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Kind of late, but I have been working on this California Juniper for a couple weekends now (it is currently living at my teacher's garden).

Purchased last year:
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We cut it back last year and have let it grow since. Recovered quite well, here it is when I started this year's work:
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As of last weekend, another cut back, branches selected and carving begun:
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My first time doing major carving like this, so I am getting the needed assistance and taking my time. Plan to work it more tomorrow.
 
Another one of my "one growing season" experiments. I collected this bald cypress in early Feb. of this year. I've been letting it mostly grow with a bit of strategic pruning. Today I finished carving out the trunk and cutting it back to a more in-scale size. It's a fun experiment. I may try to keep it shohin size or maybe a bit bigger.

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Split a branch unintentionally then
crossed wires intentionally. Copper bandaid.
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It's not a branch I would mind losing

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I've developed a pretty good tremor in my left hand/arm over the last 2 months :( and only about half way done wiring this kishu.
Soil ran out of moisture and I was getting fatigued, so called it quits for today.
 
Split a branch unintentionally then
crossed wires intentionally. Copper bandaid.
View attachment 508982

View attachment 508983

It's not a branch I would mind losing

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I've developed a pretty good tremor in my left hand/arm over the last 2 months :( and only about half way done wiring this kishu.
Soil ran out of moisture and I was getting fatigued, so called it quits for today.
Cut with Thin wet white t-shirt strips .. tie that to the branch where it split.
 
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A follow up on this thing.

If you can fertilize your trees without stopping, this is the thing for you. It definitely work, BUT... if you use any type of trigger valve, it will stop siphoning, and depending on how much you wait the line that feeds the fertilizer will drain back, which means you have to start the water and wait for the fertilizer to fill up on the hose.

That translates to wasted water, possible times where you will have a weaker concentration of fertilizer. Also, you need at least a 5/8" hose, no longer than 50'. Thankfully I have a short 5/8" 25' that I used to use on the pool in the old house. Also, it doesn't work with drip lines, which is what I really wanted to hook it up to, not a deal breaker, as I fertilize twice a week during the growing phase, so I can do that with a hose.

It also needs at least a 3 GPM nozzle, any less than 3 GPM will not draw liquids. They recommend the DRAMM 170, but the 480 series which is better for bonsai works as well.

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So, I will keep this for my garden trees and brushes, but not for bonsai. I am looking at something like the item below so that I can adjust the flow. Probably just swapping the hose for a larger diameter will help bring the pressure down to acceptable, it flows 7.5 LPM, almost 2 GPM. I think this will be the ticket. I'm probably going to buy a big 10-gallon bucket from USP to mix the fertilizer and use this to deliver it. If you use any type of plastic container for solutions, buckets, spray bottles, etc and you have not looked into USP, you need to. I have used them since I had my detailing company and they are by far the lowest price in the market without having to wait a month for delivery from China.


 
After that last big planting in the swamp, I had some left over. I put them in a 5 gallon bucket, filled alway with water, a couple drops of bifenthrin to prevent mosquitoes, and didn’t touch them for almost 3 weeks. The time is now or they will die.

Today I took them out and wired them all with a 90 deg bend at the base. I planted them as a forest. I know I will have fun removing the wire next year.
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rescued a black spruce (about 14 yrs)from a highway going into 2 lanes. there might be others..
 

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