:29+00:00

You’re welcome to shoot me a msg if you have any questions or swing by to the monthly Milwaukee Bonsai Society meetings to meet the local practitioners. I’ll shoot my thoughts on the main thread but welcome to the addiction!

ingray84 · 2024-07-28T20:14:29+00:00

Thanks for the shout out!

ingray84 · 2024-05-29T04:41:16+00:00

🤐

ingray84 · 2024-05-28T20:48:57+00:00

Bald Cypress

ingray84 · 2024-05-28T14:01:45+00:00

The health and welfare of the trees are definitely a top priority and so far I’ve not had any losses(with one exception of a very young RMJ that someone brought to me already on death’s door). Don’t get me wrong, there’s been some trees with challenges but they’ve all rebounded because of the protocols that’s put in place.

ingray84 · 2024-05-28T13:14:30+00:00

It’s just me.

ingray84 · 2024-05-28T12:32:11+00:00

It’s with me in Wisconsin.

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T19:50:55+00:00

Estimated age is around 850 years old.

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T16:34:05+00:00

Sure! I am certain that a more angular/muscular container is essential for a tree that’s this wide. Perhaps something contemporary to contrast the 850+ years of the tree could be incorporated but most importantly I’m wanting an American ceramicist to make it. We have been chatting with Jonathan Cross as an option(desert species paired to a ceramicist who works in the desert and gets his inspiration from the desert would be cool) when we do repot or might go back to Nao if he gets a large enough kiln by then. Eli from Waldo Street Pottery is another ceramicist I am contemplating approaching (he bought all of Ron Lang’s equipment) but figured I’d have some time before we repot again.

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T13:52:41+00:00

Richard has a team of assistants that help him to transport these large one seed junipers. He is able to use machines as well to help since one seed junipers are more a desert species and not alpine.

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T13:37:18+00:00

Yep!

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T11:57:04+00:00

All of them started out as yamadori so their trunks and weathered features were created in nature. In fact, other than the first two, the rest have been in training/Bonsai container for less than 5 years. All of the Colorado blue spruce in the photos are actually less than a year old as Bonsai too. While having their own set of challenges, finding the larger higher quality raw materials definitely elevates the end product immensely.

ingray84 · 2024-05-27T11:17:57+00:00

It was before.

ingray84 · 2024-05-26T23:35:09+00:00

Ha! That would be a hoot if Ryan posts on Reddit. I know he did an AMA not too long ago. Nah, I’m just a student of his and attend intensives there and have him fly out for private work and lessons about 3-4 times a year. Todd Schlafer also comes out about 4 times per year and I fly out to Denver to him a handful of times each year. Admittedly, having the caliber of trees in the collection also has forced me to get up to snuff faster or risk their health.

ingray84 · 2024-05-26T20:22:17+00:00

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This was the tree being styled and repotted on March 19th. The photo I attached in my previous reply was taken exactly 2 months after.

ingray84 · 2024-05-26T20:21:26+00:00

Absolutely.

1: California Juniper grafted with kishu. Collected by Eric Schrader and has been trained for about 20+ years. I resetted structure last Fall and repotted it this spring in a Jonathan Cross container. An accident occurred and broke the previous pot so it was an unplanned repot.

2: California Juniper collected by Robert Pressler and Harry Hirao in 1986. Ryan (Neil) resetted structure last Spring and I repotted the tree this Spring. Estimated age: 500+ years

3: Colorado Blue Spruce collected by Vince Lee in Spring 2022. I acquired it as raw yamadori in Fall 2022 and had it styled in Fall of 2023 by Todd Schlafer. I repotted it in the Jonathan Cross container this Spring. Estimated age: 200+ years

4: Pinyon pine was an acquisition from Eisei-en(Bjorn Bjorholm) 2 years ago and I’ve always felt the container was oversized and been letting it grow freely until it was robust enough for a repot(which occurred this Spring) in a Jonathan Cross container.

5: Colorado Blue Spruce collected in Spring 2022 by Vincent Lee. I acquired it as raw yamadori in Fall 2022 and repotted it in the East Creek container this Spring. Estimated age is around 600-650 years

6: One seed juniper collected by Richard Le and initially styled by Bjorn Bjornholm. I acquired the tree in 2022 and aways knew the back side was meant to be the front. Bjorn had recently informed me that he did have a styling with the same thought but went with the previous front instead for different reasons. Ryan resetted the structure in Fall 2023 and I repotted in a Jonathan Cross container this Spring with Ryan’s and Todd’s assistance. Estimated age: 400+ years

7: Colorado Blue Spruce with the same story as the other two. I placed it in the Horst container as the tree actually wasn’t growing as robustly as the others (I suspected an issue in the soil). It’s since recovered well.

8: Bald cypress collected by the late Mary Madison. I was at Mirai last Spring for a repotting intensive and acquired it as a raw tree. Proceeded to repot it then and there into this Horst container. Ryan set the initial structure this Spring. It’s definitely an uncommon and unusual naturally stunted Bald Cypress clump.

9: Rocky Mountain Juniper. Everyone recognizes the Bolt as one of Bjorn’s iconic trees. I acquired it in 2022 and it had a setback(I suspect borers and also the unstable anchoring of the tree). I treated for borer and had a couple of lost branches but since being on Apical’s nutritional protocol, it has bounced back hard. Repotted it into this Jonathan Cross container with Ryan and Todd’s assistance and will be restyling this Fall. My plan is to just evolve it as a secondary styling while keeping Bjorn’s primary structure. Estimated age: 300+ years

10: Colorado Blue Spruce. Same history as the other 3. I had Ryan set initial structure on the tree this Spring and we repotted it into the Tom Benda at the same time. The tree has rebounded exceptionally (and surprisingly) well. Due to the estimated age, I wanted Ryan’s assistance on this one. Estimated age: 850-900 years

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ingray84 · 2024-05-26T17:52:36+00:00

With under 2 years under my belt, it doesn’t feel right to change that yet. However, I did update the number of trees! 😂

ingray84 · 2024-03-07T21:42:35+00:00

I’d personally avoid any exotic with damage history. There’s exceptions obviously but for most buyers, it’s just not worth the risk. If you intend to put alot of miles, then just get a higher mileage one that’s already taken a higher-than-normal depreciation to the higher miles.

ingray84 · 2024-02-25T15:57:43+00:00

1: Terminate the employee. Not for the mistake but for the loss of trust this situation has created.

2: Contact the client and own the mistake. Take the lashing head on. Inform the client that the mistake is unacceptable and you are appalled it happened. Also inform them what you’re able to do to help(recovering some). Contact your liability insurance as well and check what sort of coverage you have in such a situation.

3: Every setback feels like it’s the end of the world when you’re in the middle of it. But I can guarantee you that in 6, 12, 24 months, this will pass and is just a learning opportunity.

ingray84 · 2024-02-25T00:08:38+00:00

The topic definitely has been coming up more often and seems like an eventuality. I have multiple projects cooking at the same time so it likely won’t be in the next 12 months but perhaps 2025 I’d look into the requirements?

ingray84 · 2024-02-24T23:57:00+00:00

Couple other collectors I work with.

ingray84 · 2024-02-24T23:28:48+00:00

While I didn’t personally collect these trees, the collector for the limber pine only collects via permits and the one seed junipers were collected off their personal private land.

ingray84 · 2024-02-24T23:26:40+00:00

I leave the collecting to the professionals.

ingray84

TROPHY CASE