Starting Year: 2022;
Provenance: South Africa;
Container: Stone Slab;
Source: Cuttings.

Style: Forest;
Estimated Age: 5 years old.

This Taxodium distichum group is inspired by the design philosophy of the late Jan Teunis Klein, whose work influenced the overall composition. The arrangement depicts a miniature landscape: wooded banks on either side of a ravine or river, linked by a sentinel dead tree that spans the central divide. Planted on slate, the display emphasizes natural terrain, depth, and the dynamic interplay between living and dead elements.

Although the group is only three years old, it was carefully conceived to convey perspective, scale, and movement. Many of the individual trees were started from nursery stock in 2021, and the full composition was assembled in September 2022 as a demonstration for a bonsai club.

The design highlights the contrast between life and decay, with the sentinel deadwood serving as a focal point that unifies the living trees. Despite its youth, the group already communicates the principles of naturalistic bonsai, storytelling, and miniature landscape artistry, capturing the drama and serenity of a forested riverscape in miniature form.