jonfromchicago

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Hey Bonsai Nuts,

Here is an RMJ I was able to repot this year in early spring. I have not designed too many bonsais yet, so my experience in designing is very little. I've decided on two fronts but I really need help narrowing it down. I've marked where I'm imagining where I could possibly place the pads in both fronts. The RMJ will be repotted centered in the pot in the next repot. Any advice on the possible design or how would you style this tree?
. IMG_4467bn.jpgIMG_4479rgdr.jpgIMG_4479bn.jpgIMG_4479efreferf.jpgIMG_4479bnnnnnn.jpg
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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I'm not skilled enough at design to tell you what to do. But when I'm stuck with a juniper, I just start wiring and lightly positioning branches and trunks. Heavy bends of course will put a lot of stress on the wood and might be hard to redo in a relatively short timespan.

This will allow you to explore options and maybe you'll see things you haven't thought of.
It makes the entire process a lot easier, especially for beginners. It's good practice too.

You can always remove the wire, let the branches bounce back and start again. Just don't remove anything at the beginning because if you do change your mind, you can't go back to the start if half the branches are already gone. Same goes for heavy bends; too much movement back and forward can cause branches to die.
 

Potawatomi13

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Junipers have clouds of foliage not "pads". Development should be so tree looks best possible from any side. Front just best of these☺️. Question may be which side shows trunk best?
 

sorce

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I'd like to see it in person.

You wanna stop by this week?

Sorce
 

Forsoothe!

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Junipers have clouds of foliage not "pads". Development should be so tree looks best possible from any side. Front just best of these☺️. Question may be which side shows trunk best?
What's the difference between a cloud and a pad?
 

Potawatomi13

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With so many posts you really do not know?:oops: Have seen spoken of here many times.
 
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Looks like decent material. I would say try to keep your final design as small as possible. The lower and closer to the trunk, the more important to preserve. That doesn’t mean cut everything else off, as you want to grow some sacrifice growth to gather strength at this stage in development. But you can clear some middle growth to differentiate between final design and the sacrifice growth.

Hope this helps,
MFP
 

Dav4

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With a collected juniper, you want to frame the foliage around the most defining feature… And that would be the awesome natural deadwood this tree has. Pick the front that has the best movement and highlights the deadwood… Make sure there is a live vein that can be seen from the soil line moving up into the canopy… Bandan move the branches to frame the best of the gnarly deadwood. If this for my tree, and based upon the pictures that you submitted, I picked the first front and I would tip the tree to the right at the next repot. That will give the tree better movement, I like the deadwood that is there, and get it out of the soil which will hopefully keep it from rotting prematurely. In my opinion, the deadwood from this front has more character and it has all the other elements that I would need. Good luck with that material… It’s a good tree.
 

chicago1980

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Hey Bonsai Nuts,

Here is an RMJ I was able to repot this year in early spring. I have not designed too many bonsais yet, so my experience in designing is very little. I've decided on two fronts but I really need help narrowing it down. I've marked where I'm imagining where I could possibly place the pads in both fronts. The RMJ will be repotted centered in the pot in the next repot. Any advice on the possible design or how would you style this tree?
. View attachment 401976View attachment 401975View attachment 401977View attachment 401978View attachment 401979

Nice to see that this tree is growing well since I last saw it at the repot workshop with Todd and Xavier.
If I recall correctly the foliage was excellent on this tree for its size and being a RMJ.
You should stop by Hidden Garden on a Saturday and have some of us take a look and consider the different fronts.
If I recall the one front offered beautiful old deadwood features and you could see the live vein too.

Best of styling in our future
 

jonfromchicago

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Nice to see that this tree is growing well since I last saw it at the repot workshop with Todd and Xavier.
If I recall correctly the foliage was excellent on this tree for its size and being a RMJ.
You should stop by Hidden Garden on a Saturday and have some of us take a look and consider the different fronts.
If I recall the one front offered beautiful old deadwood features and you could see the live vein too.

Best of styling in our future
Is this Hector? I definitely remember you then. Wish I had seen these posts before deciding to do it myself and I could have had in-person help from you guys at Hidden Gardens.

Here is how I styled it and chose this front. After looking at it for a couple of days after styling, I could have compacted it down more towards the deadwood. I'll definitely reach out and ask for help from you guys at Hidden next time when I'm able to style this RMJ. I'm still considering doing your suggestions back then of bending the trunk down towards the left to compact it and make the other branch the new apex.

Front
IMG_4592.jpgIMG_4595.jpgIMG_4596.jpgIMG_4600.jpgIMG_4601.jpg
 
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I respect @Dav4 ’s take, and he has a lot more experience than me with Junipers and in general. A good approach would be to bend everything back down to frame the deadwood. Let me suggest a hybrid approach: work with what you’ve got for picking a new leader and preferring interior growth, and utilizing sacrifice growth to thicken and increase vigor. But, also plan on bringing the lowest branch down and around to frame the deadwood, as it grows out and develops. I have seen it work with a dramatic U-turn at the top and a convincing silhouette, but it can become a sticking point to the eye when too much of the tree is upside down. To grow out the bottom branch will take longer, but what is the rush?
I’ll reiterate that it is good material, and there are plenty of ways to skin this bonsai cat. I have three junipers in my collection and none are as nice as @Dav4 ‘s , so certainly take my advice with a grain of 20-20-20.
 
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