bdmatt's yamadori california juniper #1

[bdmatt]

A brief history of this tree. It was collected in the Mojave Desert 35 years ago by Mr Nga, uncle to my teacher. My teacher then bought this tree from him 12 years ago and since then only styled it once, about 5 years ago. The tree is largely untouched, only being lightly pruned every other year. Today, I'm the proud owner of such a beautiful tree.




Here is a picture of the tree in my small Honda civic coupe. For reference, the pot is 21 inches long and the tree takes 2 people to carry comfortably.

As of today, I don't plan on touching the tree until closer to spring.

 

[vp999]

Veri nice! You're lucky ti have it.

 

[pandacular]

What are your plans for it? It's an exquisite piece of material, so I would work on a specific plan, ideally with input from others who have experience with this sort of project (I. e., not me!)

 

[Potawatomi13]

Lovely, unusual, art deco style tree. Naturally simple, unconvoluted.

 

[bdmatt]

What are your plans for it? It's an exquisite piece of material, so I would work on a specific plan, ideally with input from others who have experience with this sort of project (I. e., not me!)

Not much. The foundations are there. I plan to do a styling and clean up the deadwood this coming February

 

[bdmatt]

I lied. I couldn't wait to style this tree. After watching some friends work on their own junipers, I was inspired to get my own cali going. Luckily, I didn't need to remove much foliage. Less than 5 percent (mostly crotch growth) was removed from the tree. All it needed was some detail wiring. And after 4 hours, here's the result:




I ran out of lime sulfur, so the deadwood hasn't been worked on besides a toothbrush cleaning. Besides that, I really like how the tree ended up. The apex needs a bit of work, but it will fill out after a season.

 

[Adamski77]

I lied. I couldn't wait to style this tree. After watching some friends work on their own junipers, I was inspired to get my own cali going. Luckily, I didn't need to remove much foliage. Less than 5 percent (mostly crotch growth) was removed from the tree. All it needed was some detail wiring. And after 4 hours, here's the result:


View attachment 507927

I ran out of lime sulfur, so the deadwood hasn't been worked on besides a toothbrush cleaning. Besides that, I really like how the tree ended up. The apex needs a bit of work, but it will fill out after a season.

the only potential remark I would have is the lowest branch on the left should probably follow the flow of the deadwood...

 

[Ruddigger]

Nice work. Ones it puffs back out next year and a second wiring it’s gonna look fantastic.

 

[Housguy]

Nice Matt, it will be cool to see the progression of this tree, keep posting

 

[bdmatt]

It's been about a month and a half since the tree was styled. Couple weeks back I cleaned the undersides of the pads and set them closer together. Photos are from today and I think the tree has settled quite nicely. Deadwood needs lime sulfur but I haven't made the time to go out and buy some.

 

[shimbrypaku]

Just my opinion, that dead wood looks awesome. I like the natural look.

Thanks

 

[shimbrypaku]

On another note, nice Job on the styling.

 

[Hartinez]

It's been about a month and a half since the tree was styled. Couple weeks back I cleaned the undersides of the pads and set them closer together. Photos are from today and I think the tree has settled quite nicely. Deadwood needs lime sulfur but I haven't made the time to go out and buy some.
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View attachment 513492

It looks really great. Even in that pot I don’t think it’s bad. I do see what you mean about the size of the pot to the tree. I know you asked about it in the pot pairing thread, but I also think a nice heavy oval would look good.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

art deco style tree

This is an interesting way to view/consider trees stylistically... as in a broad architectural category of sorts.

 

[snowman04]

Really nice tree! Great job on it so far... I like the shape of the pot for this tree IMHO...

 

[dinhn]

Beautiful. I love it.

 

[bdmatt]

Updated photos.

I removed a lower right-side branch. It had annoyed me for a while so I took it out completely. I also moved some branches to give it a rounder apex.

Also finally got around to applying lime sulfur. Missed a spot so I'll need to go back and re-do it later.

 

[Ruddigger]

Much better. A smaller pot would increase the drama of all that deadwood too.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Nice move, like negative space you opened up.

 

[snowman04]

A level I aspire to reach in the near future! Absolutely gorgeous tree...