Riveved Juniper

[Stella]

Interesting idea thanx.
In post #5 I made a very rough sketch of my idea going for a slanting style.

Will see where the tree takes it.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

This reminds me of some Vietnamese styled trees

Congratulations on keeping it alive, and all the new strong growth. I see lots of mature scale foliage breaking out, which means the tree is getting comfortable and less stressed.

Be careful when you style loops into your trees. They are very rare in nature and tend to make the tree look artificial - because the tree would have to experience an environment that caused it to grow in one direction, than back the way it came, then back in the original direction. It doesn't usually happen. However it does make for some interesting trees

 

[Stella]

Be careful when you style loops into your trees. They are very rare in nature and tend to make the tree look artificial - because the tree would have to experience an environment that caused it to grow in one direction, than back the way it came, then back in the original direction. It doesn't usually happen. However it does make for some interesting trees

Thanx.
Yes, unfortunately due to circumstances I was left with a 1 branch tree and very little to work with.
So yes, this will never look too natural but now I'm loving the project and the creativity going with it to make something interesting out of it

Very happy that you are seeing some mature foliage. I'm not really sure how to look for that.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Be careful when you style loops into your trees. They are very rare in nature and tend to make the tree look artificial

Do you forget the many outlandish multi thousand $$$ Juniper Yamadori? It is this rare movement one should wish to emulate is it not? Completely impossible bends, twists, folds, etc from nature. The common/easy/formulaic is .

 

[Potawatomi13]

Winter is just about over here. Here is some pics before spring growth. The tree is budding out like crazy
Unfortunately the little potential apex died. There is a tiny little bud right at the base of the Ded branch so I'm happy about that

So main branch was wired in Jan and side branches for styling in April. I'll probably wait another month or 2 to remove the wire or should I wait till it bit in?
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Surprised it survived but like interesting work so far. As is conifer would wait until end of next growing season to remove wire. Bigger branches/trunks longer waits. Keep going.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Do you forget the many outlandish multi thousand $$$ Juniper Yamadori? It is this rare movement one should wish to emulate is it not? Completely impossible bends, twists, folds, etc from nature. The common/easy/formulaic is .

No I am not forgetting them... show me one that is styled in a loop Twisted, yes. Contorted, yes. Loop? I just looked and couldn't find a single one, so in this case I don't think my memory is flawed. Loops don't usually occur in trees in nature because it is inconsistent with the way environmental forces act on a tree.

However just because it doesn't occur in nature doesn't mean don't do it. There are plenty of bonsai out there that are designed in interesting and unique ways. I just said "be careful when"... because when I saw the loop it stuck out at me.

 

[Stella]

Surprised it survived but like interesting work so far. As is conifer would wait until end of next growing season to remove wire. Bigger branches/trunks longer waits. Keep going.

Thanx. Will then just see how the small branches develop and rewire them. Will keep branch wiring on then.

Trying to clarify the loop thing. Not sure what constitutes a loop here. Going back too the repot pic. I've only took the branch backwards and down to get the foliage all together and in some form

Bottom pic taken from below and the back to hopefully give a better pic



Right at the bottom it doesn't make a loop but bend back to just mak a sharp angle

Essentially never makes a complete circle and crossing itself. Hope that makes sense....

 

[Stella]

I do see it looks like a loop from the front. Will definitely try to hide that as the foliage developes and fill in.
As I'm not really planning any major work on it this season, I'm holding thumbs for serious growth.
So far I'm so thankful with the progress as the foliage has more than doubled in the past season

 

[Stella]

Some very vigorous growth throughout spring
We have a very hot climate so spring is only about 3 weeks then it's full blown summer. Have been seeing 35°C and above the last 2 weeks already.

Some of the smaller branch wiring is already starting to bite in.
Would you suggest I remove the wiring for the smaller branches or leave and let it bite in?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I would cut off the wires that are biting in.
They're going to need that water movement up and down to survive a hot summer.

 

[Stella]

Would an approach graft work on a juniper?

I have this node where there is 3 branches. Now I thought I could use the blue one and graft it in order to fill in instead of just wiring it to fill in that position



I have so little foliage to work with, I'm scared to cut it off and try a proper graft

 

[Potawatomi13]

Patience. Tree is young. New sprouts, branches develop as time happens always creating new greenery/possibilities. Perhaps buy another. Avoid mistakes made already, leave this one alone a year or more.

 

[Stella]

Mid summer update:
Removed the wire today. Basic form has settled, the bottom branch jumped back a bit.
Will leave it for 3 months and rewire end of April.

Before and after

 

[Stella]

I have never done any root work on this tree.
1st repot was from a nursery bag into this training pot, and I've removed some of the bottom roots just to make it fit in the pot.

2nd repot when I changed the angle was the same thing, just removed some of the bottom roots to fit in to the new angle.

How much rootwork can junipers handle?
Does anyone have good article/blog/thread link where I can get good information about root work on junipers?

 

[BrightsideB]

I don’t have anything at hand. I haven’t lost a juniper yet but I am still cautious. Some people seem to find them hard to keep while others don’t have problems keeping them thriving. You want to make sure you tree is healthy before root work and aftercare is important. Such as no direct sun (morning sun is ok if it is cool) for several weeks helps otherwise your foliage can burn as the tree is recovering and can’t transport water as it did before the root work. I’d get several more procumbens to mess with. I just bought one in fall (small one) and removed 3/4 the root mass with a saw and mixed some bonsai soil n a shallow container. It is living well. But tree’s that have work being done to them can react much different then tree’s that have just been growing freely. I also did some minor root pruning to an itoigawa I have trying to get it in a shallow container and I almost lost it. But procumbens seem more tolerable then most junipers in my experience. I agree with other comments to get several more and just experiment.

 

[Stella]

I agree with other comments to get several more and just experiment

Here junipers are not native, not common and expensive. For equivalent to your $25 here it will only be a very small cutting. And that is for procumberence. Here and there you can find itoigwa, and they are double the price.
That's good news that you can remove so much roots. I will not do nearly that amount so it should be ok. I want to slowly start to reduce the roots to get it into a pot over the next few seasons

 

[BrightsideB]

Here junipers are not native, not common and expensive. For equivalent to your $25 here it will only be a very small cutting. And that is for procumberence. Here and there you can find itoigwa, and they are double the price.
That's good news that you can remove so much roots. I will not do nearly that amount so it should be ok. I want to slowly start to reduce the roots to get it into a pot over the next few seasons

Then playing it safe will be your best bet. Keeping it healthy seems like common sense. But it will help a lot with work done to it in aiding recovery. Luckily it is already in a somewhat small pot.

 

[Stella]

Thanx. Luckily the tree has fully recovered and is flourishing.
I got incredible growth this season and I have also not done anything to it this season.
I want alot of information on root work so I will do everything right in order to keep this one alive.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I do see it looks like a loop from the front. Will definitely try to hide that as the foliage developes and fill in.

Indeed has that appearance. Don't hide, use, enjoy, take advantage of.

 

[Stella]

Indeed has that appearance. Don't hide, use, enjoy, take advantage of.

Thank you so much.
Do you have any tips on rootwork on Junipers?
Or a link to a good article/blog/video?

I left the tree untouched this season apart from very light pruning only the top branch and removing wires.
I have never done any rootwork apart from cutting minimally just to fit in the pot.
So I would like to get good information on rootwork