Two young Itoigawa styling

[akillas]

I recently acquired these two Itoigawas. They have been growing very well for a season.


The other night after a few, I badly pruned the coiled one, mistakenly cutting a few of the interior buds. Is there a way back or its a garden tree now?

Im not overly familiar with this cultivar(it’s somewhat rare around here)

Looking for styling advice& progression for both.

Thank you!

 

[Brain Treez]

No juniper is a lost cause if it's alive and you have some movement in the trunk. You can develop the entire tree from a single branch. Keep 'em growing!

 

[Shibui]

2 things in your favour:
1. Junipers can develop new shoots on bare branches, especially at branch junctions, so we can usually recover from this sort of pruning given time.
2. You have not gone taken too much off so, even without more inner foliage you can still develop a good juniper, especially if you allow it to grow into a slightly larger bonsai.

The tree needs time to recover now. Wait until Spring before making further changes.

 

[akillas]

2 things in your favour:
1. Junipers can develop new shoots on bare branches, especially at branch junctions, so we can usually recover from this sort of pruning given time.
2. You have not gone taken too much off so, even without more inner foliage you can still develop a good juniper, especially if you allow it to grow into a slightly larger bonsai.

The tree needs time to recover now. Wait until Spring before making further changes.

Thanks for the advice, i will let it grow!

What about the other one? I would like it to be shohin size, should i prune anything or also let it grow?

 

[Shibui]

What about the other one? I would like it to be shohin size, should i prune anything or also let it grow?

Depends what your aim is.
Do you want:
Skinny trunk shohin?
Fat trunk shohin?
Shohin with dead wood feature?
Ancient shohin?
Some can be achieved sooner. Some require more growing and years of dedicated growth and development. Some are achieved through selective growth (sacrifice branches, etc) and selective pruning (to keep other parts compact.

 

[akillas]

Depends what your aim is.
Do you want:
Skinny trunk shohin?
Fat trunk shohin?
Shohin with dead wood feature?
Ancient shohin?
Some can be achieved sooner. Some require more growing and years of dedicated growth and development. Some are achieved through selective growth (sacrifice branches, etc) and selective pruning (to keep other parts compact.

Fat trunk shohin, informal upright.I am thickening the trunk right now, its on a big pot. It thickened a considerable amount since i got it, and i would say in 2-3 years time it will reach the desired thickness! The first two branches are too thick i think, should i cut/deadwood or keep to feed the trunk?

 

[Shibui]

The first two branches are too thick i think, should i cut/deadwood or keep to feed the trunk?

Keep them to feed the trunk. Trunk currently has no taper. Each of those branches will add thickness to the trunk below where each joins meaning the lower part of the trunk will thicken faster than above meaning trunk taper which is great outcome.
Also those branches may look fat but much of that is bark. If you strip them now you'll have matchstick jins.
Keep selected parts of the remaining trunk trimmed to develop bonsai branches and apex while allowing the lower branches to grow free until you achieve the desired trunk then convert sacrifice branches to jin when they have achieved your goals.

 

[akillas]

Keep them to feed the trunk. Trunk currently has no taper. Each of those branches will add thickness to the trunk below where each joins meaning the lower part of the trunk will thicken faster than above meaning trunk taper which is great outcome.
Also those branches may look fat but much of that is bark. If you strip them now you'll have matchstick jins.
Keep selected parts of the remaining trunk trimmed to develop bonsai branches and apex while allowing the lower branches to grow free until you achieve the desired trunk then convert sacrifice branches to jin when they have achieved your goals.

Thank you,exactly what i was wondering about.

How to select which parts to keep trimmed?

Any good resource on how to develop bonsai branches and apex on this cultivar?

 

[Shibui]

How to select which parts to keep trimmed?

You need a plan. Imagine what you want to achieve and. Then select keeper branches and sacrifice branches to achieve that plan.

Otherwise, allow most parts to grow then try to find something in the resulting tree in a few years.

Not sure there's any template to success.