SmallTreeGuy

Yamadori
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Hello everyone,

I’m having a rather difficult time choosing a front on this Juniper. It has a beautiful curved trunk and great taper. I also need a little help choosing which branches to trim and which to keep. I was thinking about a possible a semi cascade with it by repositioning the tree on a slant.

But ultimately I’m at a loss at where to proceed and in what direction to take it, I like the way the trunk leaves the ground almost sideways in the 3rd picture making it a little more dramatic. So that’s my top choice for the front so far. Any help would be much appreciated and I’m very open to opinions and suggestions!
 

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Adamski77

Shohin
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Always difficult with junipers on the picture... based on what you posted though I would also opt for 3rd picture. Two caveats... (1) third picture has this straight section right after the first bend... not a drama but maybe twisting few degrees left/right could help... maybe changing angle little bit (2) you probably would need directional branch going to the right out of that straight section... currently foliage quite far away so will need to heavily bend some branches or push the foliage to the middle (back budding/grafting).

Regardless of which front you take it's a nice trunk and will require pushing growth closer to the trunk regardless... but very interesting little guy...
 

Potawatomi13

Imperial Masterpiece
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Eugene, OR
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First things first. How long tree with you? Tree just repotted? If so how much rood damage/removed? Surface rootage largely determines front of tree. How do surface roots look under dirt🤔? Many questions need answers before proceeding.
 

Shibui

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It is really difficult to assess any tree from 2D pictures and not knowing if any branches are flexible enough to move.

One of the big problems with newer growers assessing trees is there's almost always several possible trees hiding in there. That makes it difficult to make the decision so procrastination is the easier option. I discovered many years ago that procrastination does not develop bonsai. Workshop leaders and other experienced bonsai people seem to be able to make decisions easily. I've discovered the reason is that they have no vested interest so don't care which style to follow with any tree. When confronted with a tree that has several good options the secret is to make a decision. Any decision. Toss a coin if you have to but decide which tree to make and get on with it. There's no wrong answer and the bonsai will not develop until you have made that initial choice.

Choice of front is usually a compromise between the best roots, best trunk line and best branching. Sometimes all 3 coincide but usually you'll need to move branches or compromise between best roots and best branches, etc.
For the tree above I also like the trunk line shown in pic 3 and 4. I think that's the best side for a cascading style when the trunk is tilted to the left provided the roots will allow such a strong tilt left. Depending how stiff the branches are and where there's side branches to shorten the long ones I would investigate following the trunk and branch indicated in red on this virt. The final branch would need to be bent down to follow the cascade theme if possible I think but I can't do that with the software and skills I have.
juniper 3c.png

Good luck with the decisions.
BTW, if that juniper has been recently repotted I would not be doing and more styling until it has had a chance to recover. Probably next spring for you.
 

ShadyStump

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I am a fan of the graceful curve presented in the first pic. A sort of windswept literati.
Green is my first choice, but if you're still leaning toward something more cascade, change directions where the that line branches as shown in purple.
450447-4f7cef74b3886a0790ae8c3b34b2de4a (1).jpg
I am a very strong proponent of following where the tree wants to go, and this seems to be that direction.
 
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