Shimpaku juniper direction

[crookedwoodbonsai]

Bonsai nutters, I seek assistance on deciding a front for my newly acquired shimpaku...

I purchased this from Jim Doyle at Nature's Way about a month ago and he explained it was created by a student of his. I really loved it at first sight but I'm having trouble deciding on a front, with a couple design issues presenting from either of the better sides to choose from.

Option 1: Picture 1 shows the side I'm leaning towards, yet my major issue is a lack of movement in the base. I'm pointing at an area I could expose more deadwood to make this side more convincing. Picture 3 shows a bit more detail of the top. My other issue with the beginning of the first first live branch I'd obscured with the option.


Option 2, picture 4 would be the other side, with much less deadwood visible but perhaps a more convincing shape overall. A drawback would be a less visible deadwood section overall through the trunk.

 

[bonsaichile]

I like option 2, but either way you will need to rewire this guy and work on the apex and branch structure. It has a nice trunk, now you need to frame it with the foliage

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Well... if I'm going to be completely honest:

(1) The tree needs to be REALLY strong. It looks like it hasn't been repotted in a while, and I would take it out of that pot and put it in something a little larger so you can let it grow strong.
(2) Way too much deadwood that has no reason for being and looks artificial - particularly the long straight section at the base.
(3) I don't like the top foliage at all. It looks artificial like someone took some long branches and just crunched them down. It doesn't look natural.

If it were my tree, I might do something dramatic like:



But be careful if you remove that much foliage from a juniper in one shot. I would repot the tree first, get it strong, and then start reducing the upper foliage while letting that lower branch get strong.

 

[crookedwoodbonsai]

Well... if I'm going to be completely honest:

(1) The tree needs to be REALLY strong. It looks like it hasn't been repotted in a while, and I would take it out of that pot and put it in something a little larger so you can let it grow strong.
(2) Way too much deadwood that has no reason for being and looks artificial - particularly the long straight section at the base.
(3) I don't like the top foliage at all. It looks artificial like someone took some long branches and just crunched them down. It doesn't look natural.

If it were my tree, I might do something dramatic like:

View attachment 462065

But be careful if you remove that much foliage from a juniper in one shot. I would repot the tree first, get it strong, and then start reducing the upper foliage while letting that lower branch get strong.

Awesome response. Yes, that first deadwood branch of course has to be largely reduced. I hadn't yet thought about removing the top but I have noticed it appeared a bit odd... I believe I will move forward with your advice

 

[Ruddigger]

Looking at the 4th picture, I would split the trunk behind that second tuft of foliage, raffia and bend it way over, so the apex becomes a left branch. If that makes any sense.

 

[Adamski77]

First picture front somehow separates the wood from the foliage... I know the wiring will come but somehow feels far away... plus there is this straight section of the main trunk that you'll need to deal with. I actually like photo 4 or 5 as a front... but these are all personal choices.

 

[jandslegate]

Looking at the 4th picture, I would split the trunk behind that second tuft of foliage, raffia and bend it way over, so the apex becomes a left branch. If that makes any sense.

I agree. Plus the splitting would also help break up the uniformity in the trunk and branch thickness. I guess I mean lack of taper? I feel like it would help add interest and character to the trunk while also facilitating your repositioning of foliage. Either way still better material to work with than any of my big box chinensis, lol.

I really want to try branch splitting. I have a juniper that would really benefit from some heavier contorting to compact everything but it's got some deadwood formed so it's very rigid. I watched Bjorn and Raffa do it in a demo, well separated the live vein actually, but I'm not either of them, lol. I understand the process but since I haven't done it before I'm afraid of botching the execution, heh.