Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Since everyone's so snappy about snipping pines I'd figured what the heck, why don't I go all in?! Give you something to lighten the mood or to laugh about.
If you love trees and are easily insulted, then please do not continue reading. This is on you now. Proceed with caution. I took some risks here that I was very well aware of. I know how you guys would fix them, I know how I would fix them, but I also want to push things to the limit a little. Just because I take risks, doesn't mean anyone else should.
I got two junipers, got them for free and they're huge for my standards. I'm more of a grower, not a shower, so this is way out of my league to begin with. I appreciate big trunks. Is that called being bark-curious?
Here are they described for the first time: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/free-junipers-now-what.36983/
Words of caution: Yes, I know. I know, I know, I know. One insult per year. Don't work the branches if you just touched the roots. Pfizer junipers suck. You can't resurrect dead trees..
Put some raffia on the rules, call the bonsai police, load up your shotguns, this is going to be one hellish ride.
Yes. I chose that phrasing intentionally.
Backstory: I dug this juniper with my dad. He's a physics teacher and a mathematician, so he knew very well how to jam a shovel right through the most important roots and how to break almost every important branch the plant had. "You're the biology guy, kid, fix it". Quality time! Loved it!
We dug it in the midst of winter. Back then we actually got a couple of frosty nights and days. Both of the junipers we dug barely survived. But they lived.
One of them is still doing great, putting out a lot of new growth. I didn't touch it other than doing some grafts. The other one, the one which this thread is about, didn't do so well. I used waaaay too much bark flakes and the soil turned into a death trap. The fungal blobs that formed on the bark flakes were rock solid. It was actually producing heat due to the composting. Ha! Can you imagine steam coming out of your pots on a winter morning? I didn't have to, it was real.
Never repot a sick tree! In my book that means something like "Never amputate a limb that's having a serious septic infection" so I repotted a sick tree. This is no joke to be honest, I'm convinced that when the soil is the issue, just change the darn soil. I blended that soil, I knew it was going to cause issues but it was either that, or growing bare rooted. I might be stupid but I'm not dumb. Row with the belts you have (a Dutch phrase that I don't really understand because rowboats don't wear belts, we use paddles).
Repotted.
Fresh soil, and it actually started putting out growth mid winter (15 degrees C). Sweet! Stress growth you say? Well, I don't care, it's better than 365 days of standing still and dropping limb after limb.
Then I figured, why the hell do my trees keep getting away with multiple insults per year? Is my material too young? Let's put it to the test!
Wrapped the tree in raffia, got myself some sweet electrical wire, stripped it with a box cutter, ended up in the ER to get my finger glued back together (bad omens?!), annealed the wire and slapped it on the tree, went back to the ER to get stitches this time. The doctor looked at me the same way you'll be looking at your computer screen when you're done reading.
Note: glued wounds actually take NO insults at all.
I proceeded to put the branches in the place where I thought I wanted them and continued to wire out the foliage a bit. I am planning on replacing it with either itoigawa or blaauw later, but first I wanted the bones to be in the right spot. It would be nice if they were live bones in the future. 45 degree angle changes? Sure!
They are in the right spots now, at least for starters. But it looks like crap! Left all the foliage on and did some crappy wiring. It looks sad, but the foliage on this cultivar is naturally floppy, so I'm only half to blame.
Look at the poor thing. Half of the roots cut off, the pot is cleaned up by now, the birds took al the sphagnum and the leftover raffia and bark. They're making bonsai nests I bet.
You know what the juniper did? It kept on living! For a while. Like junipers do. Mind games and dirty tricks!
Until it turned summer fourteen days ago. Now it's starting to desiccate and all the fresh green tips are dry and dead, but that could be because the winter started at roughly the same time. Weird, right?
The difference with last year? This year I made progress. Not in my wiring skills, pfff I know, but I learned the limits of a tree. Or haven't I?
For seven days the tree received excellent secret care from a protocol saved in a secret book, this whole situation/challenge is actually right up my alley. It's misted with plain water whenever I find the time. Three times a week or so. Being ahero essential worker wage-slave and all that..
It's in the shade.
Look, guys, gals, I know. I shouldn't have done this, but I did anyway. Now I'll have to live with the consequences and you have something to laugh about. In a sense, I did this for the people at home. I did this for you!
I added a poll for you guys to show your expectations. Will it live or will it die?
You probably want to write down some good advice. That's very nice of you, it really is and I appreciate that. But what's the point of pushing it to the limit, if you're not walking on the razor's edge until you're finished? With all due respect, save your advice this time for someone that'll take it. I clearly haven't. Well, I have, with that other huge juniper and the 143 other sticks I own.. But not this one. I could be a stubborn jackass about it later in this thread and offend you with rejecting advice, or just tell you guys up front that I have already devised my own plan and that I'm not changing that plan even though you're right and I know it.
