Opinions on my Literoti

LeonardB

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I had my first Literoti workshop and transformed what I thought was a juniper with promise into the best in class.
I hope to let this grow for a while to let the pads fill out a bit but think I stumbled across a future show winner.
What do you all think?
Regards,
Leonard
 

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LeonardB

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They had you remove a lot of foliage...juniper tend to need foliage for health and is gradually removed. I think it looks like a great direction...just hope it doesn't decline from that much foliage mass being removed.
I understand and had the same concern. The understanding was that the live vein that was left fed the foliage that was left exclusively so that all the tree resources could be channeled to that. The rest was reduced to deadwood from the other live vein ( except for a small branch close to the other main foliage pads to be incorporated later ) so little or no energy would be taken away.
Leaving the remaining foliage to receive all the energy from the roots and causing a huge growth potential ( increasing the foliage and increasing photosynthetic activity).
Geeze, I hope I didn't read the book wrong?
Leonard
 

Adair M

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I understand and had the same concern. The understanding was that the live vein that was left fed the foliage that was left exclusively so that all the tree resources could be channeled to that. The rest was reduced to deadwood from the other live vein ( except for a small branch close to the other main foliage pads to be incorporated later ) so little or no energy would be taken away.
Leaving the remaining foliage to receive all the energy from the roots and causing a huge growth potential ( increasing the foliage and increasing photosynthetic activity).
Geeze, I hope I didn't read the book wrong?
Leonard
The foliage creates the energy. Foliage is the tree's solar panel.
 

LeonardB

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The foliage creates the energy. Foliage is the tree's solar panel.
Adair,
True, and the foliage for that vein has been disturbed very little and normal process should be maintained. The present spring growth push should promote even more foliage to the remaining live branches, and as the new foliage matures and starts it's energy conversion the tree will thrive even more ( in theory ) .
I found this tree in an old growth section of a nursery and the soil only half filled the three gallon pot ( and it had been laying on it's side for years ). Cleaning the dead and wasted growth took most of the size down and reducing to one live vein to make it into a literati was to give it the design it's growth pattern warranted.
More photo's as the tree recovers.
 

Adair M

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Adair,
True, and the foliage for that vein has been disturbed very little and normal process should be maintained. The present spring growth push should promote even more foliage to the remaining live branches, and as the new foliage matures and starts it's energy conversion the tree will thrive even more ( in theory ) .
I found this tree in an old growth section of a nursery and the soil only half filled the three gallon pot ( and it had been laying on it's side for years ). Cleaning the dead and wasted growth took most of the size down and reducing to one live vein to make it into a literati was to give it the design it's growth pattern warranted.
More photo's as the tree recovers.
There's no need to use a pond basket on a Juniper. They make fibrous roots on their own.

You would be better off using something shallower so that you would eventually be able to put it into a pot suited for literati.
 

Daluke

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I like what you have done so far.

What season is it?

I imagine when it fills out you are going for something like this?
 

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Dorian Fourie

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Really great effort and well done. I love literati and you definitely have a fantastic start. I hope you haven't removed to much foliage and it recovers nicely.

My only concern is the circled branch which I feel is just too straight. You have such great movement on the trunk up to that section and then it is such a straight piece. Maybe think of wiring that section and try to put in some movement into that. Doesn't have to be too much but just enough to make the difference.
1234.jpg
 

LeonardB

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There's no need to use a pond basket on a Juniper. They make fibrous roots on their own.

You would be better off using something shallower so that you would eventually be able to put it into a pot suited for literati.
Adair,
I understand your observation and appreciate your reference to a shallower pot.
My initial concern was that the state of the tree after sitting neglected for so long was to bring back the vigor it should have ( even though it seemed to be thriving in the state it was in when I found it ). The roots actually present were actually less than 4 inches deep already and I thought to promote more lateral root growth so that next spring when I repot ( into the shallower pot ), I could prune the dead roots away without threat to the plant health.
It is also in bonsai soil now and I hope to acclimate the tree to that before the repot next year as well. I am trying not to make too many moves too quickly that could jeopardize the tree ( that doesn't mean I won't ).
Thanks for your counsel.
Leonard
 

LeonardB

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I like what you have done so far.

