The huge crown got reduced considerably last year. Then the massive stumps were worked by Walter, Jan and myself. This year I only had to apply fire (a lot) to the deadwood and it appears rather natural already. Then the crown got it's first styling with wire. And the tree was placed into the training pot from China.
This is a very bad time for repotting trees here, but I only moved the fully intact root ball.
Now the mayor design work is done. The tree will now rest as is for three to four years. Then all the wire will go off and the branches will be edited considerably. Then everything will be completely wired again. It will look fine then.By around 2020 the third wiring will make the tree really shine. Some time in April it will go into the final pot which I don't have yet.
I could have wired everything now. But the method I am using is much better. Believe me, I own around 100 good spruces. There are several reasons why one rarely sees a great spruce bonsai. The main reason is because folks are in a hurry to style them and kill or ruin them doing so. Spruce is not a good species for becoming famous as bonsai artist in a short time. But they are great if you take the time and know what you are doing.
