RMJ progression

[butlern]

Just documenting another of my junipers that I have not yet documented. I acquired this tree in November 2020 from a friend and local club member, John Denny. It was collected from the Rocky Mountains (shockingly!) in 2012 by Randy Knight and first went into a bonsai pot in 2015. The initial structure was set by Todd Schlafer in 2019 during a private workshop at John's garden.

The first two pictures are what it looked like in 2020 when I picked it up. Lots of spiky course foliage. Not very dense. First the front, then a view from the chosen back side:

The tree was just allowed to grow out (i.e. neglected by me) until this summer. It was long over due for wiring out again. Some pictures from July 2023, first the front and then the back:


August 2023 after wiring out the tree. This task only took me a week! Still some editing to do here and there, but it's in pretty good shape as of today:

Plan for next spring is to either sell the tree (I have too many juniper!) or re-pot into something a little more suitable. Was thinking a rustic crescent or slab planting. We shall see...

 

[PonderingSage:]

Looks good. Its nice that it has a decent root base…something hard to get with collected junipers (at least in my experience).

 

[pandacular]

I like it! I see a number of what look like runners to me, particularly on the left of the last picture. do you plan to bring those in, or let them run?

 

[butlern]

Those runners will be kept in check… as noted, still much editing to do. I was just at my temporary limit after wiring all branches and shoots. The tree now seems to weigh about about 10 kilos more with all the wire that was applied!