European spruce nr. 9

I collected this spruce from an Alpine meadow in my beloved Tirol in 1992. It was at the timber line and the tree had struggled for probably one hundred years there. It was planted into the round mica pot and left alone for a couple of years. In 1995 I started major styling. The aim was a somewhat naturalistic formal upright form, just like so many spruce appear in the mountains. The lowest branches were jinned at that time. In 1999 the tree was potted into a much smaller bonsai pot and many more branches ere jinned. In 2003 the spruce looked very weather beaten. But I was still not happy and brought down all the branches to give it more the 'spruce look' as it appeared in 2004. Finally in August 2007 I had the epiphany to plant it onto this wonderful natural stone from Germany. In August of 2008 with the new growth of the year it looks quite mature. I am happy with this development.