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    To pinch or not to pinch...

    I was taught by experienced members at my bonsai workshop that pinching retards growth. I am now using scissors to prune down to barewood and prune to achieve compactness. so far it has been working - for me....just my limited experience.
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    how soon after juniper repot can I begin to wire and style

    no worries!!!:) we lads down under are a special breed. It is very hard to make a tree compact when you have to deal with a black hole everyday...
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    how soon after juniper repot can I begin to wire and style

    very funny :). my pots are all nailed, glued and cemented to the work bench. as are my wife and two children (we lost one to space last year).
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    how soon after juniper repot can I begin to wire and style

    Hi Brian, that is sensible advice. Gives me time to come up with styling ideas. cheers mate. Adrian
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    how soon after juniper repot can I begin to wire and style

    Hi,:D I just repotted a juniper shimpaku out of yucky soil and a into training pot filled with a coarse free draining mix. I used wire to secure it in the pot and I have it in a shady area and have been misting it daily. I didn't cut any roots but just raked out the roots a little and...
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    $20 Big Olive - style ideas? where to from here

    Hi everyone, thanks for the great advice. it isn't spring for a few months so I have time to mull this tree and any potential design over. Zach - thanks for your input and detailed response. your suggestions will go into the bag of potential ideas/plans for this tree. Stacey - a...
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    $20 Big Olive - style ideas? where to from here

    cheers Judy, the idea of a short fat tree is appealing. will just have to wait until spring when growth begins. should be fun! thanks again Adrian
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    $20 Big Olive - style ideas? where to from here

    Hi :D I aquired this large olive tree last week at my bonsai workshop for $20AUS. It was originally a demonstration tree that was used to show carving techniques. hence, the front of the tree has a large weathered scar for its entire length. I think this can be incorporated in the design...
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    New Shimpaku - help with choosing a front

    Thanks Ang3lfir3 (try saying that 10 times ;). I changed my profile to reflect my location. here in West Oz we have a pretty temperate climate with frost free winters (at least where I live on the coast) and very hot and dry summers. Needless to say, my water bill sky rockets in summer. I have...
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    New Shimpaku - help with choosing a front

    Thanks for all your input :) this tree was a good price from a small nursery who grows on a small scale. I have paid 3 times that much for younger less developed stock so I tend to go back to find more stuff. it has flaws such as pom-pom foliage but you work with what you've got. I am no...
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    New Shimpaku - help with choosing a front

    Hi all, I acquired this Juniper Shimpaku a little while back for a very good price (see photos below). As a relative beginner my judgement was that it was quite a nice little tree. Certainly one that I could develop over time. I haven’t done anything with this tree save looking after it and...
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    Ficus Benji - bonsai prospect

    the previous owner allowed the tree to get root bound and unfortuantely the root structure isnt very even so its hard to base a front on roots as I had to do a re pot and root prune as they were all over the place. So I will consider the current view as front. as for a vision, not really sure...
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    Ficus Benji - bonsai prospect

    Thanks for the comments Ed. Do you think that there is any particular direction to take this tree - i.e wiring. trimming etc. some of the branches I think are too long and pointing in the wrong directions and are in the wrong place. Cheers Adrian
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    Ficus Benji - bonsai prospect

    I bought this fig (benjamina i think) a while back. I've defoliated and cleaned up the roots and now I am wondering how to style this tree. the tree is about 2.5 in at the base and to me appears to taper up nicely so I am happy with its size. I dont want to chop it in anyway and I already...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi Vance, I think also this may bring me to the subject of choosing suitable material in the first place. Perth (West Australia) has such a small bonsai community that there are only a couple of nurseries that sell starter material. To tell you the truth, I didn't really look closely enough at...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi Brian, thanks very much for your thoughts and advice. I didn't even consider an alternative trunk line to be honest. I read somewhere that beginners like myself are often stuck because they haven't seen or experienced enough trees to easily see the tree inside the pre-bonsai. Regards the...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi Vance, thanks very much for taking the time to reply and critique my Juniper very constructively. All your points make sense and I will definitely get another juniper and apply the concepts you outlined. Now that you have pointed it out, I see what you mean about proportions re trunk...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi, this is my first attempt at working this Juniper Foemina. I re-applied most of the wiring but am yet to finish the larger branch in question. For now I put a guy wire on it until I can get some thicker gauge wire. I think that I took off too much foliage which has resulted in most of the...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    sounds about right to me....:)I will re-wire this tree using thicker wire and better technique as described above. I really appreciate all the input and ideas everyone has taken the time to put forward. Its my first tree so I am excited about practising my wiring and branch placement etc. to...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi Vance, thanks for taking the time to respond. below are two photos of my first ever tree..one shows the overall tree and my very rudimentary shaping and then other is the springy branch. I stupidly snapped branch number twq so i had to make it a jin. lesson learned.
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi Victrinia good point. I'll get some photos up. Just remember, its my first tree so expect some glaring mistakes ! cheers Adrian
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Thanks so much Victrinia fore your help. The branches I am trying to bend are around 1 in thick and I would like to get movement down from close to the trunk or indeed at the junction of the trunk and branch. They are the number 1 and 2 branches and are extremely springy. If you have time to...
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    Bending unwilling branches -

    Hi all, I am in the process of styling my first Juniper (Foimosa) and have hit problems bending the thicker branches. they are very spring and I have tried two strands of 3 mm wire with little to no effect. I have read about using guy wires, and in one of my books, there is detailed...
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    First Juniper - initial wiring/styling

    Hi Mysto, thanks for the feedback. I still have a lot of wiring to do on this tree so I will keep your comments in mind. cheers Adrian
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    First Juniper - initial wiring/styling

    Hi BB, thanks for the compliment. I have been practising my wiring quite a bit but I obviously so much to learn in Bonsai! the problem I have with this tree is that the branches are really springy as the tree is a few years old (not sure how old) so its hard to get movement in the lower...
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