I'll provide weekly updates if you guys are interested.
If you love trees and are easily insulted, then please do not continue reading. This is on you now. Proceed with caution. I took some risks here that I was very well aware of. I know how you guys would fix them, I know how I would fix them, but I also want to push things to the limit a little. Just because I take risks, doesn't mean anyone else should.
I got two junipers, got them for free and they're huge for my standards. I'm more of a grower, not a shower, so this is way out of my league to begin with. I appreciate big trunks. Is that called being bark-curious?
Here are they described for the first time: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/free-junipers-now-what.36983/
Words of caution: Yes, I know. I know, I know, I know. One insult per year. Don't work the branches if you just touched the roots. Pfizer junipers suck. You can't resurrect dead trees..
Put some raffia on the rules, call the bonsai police, load up your shotguns, this is going to be one hellish ride.
Yes. I chose that phrasing intentionally.
Backstory: I dug this juniper with my dad. He's a physics teacher and a mathematician, so he knew very well how to jam a shovel right through the most important roots and how to break almost every important branch the plant had. "You're the biology guy, kid, fix it". Quality time! Loved it!
We dug it in the midst of winter. Back then we actually got a couple of frosty nights and days. Both of the junipers we dug barely survived. But they lived.
One of them is still doing great, putting out a lot of new growth. I didn't touch it other than doing some grafts. The other one, the one which this thread is about, didn't do so well. I used waaaay too much bark flakes and the soil turned into a death trap. The fungal blobs that formed on the bark flakes were rock solid. It was actually producing heat due to the composting. Ha! Can you imagine steam coming out of your pots on a winter morning? I didn't have to, it was real.
Never repot a sick tree! In my book that means something like "Never amputate a limb that's having a serious septic infection" so I repotted a sick tree. This is no joke to be honest, I'm convinced that when the soil is the issue, just change the darn soil. I blended that soil, I knew it was going to cause issues but it was either that, or growing bare rooted. I might be stupid but I'm not dumb. Row with the belts you have (a Dutch phrase that I don't really understand because rowboats don't wear belts, we use paddles).
Repotted.
Fresh soil, and it actually started putting out growth mid winter (15 degrees C). Sweet! Stress growth you say? Well, I don't care, it's better than 365 days of standing still and dropping limb after limb.
Then I figured, why the hell do my trees keep getting away with multiple insults per year? Is my material too young? Let's put it to the test!
Wrapped the tree in raffia, got myself some sweet electrical wire, stripped it with a box cutter, ended up in the ER to get my finger glued back together (bad omens?!), annealed the wire and slapped it on the tree, went back to the ER to get stitches this time. The doctor looked at me the same way you'll be looking at your computer screen when you're done reading.
Note: glued wounds actually take NO insults at all.
I proceeded to put the branches in the place where I thought I wanted them and continued to wire out the foliage a bit. I am planning on replacing it with either itoigawa or blaauw later, but first I wanted the bones to be in the right spot. It would be nice if they were live bones in the future. 45 degree angle changes? Sure!
They are in the right spots now, at least for starters. But it looks like crap! Left all the foliage on and did some crappy wiring. It looks sad, but the foliage on this cultivar is naturally floppy, so I'm only half to blame.
Look at the poor thing. Half of the roots cut off, the pot is cleaned up by now, the birds took al the sphagnum and the leftover raffia and bark. They're making bonsai nests I bet.
You know what the juniper did? It kept on living! For a while. Like junipers do. Mind games and dirty tricks!
Until it turned summer fourteen days ago. Now it's starting to desiccate and all the fresh green tips are dry and dead, but that could be because the winter started at roughly the same time. Weird, right?
The difference with last year? This year I made progress. Not in my wiring skills, pfff I know, but I learned the limits of a tree. Or haven't I?
For seven days the tree received excellent secret care from a protocol saved in a secret book, this whole situation/challenge is actually right up my alley. It's misted with plain water whenever I find the time. Three times a week or so. Being a
It's in the shade.
Look, guys, gals, I know. I shouldn't have done this, but I did anyway. Now I'll have to live with the consequences and you have something to laugh about. In a sense, I did this for the people at home. I did this for you!
I added a poll for you guys to show your expectations. Will it live or will it die?
You probably want to write down some good advice. That's very nice of you, it really is and I appreciate that. But what's the point of pushing it to the limit, if you're not walking on the razor's edge until you're finished? With all due respect, save your advice this time for someone that'll take it. I clearly haven't. Well, I have, with that other huge juniper and the 143 other sticks I own.. But not this one. I could be a stubborn jackass about it later in this thread and offend you with rejecting advice, or just tell you guys up front that I have already devised my own plan and that I'm not changing that plan even though you're right and I know it.
I'll provide weekly updates if you guys are interested.
