Work with conifers in Estella

Since quite a while ago this group of friends occasionally get together in Estella (Navarra) to work on their trees. As well as their occasional meetings, once a year they bring in a professional to guide them in their workshop, I've done so for the last couple of years.

This continuity allows me to project the work in the long term and follow a more logical working rhythm which is more respectful to the trees and so which achieves better results.

Below you can see a selection of the trees that we've worked on. Some are in the first stages of styling, others are more advanced, but all were interesting, instructive and underwent spectacular transformations.

We worked intensely for two days, although there was also time for humour and good food. Here is this group of friends and their work:

The team. They all worked up a sweat over the course of this long weekend.
(From left to right, top to bottom) Ivan, Pedro, Paco, David and the only two members of the "Sahuin Collective" Josu and Antonio, from Pamplona. Missing from the photo are the two female members of the group, Asun and Juani.

This group is like the unyielding Gaul village of Asterix. Their only desire is to have a good time working on their bonsai, they are a world away from bad feelings, bad tongues, prices of trees and envy. It's quite possibly (without wishing to put anyone down) the most authentic group that I've met in the last few years.

Pedro's larch before the work. The previous year we'd already worked on this tree. At that stage we bent the top part of the trunk with the screw and guy wire which can be seen in this photo.

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Pedro's larch before the work. The previous year we'd already worked on this tree. At that stage we bent the top part of the trunk with the screw and guy wire which can be seen in this photo.

After the work. This year the work was limited to the branches.

Jose's amazing Phoenician juniper was also worked on the previous year. According to the original position of the branches this could not be the front, but after a delicate piece of tree surgery their position was modified in order to show this front, as this is where the most interesting dead wood is to be found. Jose then cultivated it for a full growing season. He must have done so very well because one year after the operation the juniper was in full health and strength.

After arranging all the branches. Now the cultivation should continue in order to gain density. This time the growth should be more contained which will mean pinching each new shoot. In one more year the tree will be ready to be placed in a bonsai pot.

This is Paco next to Antonio's juniper. This is without doubt a strangely shaped juniper. The line of the trunk wasn't well defined as there were various thick branches, each looking in a different direction, which created confusion ...

... but the wood around the central part of the trunk was of very high quality. It finally turned out to be one of the trees with most character. Now that the structure is clear it will be cultivated for another year and from then on it will be a question of refining the foliage.

It's always a pleasure to work on trees as vigorous as this yew. In fact, only trees in this state of health should be worked on. Its owner, Antonio, gave me full freedom to prune and I made the most of the opportunity.

All the interest of this tree is centred on the nebari, the lower part of the trunk and the first branch. The rest was a long, thin branch which is where all the green came from, but it was lacking in interest, so I got rid of it without a second thought. Now the trunk shows all its strength and conicity. The foliage will fill out the crown again in no time. It will be necessary to keep an eye on the shoots that will fill the trunk when the Spring arrives. Repotting will be left for the following year.

This is a special tree, with plenty of character and an unusual circular formation which is repeated in the jins and the first branch on the right. It's a pinus unicata and the owner is Paco, our host.

The dilemma was whether or not to cut off the first branch. If it's removed the tree loses its personality and if it's left the crown is too voluminous for such a stylised trunk. I finally used it to cover the right side and the back. In this way its importance was reduced without removing it completely.

Another unicata, this time Antonio's, with elegant but unstable lines.

The iron bar was used simply as a strong point from which to pull the apex back towards the base. This movement stabilises the tree.

This is Pedro's tree, another unicata. There are three trunks, or maybe three branches as they don't all grow from the same base, but a bit further up. Despite this I don't think it's too problematic if the lines and volumes are well arranged.

After the work all the trunks follow the same movement, there's order and each of the trees is a different size.

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