kale
Shohin
Pretty much hate what I’ve done with this poor sabina. Anyone see any potential or have any ideas where I could go with it?
Juniper styling advice please!
- Thread starter kale
- Start date
bonsaichile
Omono
your tree looks unhealthy. I wiuld not do any styling until after a whole growing season to recover strength
kale
Shohin
Yeah the dead branches were cause by me wiring/bending them too harshly, otherwise its healthy.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Not meaning to be condescending but wiring branches should not kill them unless you do not know what you are doing. That's not a sin but; it is a correctable problem that is a sin to stubbornly ignore. There are a lot of resources on the net, Youtube videos, and on line tutorials to help you out. You really need to go there first. You have probably picked the wrong time of year to wire understanding the onset of winter is right around the corner. You should photograph you tree against a simple, uncluttered dark back ground with the tree well illuminated. We cannot help if we cannot see enough to comprehend the tree. Last point befor we get the predictable flood of posts informing you what a schmuck I am for telling you the truth, but Sabina Junipers are not the same as Chinese Junipers and you need to learn the differences and techniques for each which are not totally interchangeable.
If you take what I say to heart you will save about five years from the learning curve as to teaching yourself and being stubborn about you ideas. Been there done that.
If you take what I say to heart you will save about five years from the learning curve as to teaching yourself and being stubborn about you ideas. Been there done that.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
It's a poor variety for bonsai...I would start with that.
The trunk is too long
The foliage is stringy and does not get better
It needs to be shorter, or styled for the height of the trunk
The branches are too long and need to be shortened for the height of the tree.
Bonsai is not learned on one tree. After about thirty of them (no lie) you will start to get the hang of it. If you have talent for this. If you don't it may take 60 to get better. If you have done 60 and still not better than maybe bonsai is not a good hobby.
Now all the do gooders will come here and tell me what an ass I am that I have given harsh advice and tell you that you can do better he is just an ass. Do me a favor, ask anyone that comes here and tells you that I am harsh to post up their best tree. It will get silent in a hurry.
Don't stop, just buy more and work them. Don't ask for help here. None of it will help you...trust me. Just do it. Buy the material and just practise. Post them here and we will see the difference in each tree. I am sure of it. Just do it. Get a high quality bonsai book, even a Japanese one you can't even read and just look at the pictures. Take it to the bathroom, while you eat dinner, (your wife will love it!) You will begin to get a mental model in your head of what really great bonsai are supposed to look like. Your mind will start to convey that image in the work you do.
You won't know untill you try what I'm sayin!
The trunk is too long
The foliage is stringy and does not get better
It needs to be shorter, or styled for the height of the trunk
The branches are too long and need to be shortened for the height of the tree.
Bonsai is not learned on one tree. After about thirty of them (no lie) you will start to get the hang of it. If you have talent for this. If you don't it may take 60 to get better. If you have done 60 and still not better than maybe bonsai is not a good hobby.
Now all the do gooders will come here and tell me what an ass I am that I have given harsh advice and tell you that you can do better he is just an ass. Do me a favor, ask anyone that comes here and tells you that I am harsh to post up their best tree. It will get silent in a hurry.
Don't stop, just buy more and work them. Don't ask for help here. None of it will help you...trust me. Just do it. Buy the material and just practise. Post them here and we will see the difference in each tree. I am sure of it. Just do it. Get a high quality bonsai book, even a Japanese one you can't even read and just look at the pictures. Take it to the bathroom, while you eat dinner, (your wife will love it!) You will begin to get a mental model in your head of what really great bonsai are supposed to look like. Your mind will start to convey that image in the work you do.
You won't know untill you try what I'm sayin!
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
hmmm... I read Vance's post after mine. He was typing a little faster. There is two old timers telling you the same thing.
Heed the advice, you won't go wrong.
Heed the advice, you won't go wrong.
kale
Shohin
Ok thanks for the advice! Im thinking of putting it in the ground and ignoring it for a while.
kale
Shohin
Sounds good. I wired it like 2 months ago actually. I picked this one because I was looking for scaley foliage over the spikey kind but I’ll go back and look for a better species. Any recommendations?
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Procumbens, are more available and OK, but Shimpaku are premo. Buy the biggest ones you can afford. Stay away from the ones with spindly trunks and branches way up the trunk. I hate to post this but here it is: Think tree Daniel San. If you can find a tree that kind of looks like a bonsai you are a step or two ahead of the norm. No one but a professional with a large family to help with the grunt work will start with starter stuff and grow them up into bonsai. Most bonsai today are made from finding larger trees and cutting them down into smaller bonsai. If you find a three inch tree and you want to grow it into a bonsai figure about ten years per additional eight inches. I you start with a twenty-four inch tall tree you can have a 12" tall bonsai in two years if you know how to wire and have a modicum of talent. You make the decision.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Thats a good idea. I am an advocate of the "squashed juniper mentality". Wire it up with heavy gauge wire and start bending everything. Bend only "ONCE" and try to make the bend in fluid motions. Coil some of the branches like coiling up a extension cord and them plant it out and just let it grow, when you come back several years later you will have the bases of larger branches now with built in movement. You won't be keeping the whole silly coiled branch, but the movement started can then be carried forward onto making the branch better. Squash the juniper literally and compact it as much as it can stand. You will be quite impressed in a few years with what you get. The trunk on this plant was wrapped with raffia so as not to seperate the cambium from the wood.
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