What season is it?

I imagine when it fills out you are going for something like this?
More like this...
It is a literati after all is said and done and they typically display more sparse foliage development ( I think? ).
 

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LeonardB

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Really great effort and well done. I love literati and you definitely have a fantastic start. I hope you haven't removed to much foliage and it recovers nicely.

My only concern is the circled branch which I feel is just too straight. You have such great movement on the trunk up to that section and then it is such a straight piece. Maybe think of wiring that section and try to put in some movement into that. Doesn't have to be too much but just enough to make the difference.
View attachment 145043
Dorian,
Good observation and I agree.
The problem with doing that now is associated with the one remaining live vein in that area. My thought was to let the tree recover and thrive and then reduce the deadwood in that section ( which is behind and not visible to the observer ) allowing the branch to be more easily bent and wired to refine the design later.
Thanks for your input.
Leonard
 

Adair M

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Adair,
I understand your observation and appreciate your reference to a shallower pot.
My initial concern was that the state of the tree after sitting neglected for so long was to bring back the vigor it should have ( even though it seemed to be thriving in the state it was in when I found it ). The roots actually present were actually less than 4 inches deep already and I thought to promote more lateral root growth so that next spring when I repot ( into the shallower pot ), I could prune the dead roots away without threat to the plant health.
It is also in bonsai soil now and I hope to acclimate the tree to that before the repot next year as well. I am trying not to make too many moves too quickly that could jeopardize the tree ( that doesn't mean I won't ).
Thanks for your counsel.
Leonard
Obviously I was not there when you repotted, so I don't know what you did. But, you can cut dead roots off without compromising health! Lol! They're already dead!

To introduce a nursery tree to bonsai soil, the best way is to do a "half bare root repot". The process is well documented in the forum. Search for "HBR".
 

LeonardB

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Obviously I was not there when you repotted, so I don't know what you did. But, you can cut dead roots off without compromising health! Lol! They're already dead!

To introduce a nursery tree to bonsai soil, the best way is to do a "half bare root repot". The process is well documented in the forum. Search for "HBR".
Adair,
You're right about the dead roots of course. What I meant to say was that the roots there were so tightly packed ( because of the age and sparse soil in the pot ), that I hesitated to pry them apart more for fear of damaging them irreversibly. I aerated them as much as I could by poking holes where possible in the root mass and then potted them with the original soil that was left with the bonsai soil all around ( and in the voids that had been created ) hoping for a root proliferation. Next year I hope to aerate even more while reducing the pot as well.
I have included a photo of the base of the tree showing how much was really left in the original nursery pot. I stared at it for the longest time amazed at how it had grown to such proportions after all it's years in that pot.
Thank you for your continued support.
Leonard
 

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LeonardB

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Nice piece of material, cool trunk movement. I like it.
Hope it doesn't conk out on you....
Last time I removed that much foliage from a juniper....well....r.i.p.
I couldn't agree more except...
Originally, I couldn't understand why this thing was still living at all ( let alone thriving ). It was laying on it's side in a pot that wasn't even 1/3 rd full of nursery soil ( and can't tell you how long it sat like that as well).
When I removed it from the pot it puzzled me even more with the sparseness of the root ball compared with the size of the plant.
At best, I have added to the soil and re-positioned it upright to receive the sun better. I also removed dead growth and unnecessary branches that caused the tree stress.
With all that was improved it will recover even healthier that before ( I hope ).
 

LeonardB

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Looks great Leonard!
Thanks Mike.
I hope to bring this to the Four Seasons Club show in August for more input.
Are you attending the Meijers Garden show in GR this weekend? I can only make it Saturday but hope to see you. My wood carving has progressed to the point of offers from other bonsai nuts. I would love to show you some of my phoenix grafts as well.
Regards,
Leonard
 
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