meet my Alpha procumbens

[Japonicus]

Good evening fellow Bonsai Nuts!

This is Alpha, my longest running bonsai of 20 years or so.
Few of my plants for bonsai do I name, but this one has been with me through hell and high water.
I made what I thought was a cold frame I guess 18 yrs ago in which I ignorantly baked nearly all of my collection. Maybe 15, 20 pieces?
I made a wooden frame and covered it with plastic. The floor also was this heavy mil plastic underneath wooden pallets that
I used for the perch. Between the wooden slats, I put my smallest beginner bonsai...THAT was key to survival of this bonsai.
These smaller pots fit down onto the plastic floor, which caught water. I didn't open the plastic often enough, and thought
they didn't need watering when I checked them but I was DEAD wrong! This is one that stood maybe 8" tall or less at the time.
My oldest picture goes back to my 2000-01 folder which was after the incinerator screw up.

So here's the timeline through 2009 pictures I have of it begins in 2000-01.

.
2001

2002 (on LEFT dark brown glazed pot)


2004


2009

2009

I did an hour or two work thinning it today and a few small jins as I went. I'll post pictures in the next post.
There's so much more to do, but that's the evolution of these plants.

 

[CWTurner]

Well I love that you kept the entire branch to jin, and not just a stub.
That first pic scared me. That ain't much of a bonsai, but you seem to have realized that.
Good looking tree.
CW

 

[TooCoys]

That first pic scared me. That ain't much of a bonsai, but you seem to have realized that.
Good looking tree.
CW

That first pic is a dream tree for some of us....

 

[Japonicus]

I don't find any pictures between 2009 and now of this juniper.
Doesn't mean I don't have any, I just can't find any.

I would love to see what Adair would do with this.
It is in a 13 x 9 ID mica pot. 16" above soil 21" on the slant and as deep.
Width I think is 24" and the trunk girth reflects my reverse approach to bonsai through the years
of potting up too soon and concentrating on the foliage.

None
of these pictures show any wire I can find. There has been some, but I've mostly trained this by pinch, and a snip or two lol.
I never knew I was probably pinching too much till joining BN.


Today before any work began


Back side before a little thinning with no work done since last Fall and little then at that


After a little "sprucing" up. Vinegar on the moss to pull in a couple days when I lime sulphur the jins


It's hard to believe how fast time goes by and lives unpleasantries can sap your focus and care for our bonsai.
I am happy it is still alive at this point, but today we began an increase in vigour.

 

[Japonicus]

Well I love that you kept the entire branch to jin, and not just a stub.
That first pic scared me. That ain't much of a bonsai, but you seem to have realized that.
Good looking tree.
CW

Thanks CWTurner!
Yeh I was worried then I would never get that top, heavy branch, in better ratio with the lower ones.
Bet heck that was after the last good wiring this tree had, to erect it.

 

[Japonicus]

That first pic is a dream tree for some of us....

Haha, it had to do something since that pic.
It has been in the same pot at least 9 years, probably more.
There's a chance, it may go right back into this mica pot when I do repot it.
I'm planning on next Spring, but we'll see. Once repotted, if the planting angle changes it will be wired, a little.

 

[Japonicus]

Well that didn't happen. I did not repot this year.
In this thread I discussed removing half or more of the bonsai in height.
That would leave me with 2 trees rather similar that I have, so for now I'm thinning.
I can remove in 5 years, 25 or more years of growth (years in my care).
@Adair M said I have thick pads, so I'll start with that, and wire it out later this Summer
early Fall.

This is just the 1st go of it this evening. I'm starting to be able to see some light coming through.


I will probably remove 2 good bonsai trees from this one before I'm done.
When I run into problems with what to remove and what to keep
I feel/move through the pad as if I were going to wire it and that helps a lot!

I have other junipers with better potential, but this is the oldest one I have,
so I will not stop learning with it yet. There's just some doggone nasty branches
doing stupid things I would love to see Bjorn fix.

 

[Hartinez]

Well that didn't happen. I did not repot this year.
In this thread I discussed removing half or more of the bonsai in height.
That would leave me with 2 trees rather similar that I have, so for now I'm thinning.
I can remove in 5 years, 25 or more years of growth (years in my care).
@Adair M said I have thick pads, so I'll start with that, and wire it out later this Summer
early Fall.

This is just the 1st go of it this evening. I'm starting to be able to see some light coming through.
View attachment 251643 View attachment 251647 View attachment 251645 View attachment 251646

I will probably remove 2 good bonsai trees from this one before I'm done.
When I run into problems with what to remove and what to keep
I feel/move through the pad as if I were going to wire it and that helps a lot!

I have other junipers with better potential, but this is the oldest one I have,
so I will not stop learning with it yet. There's just some doggone nasty branches
doing stupid things I would love to see Bjorn fix.

There is def a great tree in there, and with such history too! I could use Bjorns guidance on a number of my trees , but I think you’ve got this! Lately, I’ve really found that when I spend significant time addressing junipers, branch by branch, with great detail, and following simple rules, that my trees tighten up considerably.