Today, I am sharing a pair of apple trees I have been growing in bonsai form. Both of these trees were grown from the same apple seeds. If they ever reach maturity to bear fruit, the fruit on each tree will be different from the other, yet share some commonalities with their parent variety, Lucy Glo.
In my cover photo, the tree I styled this year to have a big back arching trunk curve. Later on, when it was long enough, I trained the other branch to arch outward by pinning the tip under the pot.
Many branchlets began to form all along the trunk, and I have been pinching them back to keep them as short as possible. This should thicken the trunk to hold this shape and encourage more backbudding to occur.
The interesting glazed pot for this tree I think pairs well with apple. When apple fruit forms, it tends to blush into different colors, similar to this pot.
This smaller apple tree was given a slight wiggle to the trunk this year.
My imagination runs wild when I look back at the photos. I see a the silhouette of a swan flying onto the surface of a pond (the blue pot helps stir the imagination to think of a water pond). The back branch almost looks like a raised wing or tail feathers.
If it were to continue to train the tree for the purpose of resembling a swan, I would be changing the nature of the tree drastically from a bonsai to a topiary.
A bit ironic, that the English and French prefer the animalistic topiaries, while the Japanese Bonsai masters scoff at this and prefer less formal shapes, wildly twisting trees in attempts to resemble its own true form. Japan loves anime and has a tradition of shamanistic spiritualism relating animal spirit forms to nature. Yet it is more of a western tradition to style trees into imaginative fantasy shapes.
Apple trees are not very ideal for topiary, as they form branches mostly on top, and large leaves. It can't be hedged like a boxwood or yew.
As a bonsai tree, I will need to keep considering how to best develop smaller branch divisions and pads, to encourage the shape of a natural tree in small form. Still, I think it will be fun to preserve the depiction of a swan evident in the trunk and first branch.
Photos in this post are all #originalworks by 
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Check out the "Stained-glass" tree in the reflection above the rose. With a slight levels adjustment, I exaggerated the shadowy backdrop of the tree over the blue cloudy sky.
Post Beneficiaries:
This is my way of thanking each of you for your friendship and support. By sharing my talents on Hive, I can also share to help with your needs.
Let my success also grant you some happiness too.
