Juniper jin advice

mdavis27

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So I have a large nursery juniper that I think would work well as a windswept planting. It has several trunks and needs to be cleaned up, but there are lots of opportunities for Jin and deadwood throughout.
My question is, when conceptualizing a windswept planting, would the Jin/deadwood necessarily need to go in the same direction as the other branches? Or is it just dealers choice? I feel like having a short nub or two point in the opposite direction would play well into the asymmetry. I tried looking online for some inspiration but haven’t seen much.
 

BonjourBonsai

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I think dead wood into the wind is, conceptually, a good idea if they can be kept with the windswept design. That is, the jins should look like branches that tried to grow into the wind and couldn't handle it but were shaped by the wind as they grew.
Tell the story.
 

mdavis27

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If they grew that way, and the wind killed them, how would they look?

Sorce
Good point. In my brain I was picturing a branch that tried to grow into the wind but was snapped off close to the trunk, leaving behind a Jin.
 

mdavis27

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I think dead wood into the wind is, conceptually, a good idea if they can be kept with the windswept design. That is, the jins should look like branches that tried to grow into the wind and couldn't handle it but were shaped by the wind as they grew.
Tell the story.
My thoughts exactly. Also, I can post pics a little later. Tried to take some last night but I didn’t do a very good job.
 

Shibui

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If the prevailing wind is strong and regular enough to create a windswept tree then few, if any branches would ever get large enough to create jin in that direction. Short nubs OK but not long dead branches IMHO
 

mdavis27

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Here are some pics (it’s raining so I went quickly). You can see how the tree is naturally reaching in one direction already, the main trunk on the left has doubled back over itself which is what initially drew me to the windswept design idea. The trunk in the middle has a decent curve in that direction as well. All of the uppermost branches seem to be stretching to the right pretty aggressively. It needs to be cleaned up for sure but I think it has the potential.
 

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Bonsai Nut

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Get yourself a pic that inspires you! The tree has a lot going on, and I could see how it would be easy to get lost in the details... because you don't have a clear vision. Windswept is one of my favorite styles... but it is very difficult to make look natural.

Windswept_bonsai_tree.jpg

(FWIW this is a penjing, but I keep the image as an amazing windswept style)
 

mdavis27

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Get yourself a pic that inspires you! The tree has a lot going on, and I could see how it would be easy to get lost in the details... because you don't have a clear vision. Windswept is one of my favorite styles... but it is very difficult to make look natural.

View attachment 338418

(FWIW this is a penjing, but I keep the image as an amazing windswept style)
Windswept to me would be the least traumatic to the tree since I wouldn’t really have to change direction. I’ll probably go one branch at a time until I have it cleaned up to my liking. Will definitely take some time.
 

Bonsai Nut

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The thing about jins and windswept... If it were to look natural, the trunk facing the wind will always be smooth, or else small tiny jins. To believe the wind, you have to assume it has always been there, and therefore a branch would never grow to any thickness on the windward side of the trunk.
 
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