This is a Picea abies, an ordinary spruce that I took up in the early spring of year 2000. The total width is 100 cm. The tree grew on a large rock and was easy to prey loose. On the other hand, it is very hard to salvage enough roots for an old spruce to survive, because the root system is very widely distributed. I collected as much roots as I could manage, even if the soil partly fell off. The whole root package was wound together and pushed into the planting pit in a garden bed. It took a long while for the buds to start developing but eventually most of them have now produced a new twig with nice new needles. I think this tree is really old and I will let it recover without touching the roots for at least two more seasons before moving it to a pot or a box.

The shape is very peculiar. What looks like the straight trunk is all dead since many years and all that is alive originate from three branches that emanates from the lower area of the trunk. The bark is fantastic and the branches have many interesting and dramatic bends. The problem is that the foliage is very far away from the center. I will concentrate most design effort on moving the foliage closer to the center and create a more compact design. The shape will never be able to be called anything but "free" or " natural". For the time being I will save the middle trunk as a jin.