Cal juniper #2

Dwight

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Well I'm at it again. Can't get enough native junipers. Got trhis friom OC Bionsai in orange county , Cal. It has been in captivity for a long time but was just poted up in April. I received it at the beginning of Oct. It's about 30" tall and seems quite healthy. So far I can imagine one long hanging branch but then I get lost. It needs to sit for a couple of years and just grow anyway. Ideas and suggestions , virts and drawings welcome
 

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Brian Underwood

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Sweet! I think I would bend the main branch in pic 1 down as far as possible to shorten the tree and go from there. I definitely see a hanging branch in it's future as well!
 

Attila Soos

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This is a good material, but very challenging. It will need some seriously advanced techniques, to bring it to full potential.

Hanging branches are one part of the solution. Usually, a lot of these junipers have only a few branches on the top third, so they have to be brought down all the way, and mimic braches on the way down. You just need a few years' worth of growth, because right now the branches are too short to form those hanging branches. But you can start bending them now, in the right direction.

One caveat when bending the branches downward: make sure that the tip of the branch is bent upward. This way, they don't lose strenght, and grow much faster.

The other thing you can do, concerns the last portion of the trunk. It can be made into a branch - a very important branch. But right now, it's too thick to be bent downwards. At the current position it is useless, because it is a continuation of the trunk. So, what you have to do, is to separate the live vein from the wood, wrap it with raffia, and THEN you can bend it downwards, creating a nice branch. It is a very difficult technique, and you can easily kill the branch if you don't protect the live vein. But if done correctly, you create a branch of major importance. Mind you, that I've never done this, although I've seen it done many times in Japanese publications. And I would certainly try, if given the chance.
 
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Poink88

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Very nice material!

Ever considered grafting a branch around mid-length after the left curve (as seen on 2nd pic)?
 

Poink88

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I can also see the live vein separated from the dead wood (top of branch) and bent.

...for advanced bonsaist (not me) :D
 

Dwight

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Gee guys why don't you give me somthing hard to do. Think I'll wait for a workshop.
 

bonsaibp

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Nice little CA. I would use the 2nd pic for the front jin the left apex and create a crown out of the right hand branch.
Both of these were created from one branch from the top of the tree. Sorry about pic quality I didn't want to have to uncable them and move them back and forth.
file-69.jpg


file-68.jpg
 
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