(2007-2015) progression juniperus squamata meyeri

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Spring 2007, bought my first plant to build under guidance of my teacher in the nursery.
"tree" was 2 meters tall, branch selection and top jinned. Might come off in the future.
July 2007 4 sides.
1 july 2007.jpg 1 july2007.jpg 1july 2007.jpg 1july2007.jpg
 
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2011, refining the ten-jin
12011.JPG
may 2011
The biggest work for this species. Cleaning out the interior of dying needles. Then half a day work, now at least 10 full days, i must get slower when aging...
1may2011.JPG
February 2012. Pads starting to form.
1feb2012.JPG
 

justBonsai

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Awesome tree, looks great! Though this is merely a matter of opinion and I may be wrong, I find foliage pads to looks a lot cleaner and natural when the fine branching extends outwards such that the foliage hides the inner branching except when viewed at a low angle. That aside I really appreciate the photos showing the development of the tree.
 

sorce

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It probably could use a reduction on the right side where you see the bigger gaps in secondaries, right above the main branches.

That might get solved with bringing the pads down to hide the branches as bleu suggested.

It seems soon you could begin cutting cutting back to forks, getting a more evenly divided ramification.

But hell, the first thing I noticed in the last pic was the great balance of masses from low trunk, foilage and Jin, this is excellent.

Really awesome. I'd love to see the clean version.

Sorce
 

Giga

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VERY nice! I have to agree with bringing the foliage to more a pad like structure then a cloud kinda look that they have now.

Kinda like this one

bebb_gallery_driftwood_juniper_1.jpg

All in all very nice tree and I would love to have it on my benches :)
 
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20140210-1214-Japan-M.jpg

The right pad was less cut back last few years to keep the vigor in the branch and is a bit higher. It also depends on the type of juniper i guess. I understand the difference in look and i like both. I'll keep the suggestions in mind and will try to do something about it... Thanks for the comments.
 

Giga

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Very True-It's your tree and both styles are nice!
 

CWTurner

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Nice tree Dirk. To my eye the jinned top is too long and it accentuates the straightness of the top part of the tree. Were it mine, I would shorten the jin in a manner that suggests a more vertical top had been broken off.
 

thumblessprimate1

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A beautiful tree this is! I'm probably one of the least experienced, but I think the pads would look better with them wired and manipulated a bit. The longest branch stands out the most; the secondary and tertiary branches go up too abruptly at the outer end. There, light is more available on the sides so the branches would not have to compete upwards for light. At the crown and near there, it's more crowded and more natural for them to be sort of forced up as they are to find light.

I like the large jin at the top. I think it would look great as is or even a shorter, but that's just what I think in this point of my bonsai journey. However, I think this tree could use more deadwood in it's future. It's a huge trunk and deadwood shall increase it's character and dimension. It'll be a great focal point!
 
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The jin has a spiral in it, so in reality it's not that straight. When we styled it this way some years ago I wasn't sure if we would keep it. I guess my teacher won't say i have to get rid of it, and i'm not ready for it. A shorter version in meanwhile would be nice. I think we will introduce more deadwood if we keep it. Or lessen some deadwood when we get rid of it. For the pads, this species grows more upward than the rigida or communis, so the lines are less soft. I like the way your comments open up my mind. I've got some stuff to think about and i guess that's the reason for being here on a forum isn't it?
 

thumblessprimate1

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Yeah. Just chit chat amongst people of different walks of life. :) Did somebody bring the beer?
 

Chad D

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Did you create the spiral by heating and manipulating the Jin or that's the natural growth before you 'Jinned' it?
 
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Yeah. Just chit chat amongst people of different walks of life. :) Did somebody bring the beer?
I'm from Belgium so i could find some beer somewhere. Here are enough nuts for the nuts...
The spiral is dremeled in (don't know how else to expain). Adjusted a bit for the cracks after a few years.
 

drew33998

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not a bad progression but I must say I like the foliage in the 2008 photo. Much less dense looks less forced in that photo
 
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The photo from 2008 is the stage most bonsai enthusiasts are stuck and that's the reason why juniperus squamata is often referred to as "impossible" material. You don't see them around often because of that.
 

Djtommy

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Again a nice job, who is your teacher?
 
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