Select the front?

[leatherback]

Last summer I got a juniper from a batch of trees a friend of mine dug up some 4 years ago. Since then I have been pushing a big branch to loupe around, in order to get foliage near the core of the tree. THis is now done, and is has been repotted. Time to start styling decisions.

I am not sure about the best front for the tree:

Backside, main lifeline in blue:


Front 1, focus on the deadwood; My personal preferred front for now:


Front 2, rotated almost 90 degrees, focus on the loops of the branches:

 

[0soyoung]

IMHO, you could work on making those cut ends look more like natural jins.
After that, I think a lot will depend on where you can place the foliage. You might look at some Mauro Stemburger YouTube videos (Italian Bonsai Dream) before you start fiddling to figure out what you might do. He has lots of videos styling junipers which might give you and 'aha moment' or two that is useful for your ongoing effort.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Cool tree. Hard to suggest a front without seeing it in person. I like the previous advice but also think getting it on a turn table would be nice for slowly evaluating your options. I would be real tempted to take a blow torch to some of the sawed off deadwood.

 

[Clicio]

I like front 1 better than front 2.

 

[leatherback]

Hehe, the deadwoodwork needs to be fully done, of course . but I wanted to get an idea of the future of the tree before working the deadwood.
Will take a look at the vids, thx.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I would go with front 1 but tilted to the right a few degrees. I honestly think the loop will compensate for the fact that the trunk will exit the ground pretty straight.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

How about front 2, but tilt the entire tree forward substantially so you can see the loop of the trunk. Right now the front part of the loop crosses directly in front of the back part. Also... are you pushing that loop upwards?

Obviously if you go with front 2, you will want to almost eliminate the jin to the left because it conflicts with your trunk line.

 

[leatherback]

but tilt the entire tree forward substantially so you can see the loop of the trunk.

You mean.. To see the first section of the main trunk above the branches?
I think that will be near impossible with the roots..

Come to think of it.. To what extend is it doable to push the branches to use other roots, squeezing the lifeline? I tink to know it is not possible with Junipers?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Come to think of it.. To what extend is it doable to push the branches to use other roots, squeezing the lifeline? I tink to know it is not possible with Junipers?

Generally not possible. You would have to develop a new branch structure based off the roots you wish to keep.

However there are other things you could do, like tilting the tree into the new position, and then grafting on new roots. It is a lot of work... but possible.

 

[leatherback]

Lots of romo to think. For now, I wil give it a year to settle in the new substrate and fix the large bends. Meanwhile, twist, turn think and twist some more.

Thx!

 

[leatherback]

Taking things slowly with this beast. The frot sort of settled itself: When repotting I realized that all the main living roots are on this side. I am not committed yet though. I have put a few ittoigawa grafts which now need to get growing; These are in positions suitable for either front..

If they take, in 2-3 years I will repot again and see what has happened to the roots. Meanwhile, I will work the deadwood and just let it grow, reducing the original foliage in exchange for the grafts..