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Bonsai journeys - a project tree - Weeping Silver Birch

Spring through to Autumn 2018 This project commenced as a self-seeded Silver Birch in my nursery collection when it started to gain a naturally drooping style over others from the same year. You can see the material in the first image compared to a more traditional slanting image I was creating with another tree of the same age. I would estimate these seedlings started bonsai training in 2015. It was sensible at the time to aid the drooping more with wire - although this would become quite an intensive task in the years to come.
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By the summer, image 3 shows the rich growth achieved as it was planted in an oversized pot, then compare its style to the fuller-sized material in my garden subject to another project elsewhere on these pages. The bottle of red wine in the lower right gives an idea of scale.
Although not one of the recognised formal styles in bonsai cultivation, one rule that bonsai growing has instilled in me is "there are no rules" - just variations based on peoples preferences and taste. If a tree looks naturally beautiful and is a smaller version of what you might see in the natural world, then it tells a story - and trying to mimic larger tree cousins is an enjoyable aspect of this hobby without having fear you are breaking golden rules.

Below: fully rewired and repotted in early February 2020 before bud burst.
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