Styling Suggestions

tonkatsu

Seedling
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Hi All,

I've had this juniper for a few months now, trying to figure out what to do with it and how to style it.
Leave it as is? Wire certain branches? It came with one branch already wired.

Was planning on letting it grow freely until next Spring but I also thought it would be a good idea to sire/style it now and get it on the right track.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

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Japonicus

Masterpiece
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Hi @tonkatsu and welcome to the club :)
It's not shrubby so leaving it grow for now feeding and how about, how do you water when?
What is your grow zone 8, 9 maybe?

I don't know why that one wired branch takes a sudden 90º turn upwards.
Look at some finished juniper bonsai pics, I doubt that will be repeated.
However, I would not correct that now, it could kill the branch.
Then there's another that makes a 90º turn on a diagonal with no wire.
I would wait to correct both at the same time not knowing when the juniper was last wired.
So for this year, assuming you're new to the hobby, learning general horticultural skills
in particular watering when it needs it, and feeding it weekly is all that needs doing this year.
If it were shrubby, you could learn to thin it, but that's on hold for now IMHO.

At most, you could wire other branches, but gently moving branches.
No rotation beyond 45º more in Fall if need be. Don't move a branch once wired
here, change your mind then there. Small adjustments are ok, repositioning is not.
Here's a good link ^
Notice the angle of coiling Colin wires the branches at, and the lack of gaps.
When you do wire, put some movement in the branches (bends) but not too sharp
not just one, and make an effort to carry the theme over to the other branches as well.
It's easier and best to get the most thick branches going in the right direction now before they
put on a lot of growth/girth. Then maybe next year you can correct those 2 branches.
 

tonkatsu

Seedling
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Southern California
Hi @tonkatsu and welcome to the club :)
It's not shrubby so leaving it grow for now feeding and how about, how do you water when?
What is your grow zone 8, 9 maybe?

I don't know why that one wired branch takes a sudden 90º turn upwards.
Look at some finished juniper bonsai pics, I doubt that will be repeated.
However, I would not correct that now, it could kill the branch.
Then there's another that makes a 90º turn on a diagonal with no wire.
I would wait to correct both at the same time not knowing when the juniper was last wired.
So for this year, assuming you're new to the hobby, learning general horticultural skills
in particular watering when it needs it, and feeding it weekly is all that needs doing this year.
If it were shrubby, you could learn to thin it, but that's on hold for now IMHO.

At most, you could wire other branches, but gently moving branches.
No rotation beyond 45º more in Fall if need be. Don't move a branch once wired
here, change your mind then there. Small adjustments are ok, repositioning is not.
Here's a good link ^
Notice the angle of coiling Colin wires the branches at, and the lack of gaps.
When you do wire, put some movement in the branches (bends) but not too sharp
not just one, and make an effort to carry the theme over to the other branches as well.
It's easier and best to get the most thick branches going in the right direction now before they
put on a lot of growth/girth. Then maybe next year you can correct those 2 branches.
Thank you very much for the feedback Japonicus. I'll check out the link you posted.
I water it whenever the soil gets dry. That's basically all I have been doing (aside from feeding it every two weeks) since I go it in January.
I'm in Southern CA, Zone 10.

I bought it because I thought it would be a nice basic starter tree that I can work on and grow.
But the more I looked at it and compared it to others, it just seemed a bit weird. It's been hard for me to envision where to take this.

I'll just let it grow for a while and maybe the light bulb will go on for me.

Again, thanks for the feedback.
 

Potawatomi13

Imperial Masterpiece
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Is bigger trunk important? If so tree needs to be in ground or in grow box to develop trunk several years. Removing foliage, cramming roots into Bonsai pot last things needed for development. Grow, grow, grow😁.
 
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