Advice on this J. communis?

[Brain Treez]

I bought this juniper last winter and trimmed a few long straight branches off to see how it would respond (quite well). It was a vigorous grower this summer. Now that it's nearing winter again, it's branch bending time. I'm not looking to do anything too drastic at the moment. My plan is to get this potted in the spring, and since communis is notoriously picky about root work, I'm going to go slow. So, to the issue at hand. This juniper currently only has one viable branch to make a a tree out of, and I thinned out the very dense growth on it and wired some branches. However, the trunk has a long straight section that can go a few different ways (literally).

Here's the shrub:



And here's the tree I see:



Communis branches aren't exactly flexible, but these two points should probably be used to get some more interest and movement. A couple of quick mockups around these two points:





Branch placement can be changed obviously, but it feels like this trunk movement should be settled first. It would also be possible to make the blue bend toward the viewer's eye, which would help to shorten that section with less taper. I'm not planning on doing any foliage reduction until it shows signs of good recovering from the repot this coming spring.

I appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, or constructive criticism you all can provide!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You have a plan, it seems "do-able". Go for it.

I noticed you are in Oregon, your growing season is much longer than my Chicago-Milwaukee growing area. This over 200 day growing season does make your plan more "do-able".

Remember juniper rarely back buds on stems old enough to have bark. You might want to save some of the green interior buds for a few years just in case you change your mind about the design.

 

[Brain Treez]

You have a plan, it seems "do-able". Go for it.

I noticed you are in Oregon, your growing season is much longer than my Chicago-Milwaukee growing area. This over 200 day growing season does make your plan more "do-able".

Remember juniper rarely back buds on stems old enough to have bark. You might want to save some of the green interior buds for a few years just in case you change your mind about the design.

Any thoughts on the two bending options?

The second option is interesting, but would likely require eventual removal of most of the right side branch to use the new vertical one as the leader. It does introduce some nicer taper though.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Those bending options are going to take you two years, given that communis is as brittle as glass and that they can give up on very healthy branches if the sap flow is inhibited just a little.

I would consider using the lower right hand branch, the lowest one, to fold back towards the trunk and build the canopy right in front of the straight part. Should be easier to bend since it's less woody and it should in theory hide the straight flaw.

My communis have all died, the longest I've been able to keep one is 5 years. It's been growing well and was styled twice, but this year it went weak and died on me after I tried grafting some stronger juniper foliage onto the trunk.