Cascades are just a higher level of bonsai technique. Not impossible, just more "complicated". The big issue is balancing growth vigor. There is much discussion about balancing vigor in pine bonsai, well, when you throw a cascade onto any species, balancing vigor is a big issue. The parts of the tree above the rim will monopolize the tree's resources. The branches below the rim of the pot will always be weaker. So when creating a cascade with species that normally don't have a lot of issues about balancing vigor, making them a cascade means that you will be constantly concerned about vigor and balancing growth.
As to your juniper. Almost all of the good to great cascade bonsai the trunk exits the ground at a slant. They almost never start with a bolt upright trunk as you have in this juniper. So if you plan on keeping the upright trunk, forget the cascade. If you want to slant the trunk at least 30 degrees off vertical, maybe more, then you could make that branch cascade.
Generally you prune a cascade so that the cascading branch becomes the dominant feature of the tree. If you made this juniper a cascade almost everything "above the rim" will have to go. You have this juniper pretty far down the road as an upright, changing to cascade now would likely just ruin the tree. It would not be good.
Ok that's how I'm seeing it too. I went ahead in the meantime and made the sacrifice branch into a cascade to see what it put on the table.
Now, again, for others that may confuse your response with the original cascade in this thread with the "Sargents" I asked about here
I've brought another tree into the thread, which can be confusing.
The Sargents is a robust juniper that can get really unruly really fast!
Now I know some of these jins have to go, probably both right ones...could use a cue on that too.
The loop is awkward, but I'm at the cascade point and address the jins as well here for today.
I thinned SOME and shortened the branches some. Getting too late in the year to do more on my bench. July I would have been a bit harder on it
but it's been sitting on the sidewalk catching all the spider mites it could in a neglected fashion.
So this is a 1st wiring and direction for a cascade on this. Not too bad really for 2 pieces of wire.
Bends more easily than procumbens nana, but makes some long straight secondary branches that are void of taper when not worked.
Prime example, the main cascade branch forks inside the pots rim. The right fork has several little branches that look rather barren but do have
buds at the base.
changing to cascade now would likely just ruin the tree
Yeh it's 2 trees. This is ugly. The upright part,
never had good low branching was never properly styled before it was too late
and my experience level just couldn't do well with anything below what was kept at that time.
The loop/arc will be made more level when it is pruned off, and will use what foliage exits at more of a horizontal plane.
For now, it is holding the branch in place for the Winter. I cannot bend the branch much lower without notching it
and have decided to work with and around the flaw of the upright type of fork in the trunk.
But yeh, one has to go. There is some rot at the base of the shari at the top off the nebari.
Getting lime sulphur tomorrow. I hate to end the post with that last picture
Very hard for me to describe the peculiar odor this type of juniper emits. I have a really nice one in ground but heavily unruly
and has poison ivy in it.
