Chinese juniper problems

[MiguelMC]

Hello everyone!
So I'm still fairly new to bonsai and so far I have been mainly working on deciduous trees so my experience with conifers has been quite null, I've been trying to research and learn as much as I can but one thing is studying the other is working on actual trees.
2 days ago, I saw a decent looking juniper on the opportunities bin on a nearby nursery and decided to take a chance on it, the only other real experience I had with a juniper was the one I posted on a thread earlier and in all fairness, it has not been great, but since this juniper came to me already a bit out of shape and since the only thing I was advised to do to it was let it grow, I decided to take a chance on this new one.
Quoting the miss understood Ilidan stormrage, I was not prepared...

I was trying for a semi cascade feel, since It suited the natural shape of the tree, I haven't touched the roots and only did so cleaning and pruning to her(yes its a her and her name is Jessica) I'm afraid I pruned a bit too much.
any suggestions on how to improve it? (other than working on my wiring skills xD)

Like thank you for any feedback all is welcomed

 

[Japonicus]

It's ok, and continue to NOT touch the roots having done much pruning this year.
What season are you in there now?
Not sure where you're going with the, now back facing left branch.
Let it grow on, then only wire come Autumn for most good bending.
That left branch...might it be wired to the left where a left branch was removed
or are you planning a jin there? If to jin, leaving the branch sacrificially a few more years
grown wildly, would present better subject to jin.

Should cut that eye poker off the top wiring...

 

[MiguelMC]

It's ok, and continue to NOT touch the roots having done much pruning this year.
What season are you in there now?
Not sure where you're going with the, now back facing left branch.
Let it grow on, then only wire come Autumn for most good bending.
That left branch...might it be wired to the left where a left branch was removed
or are you planning a jin there? If to jin, leaving the branch sacrificially a few more years
grown wildly, would present better subject to jin.

Should cut that eye poker off the top wiring...

we are in early spring atm here (it should be late winter but temperature rose quickly this year)
yeah on the left I was thinking about letting it grow and Jin it in a couple of years, the trunk is still quite slim, so I was thinking about keeping it a nursery pot for the coming years, maybe even go for a one of those air pots to help it grow.

aside from the pruning the tree looks fairly healthy and I was wondering if fertilizing was a good idea, normally I use 10-10-10 not sure if it isn't a bit too strong for this little baby.

 

[Japonicus]

Yes feed once obviously growing.
I repotted a procumbens nana last year a bit too early. Set it back an entire years worth of growth...
It was showing signs of growth on the foliage, but should have waited longer.
Pruning I would have waited, but should recover fine. Feed it well frequently, once frosts subside.

 

[Japonicus]

... I was thinking about letting it grow and Jin it in a couple of years, the trunk is still quite slim, so I was thinking about keeping it a nursery pot for the coming years...

This is backwards actually ^
So free roaming roots will thicken the girth, with extending free roaming foliage.
Can still be accomplished, but your cart was put in front of the horse this time.
Plant it in the ground in well amended soil, maybe even 50% grit. Could be chicken grower grit
for that matter which is crushed granite, which I buy at a local farm feed store or could uses 1/4" lava rock or similar.
Perlite is not good grit, too soft.

If you just cannot put it in the ground in full Sun light,
then a larger 3 gallon nursery pot could work next year.
Though the ground is far better in my opinion.
There's many options to grow it out. This is 2 of those.

 

[MiguelMC]

This is backwards actually ^
So free roaming roots will thicken the girth, with extending free roaming foliage.
Can still be accomplished, but your cart was put in front of the horse this time.
Plant it in the ground in well amended soil, maybe even 50% grit. Could be chicken grower grit
for that matter which is crushed granite, which I buy at a local farm feed store or could uses 1/4" lava rock or similar.
Perlite is not good grit, too soft.

If you just cannot put it in the ground in full Sun light,
then a larger 3 gallon nursery pot could work next year.
Though the ground is far better in my opinion.
There's many options to grow it out. This is 2 of those.

Thank you a lot for the input, ground at this point is not an option but I'll be getting some bigger nursery pots for the coming year.
Hopefully next in the coming years well be seeing Jessica grow into a fine look juniper xD

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I hear "junipers are the silly putty of bonsai" echoing somewhere. I can't remember who said it. But it echoed a long time in my mind. It made me decide to put that to the test.
I have whips like these, and I twist them up with wire and then let them grow for a few years. I did my wiring in winter, that's when the bark is kind of fixed to the trunk in junipers. In summer it slips off easily.

By twisting them up with wire, I allowed myself to get away from design-decisions for a while and just focus on 'keeping junipers'.
Please keep that option in mind! You don't have to design it as a cascade right now. I learned how flexible junipers can be because of this, and they're pretty flexible when wired correctly (the outside of the bend should be supported by the wire, otherwise your branch/trunk will snap). One of them even showed an entirely new design option I would have never imagined - to be honest I was going to throw it out because I felt that I couldn't see any options.
In a single afternoon of wiring and bending just 5 juniper whips, I learned a whole lot more than watching +/-8 hours of videos. In all honesty, my wiring skills still suck. But I'll have some interesting trunks in a few years, some of which can be air layered off, giving me even more to work with.

I really wish someone would have told me that a year ago. Then I'd have some pictures to show for it right now.

 

[0soyoung]

Well, you're in luck, Smoke did this year's ago in the "Yamadori style" thread.