Procumbens Nana Styling

[JoeR]

Hello,

I am new to this website as well as to bonsai. I recently bought this young Juniper bonsai, and have a few questions about styling. It's trunk is about 1cm in diameter and the tree is roughly 7 inches in height and 11 inches in width. I believe the original owner was aiming for a semi cascade bonsai. I don't think the pot it is currently in is suitable for that style, and I personally imagine something better suited to this tree than a cascade style. The second image is drawn to scale, and it is what I envision of the tree. The first image is the tree, showing the trunk and the odd 'bend' the original owner had put into it.The tree has not been touched since I got it, and thus has not been trimmed in a few months and allowed to grow freely.
Is the vision obtainable? Will unbending that 'U' leave a scar? Any other Ideas on how to train/style it? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Joe

 

[Paradox]

Pictures would be very helpful, yours didnt come out. Also add your location to your profile so we can give appropriate advice.

 

[JoeR]

Pictures would be very helpful, yours didnt come out. Also add your location to your profile so we can give appropriate advice.

Not sure why you couldnt see the photos, but it should be fixed.

 

[M. Frary]

Umm. Nope. No pictures.

 

[Vance Wood]

I believe that there is a tutorial on the site somewhere on posting pictures. However; if your photos are not one of the recognized formats you will not succeed. JPEG is the best and most common.

 

[jasonpg]

It looks like you're trying to post URLs from your e-mail account ... those won't work for us, because we're not logged into your e-mail account

 

[JoeR]

Sorry, I will find the tutorial tomorrow. Its kind of hard because the only way to get images off my phone and on my computer is to email them.

 

[jasonpg]

Sorry, I will find the tutorial tomorrow. Its kind of hard because the only way to get images off my phone and on my computer is to email them.

If they're on your computer, you can upload them to your post. Look for the section called "Attachments" under "Additional Options" when you're creating a new post or replying.

 

[JoeR]

If they're on your computer, you can upload them to your post. Look for the section called "Attachments" under "Additional Options" when you're creating a new post or replying.

Thanks, I got it finally

 

[M. Frary]

Every photo I post comes directly from my phone. Works great.

 

[M. Frary]

You could wire or stake it upright. I would use a stake. I havea couple that are staked up and when I get home II'll post a picture or two. They started out like yours. I also have them in buckets for growing purposes. This way sometime in the future they may grow trunks that are fat and juicy. Fat and juicy is always superior to skinny.

 

[october]

Welcome JoeR. A couple of things worth mentioning. Looking at your pics, it appears there might be a health issue with the is tree. Pic 2 seems to show the front of the tree is dead. Notice it is a different color. It is faded and dry looking. This could be a spider mite problem. If you gently shake and move the foliage over a white piece of paper and you see little dots crawling around, it is mites. Which means the tree will need to be sprayed with some pesticide. If it is a not a mite problem, that means the tree is struggling due to root issues or other factors. Junipers take a long time to die. In other words, sometimes they have been dead for about a month and you won't even know it. That being said, this tree probably should not have any work done to it. Unhealthy trees should not be worked on. Also,this tree is really too young to do anything to. The best advice is to get the tree healthy and let it grow for maybe 3 years. Then a styling plan can be formed.

I realize that some of this might not be what you wanted to hear. However, it is exactly what you will be dealing with if you stay with bonsai. It is all about working on trees when it is best and doing what is best for them. If not, they end up drying. I hope this was helpful.

Rob

 

[JoeR]

I did shake the tree, and found out it is not a mite problem. Where the color is different is all new growth since I have had it. I dont beleive it is dead because it has grown exponentially in the past few months, and i thought the color difference is just where the new green growth is turning into bark.

 

[october]

You will know for sure in about a month. The front section in pic 2 appears to be a pale green yellow color. It might be the lighting, but that section does not look like it's alive. I hope it is. Either way, this tree still should be left to grow for at least 2-3 more years before anything is done to it.

Rob

 

[Vance Wood]

You might as well get acquainted with the truth about Procumbens Junipers. Most trees of this species are cultivated through cuttings; thus they are very frail with very thin trunks. The lignified (have turned to wood) branches are very few, thin and likely to split at the first joint with another branch or the trunk if not carefully supported. They are susceptible to Spider Mites that can wipe out an entire year of cultivation and training that splitting off branches has not caused to fail. Most of these small trees do not survive attempts to make them into cascade bonsai, the most common attempt, or wind swept, the second most common attempt.

Now that we are talking about styling this tree keep the last sentence in mind as we disillusion you further about this species of tree. In bonsai we are playing a game of illusion that is based on proportions conveying an illusion of great age. If you do not have a trunk that sings that song your illusion will fail. The thought and hope that the trunk will get bigger the longer I have the tree is a false hope not likely to materialize in twenty years.

The trunk diameter must be one third to one sixth the total height of the tree. As you can see this one does not come close to those proportions. The horizontal spread of the top of the tree should not be more than six times the diameter of the trunk. Usually with this species of Juniper the crown of the tree is far larger than the age you are trying to conjure up the image for, will allow. It is necessary that the tree be repotted every three to five years, if you try to stretch this interval you run a great risk of killing the tree. So it seems that just about the time you have the thing figured out something else comes along you were ignorant of the kills the bloody thing.

I really don't mean to be negative about this tree they really are quite pretty and a good one is a valued addition to any collection but most people who grow them as bonsai know this stuff and know how to avoid the pit falls or as with me don't grow the tree at all any longer.

 

[Vance Wood]

Amazing that no one has anything to say about my previous post. I am not trying to stir the pot but I am surprised that no one took exception on this one. Procumbens are a pecular tree and a lot of beginners tend toward them. Maybe we are growing up and the negative information I posted is shared by many. However there is the nice guy police squad I have not heard from.

 

[JoeR]

Amazing that no one has anything to say about my previous post. I am not trying to stir the pot but I am surprised that no one took exception on this one. Procumbens are a pecular tree and a lot of beginners tend toward them. Maybe we are growing up and the negative information I posted is shared by many. However there is the nice guy police squad I have not heard from.

The thing is, the tree was a gift to me from a relative who knew nothing about bonsai. I know that the tree has countless issues, But I am willing to do the best I can with it to show I appreciated the gift. The person he bought it from clearly didnt know anything about the species, as did I when I got it. I might just prune it and leave it because it seems that theres not a whole lot of options.

 

[Vance Wood]

The thing is, the tree was a gift to me from a relative who knew nothing about bonsai. I know that the tree has countless issues, But I am willing to do the best I can with it to show I appreciated the gift. The person he bought it from clearly didnt know anything about the species, as did I when I got it. I might just prune it and leave it because it seems that theres not a whole lot of options.

Good, I was not aware that you knew something about the tree specifically. I can totally understand the gift aspect, it's hard to bad mouth a gift but on the other hand you do not want to ignore the gift by not working with it. At least you have an idea what to do and what not to do. Thanks for responding.