Large informal upright Juniper styling

[MaineBonsaiEnthusiast]

Yesterday I bought by far the largest tree I've ever bought. I had been eyeing up this large 3ish foot juniper at my local nursery all summer and finally decided to pull the trigger. It looks like it's going to be the most technically challenging tree I've styled and I thought it might be fun to post progress pictures as I start cleaning it up. Opinions welcome once I start posting progress pictures. I definitely have my work cut out for me!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Just remember not to remove all the interior growth. Shorten the long branches outside, and remove dead stuff inside.

 

[MaineBonsaiEnthusiast]

Definitely agree with you 100% the foliage on the lower branches will definitely need to be rebuilt after shortening the ends. I was actually considering attempting some approach grafts seeing as theres so many longer whips. Any opinions on the best time of year to do that would be? Seeing as trees focus on vascular growth in the fall, would those types of wounds tend to heal faster?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Definitely agree with you 100% the foliage on the lower branches will definitely need to be rebuilt after shortening the ends. I was actually considering attempting some approach grafts seeing as theres so many longer whips. Any opinions on the best time of year to do that would be? Seeing as trees focus on vascular growth in the fall, would those types of wounds tend to heal faster?

Approach grafts take well in early summer.

 

[MaineBonsaiEnthusiast]

So, think I decided on a front for now. I really like the trunk line and the nebari are starting to flair pretty nicely. The first thing I did was remove all of the dead material and tried to get rid of any junction of 3 I could find. The issue that I've run into is that because this is nursery stock, all the runners were allowed to grow freely and it didnt leave a ton of interior growth as it was so overgrown. I saved what I could. I'm close to done with the lower branches on the right, they're mostly wired and put into place. There is a higher branch tucked behind the middle branch so it looks a little more cluttered then it will eventually. The empty branches at the bottom and middle left are going to be jins or removed eventually. The 2 branches I've set so far are obviously longer then I'd like but for now my goal is to fix any structural issues and make it look somewhat decent. My next decisions are the 2 main branches closer to the apex, the first picture being the reference point as the front. The branch on the left is longer but higher on the trunk. The right branch is lower on the trunk but I personally would like it to be shorter so it doesnt shadow the branches below it. I'm not sure if it's acceptable to have a higher branch be somewhat significantly longer then a branch below (if it's on the opposite side of the trunk) but I'm worried about shortening the left branch too much and losing that counter balance. We'll see .

 

[MaineBonsaiEnthusiast]

Looking at that first picture, I realize I decided to rotate the front of the tree a bit. It cleans things up. I'll take some more today with whatever progress I make.