Breaking my head over this juniper

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I bought a Juniperus Chinensis var. Blaauw last winter. I came straight from the field, almost bare rooted. I gave it a tiny wooden box and it didn't skip a beat in spring.
It's been growing for the entire summer. I've wired it a little to open it up, removed some grayish weak growth covered in scale, treated against scale. In fall I struck cuttings from the runners.


Leaning to the left is side A, leaning to the right is side B.

I bought this tree mainly because I want to use the foliage for grafting, and this is a cheap donor. But I believe it can be both a good donor as well as a nice - absolutely not great! - practice tree. I certainly see some limitations and the straight parts aren't easy on the eye either.
For some reason however, I have a lot of difficulty making design decisions on this one. I'm fine with growing it out for another year, it doesn't have to be styled at all.


My first impression would make me want to do something like below..

But that would be rather boring wouldn't it?

Your input would be appreciated! Please do go wild with the virtuals if you have the time.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Arnold_K]

How about this, wires_ .... ? ...

 

[Orion_metalhead]

It looks like the right branch in your side A view has inverse taper. I might intend this branch to be the jinn, and use the other branch as your main trunk line. Perhaps wire the bigg right branch down and twist it in front to bisect the otherwise straight trunk line, then pull the left side branch over towards that side and develop further.

Red is jinn/shari branches
Green is the left branch wired over and grown as possible new apex.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

How about this, wires_ .... ? ...

View attachment 275341

That's a really nice virtual, thanks! It is more or less what I'm going for. Good inspiration, i like the dropping branch on the right, thanks again!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It looks like the right branch in your side A view has inverse taper. I might intend this branch to be the jinn, and use the other branch as your main trunk line. Perhaps wire the bigg right branch down and twist it in front to bisect the otherwise straight trunk line, then pull the left side branch over towards that side and develop further.

Red is jinn/shari branches
Green is the left branch wired over and grown as possible new apex.

View attachment 275342

Thanks Orion, I appreciate you taking the time for me. I hope you don't take this the wrong way: I just think that this design is real hard to pull off decently. I am honestly not skilled enough to go this extreme. I have a developing juniper on which I'm trying something similar though. That specimen is half as thick and way more flexible. These blaauws have trunks and branches that are very woody, causing them to snap, even when wrapped in raffia. I'm working on a triple trunk one, roughly the same size and I had to patch snapped bark up with parafilm more than six times after a single wiring.
They say sabina junipers are the worst, but I feel urged to disagree when I compare them with these blaauws. The blaauw does have nice foliage though, I've seen them labeled as kishu and nobody at Noelanders noticed.

 

[Hartinez]

I think your spot on with your original plan @Wires_Guy_wires . Jinning the branch your showing in your mockup gives the tree the best movement available for the live trunk.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I dont take things any way! I think if you expect that this tree will never amount to something special, then why not push it to try your hand at something more extreme?

But if you feel branches will snap or break, so be it. Maybe you would have to wire it in several movements instead of all at once?

It can always be a producer of cuttings if it doesnt work out.

 

[Hartinez]

Sketch may be embellished a bit. But this is what I’m seeing, in continuing the idea you presented in your original mockup.

 

[TN_Jim]

Here’s a stab at it..

Blue: Wired up as new leader/future apex

Red: Remove

Yellow: Jin or remove

Green: Raffia, severe bend down and out

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

I’m bored at work.

I see trunk taper in the form of a formal upright. I can’t tell if you have branches where you’d want them but there’s ways to deal with that. Maybe you’ll get some back budding on the new trunk.

Tilt and prune... You may not need to prune as hard as my red marks indicate (again, it’s hard to see). Jins are always an option.

You get the idea. Good luck.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thanks for the input guys! It's good to see that there are a few options I haven't considered yet.

 

[sorce]

I think we spend too much time designing what's there in 3D, ignoring time.

Since we are always sailing in that 4th Dimension, we should design a tree with what's not there.

I wouldn't cut anything, but also, begin designing the tree from only that first branch.

When the lowest segment is 3 times as fat, and that first branch is catching up, you can start reducing that uneccesary top.

Maybe you can bend that low segment with some rebar and end up with a start like this....

Drill a hole for that right bar to go thru to pin the base, tie the left one to the top of the box, and step on the green circle.
It'll be easier to make that bend with the current leverage.

Sounds like this thing hasn't even really grown grown yet, this shouldn't take too long.
Might be early for the bending, maybe fall.
Let the roots run more.

Sorce

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

Sounds like this thing hasn't even really grown grown yet

Has it grown grown?
There’s nothing in the pic to identify size/scale.

 

[sorce]

There’s nothing in the pic to identify size/scale.

Sounds like

I bought a Juniperus Chinensis var. Blaauw last winter. I came straight from the field, almost bare rooted. I gave it a tiny wooden box and it didn't skip a beat in spring.
It's been growing for the entire summer. I've wired it a little to open it up, removed some grayish weak growth covered in scale, treated against scale. In fall I struck cuttings from the runners

Sorce

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

^ya, all of that^

Has it grown grown?
There’s nothing in the pic to identify size/scale.

Let me rephrase:

@Wires_Guy_wires can we get something for scale? And has it grown grown? @sorce is right, it sounds like this thing hasn’t grown GROWN yet.

sounds

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It has grown, a couple of inches on every branch. But as I've said, I cut those off to make cuttings. Also to chase growth back a little, I didn't want the nice foliage close to the trunk to die off.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think we spend too much time designing what's there in 3D, ignoring time.

Since we are always sailing in that 4th Dimension, we should design a tree with what's not there.

I wouldn't cut anything, but also, begin designing the tree from only that first branch.

When the lowest segment is 3 times as fat, and that first branch is catching up, you can start reducing that uneccesary top.

Maybe you can bend that low segment with some rebar and end up with a start like this....View attachment 275681

Drill a hole for that right bar to go thru to pin the base, tie the left one to the top of the box, and step on the green circle.
It'll be easier to make that bend with the current leverage.

Sounds like this thing hasn't even really grown grown yet, this shouldn't take too long.
Might be early for the bending, maybe fall.
Let the roots run more.

Sorce

I did something similar to a scopulorum last year, it did only compact the wood from the constant pressure, no bends possible.

As for scale, this juniper is roughly two index fingers in thickness, roughly a 50cm in size.

I wouldn't go designing on an unhealthy plant that was still restoring.

 

[Japonicus]

How about this, wires_ .... ? ...

View attachment 275341

@Arnold_K I love your virtuals. What software are you using and do you use a touch screen you can draw on?
How do you cut and paste a branch? I'm in the market to get some photo software since Nikon refuses to update
their software for my D7000 I've had several years now. Now the software won't even load with the new 64 bit OS I have.

 

[Arnold_K]

@Japonicus

First:
Thank you for your nice compliment! I really appreciate that.

Second:
I am not a professional art-designer or something like that,
rather a self-taught enthusiast. (Same according to Bonsai ...)
Thus I am using a very simple (and cheap) software named Photoimpact X3
from COREL.
And no, I am not using a touchscreen.
'Just using the old mousepad-thing onboard my laptop.
There is no "tool-magic" behind my humble virt-attempts ...
Cutting and pasting a branch is not a science as well.
The software provides a very effectiv selection-tool with an intelligent "Lasso-mode".
Particularly in this case of a virtual I should have spend more time.
One can do this better, buta ...