Shimpaku Juniper Literati advice...

[Vinnie Charity]

Wanting to get some styling ideas for my "Dr. Seuss" Shimpaku Juniper.



I picked this up at a local nursery earlier this yeah, and while I'm going to wait until it's grown a lot more before I start styling it, I wanted to see what idea others had in mind for styling this tree.

I'm thinking of shortening and jinning the fat branch on the left, then wrapping the live branch around the deadwood on the left, then down, and then fanning the foliage out near the "center" of the tree.

Another idea was to remove the majority of the left branch, then bending the live branch more towards the left, and again fanning the foliage out to create pads.

What would YOU do styling wise if this were your tree?

 

[bonsaichile]

Wrapping the only live branch around the deadwood might be too hard on the cambium layer and kill the only branch you have. Two other things: you need to reduce a lot the deadwood on the right, it is too heavy as it is for the size of the rest of the tree and does not have any cpnnection with it from a design point of view: it leads your eye away from the tree. And on the other side, you need to somehow address the straight section low on your deadwood. Those would be my first considerations when planning how to style this tree.
Good luck!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

If I would have to: Tilt it so that the left branch is horizontal to the soil line and can be reduced to an inch. And set the live branch upright. Make it dance a little. Then graft new foliage where needed in spring.

But to be honest, if this were mine, I would air layer the branch off and start over. To me personally, I find it difficult to come up with a solid design idea.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Wrapping the only live branch around the deadwood might be too hard on the cambium layer and kill the only branch you have. Two other things: you need to reduce a lot the deadwood on the right, it is too heavy as it is for the size of the rest of the tree and does not have any cpnnection with it from a design point of view: it leads your eye away from the tree. And on the other side, you need to somehow address the straight section low on your deadwood. Those would be my first considerations when planning how to style this tree.
Good luck!

I wasn't planning to wrap it all the way up the deadwood, which would be very cool, I was just planning to "half" wrap it to the rear of the deadwood and have it tilt down, similar to this...



It would be great to bend the deadwood too, but I don't want to risk breaking it. I think even with wetting and steaming it, it would be very brittle and easy to break.

Thanks for the advice by the way... @bonsaichile

 

[Vinnie Charity]

If I would have to: Tilt it so that the left branch is horizontal to the soil line and can be reduced to an inch. And set the live branch upright. Make it dance a little. Then graft new foliage where needed in spring.

But to be honest, if this were mine, I would air layer the branch off and start over. To me personally, I find it difficult to come up with a solid design idea.

Yes, it is a great piece of material, but I am also finding a hard time deciding on something.

I do like the idea of changing the planting angle, and I think it would actually look more natural once the foliage pads are more defined after wiring.

I'm going to take a picture of it with a white background so I can do some styling on the computer as well...

Thanks!!! @Wires_Guy_wires

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Hmm, when virtual styling, please keep in mind that all the tree has is juvenile foliage and that you're inches - of growth - away from adult foliage. Sure, you could cut it back somewhat, but still those branches have a huge possibility of becoming leggy in the end.
Please do consider grafting, because I think it will be necessary to keep it more compact.

Maybe it's just my lack of creative vision of course. Always do what you think works best.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Hmm, when virtual styling, please keep in mind that all the tree has is juvenile foliage and that you're inches - of growth - away from adult foliage. Sure, you could cut it back somewhat, but still those branches have a huge possibility of becoming leggy in the end.
Please do consider grafting, because I think it will be necessary to keep it more compact.

Maybe it's just my lack of creative vision of course. Always do what you think works best.

I've never grafted branches before, but that is a good idea as well since I'm almost certain this tree will never back bud a bit lower on the branch. It will be quite a while before I actually style the tree, but next spring I'm going to put it in an Anderson flat with better soil to help the growth up top.

I'm just curious to see what others would do and I'm really looking forward to what this tree could become...