A Procumbus Nana

[Nybonsai12]

Yes they are very common. I see them in all the nurseries but I very rarely see any bigger than a 2 gallon pot.
Not that they are expensive compared to other things but a 1-2 gallon juniper can be $15-25 depending on where you go. The prices here are probably more expensive than compared most places. With the box stores being somewhat "bargan basement" I think the smaller sizes are most common because they are the cheapest. People can buy more for less money.

Paradox is telling it like it is. The box stores really have nothing, you can go to a hundred stores and be lucky to find one tree with good bonsai characteristics.

I'd be willing to bet where we are has a pretty high amount of private nurseries per square mile as well, but the prices go up and up and up so it defeats the purpose. Paradox, ever been to Martin viette nursery? I almost passed out after seeing the prices.

As to the OP, good find! Good luck with the tree.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Thanks everyone for the advice, and to Rob for the virt. I will definitely take it into consideration as a plan for the tree, I knew that it needed drastic work, just did not know which way to go. I did remove two branches last year, the stubs were left as jins, which still need carving.

Thanks,

John

 

[drew33998]

I would start by thinning the first branch on the right, or wiring it to get some separation so that it doesn't look like a big clump of foliage.

 

[edprocoat]

I quite often find nice material in Lowes and Home Depot. A few years ago befor Christmas I seen some Rosemary Christmas tree shaped, a whole display and each one had trunks that were 2 inches thick! I posted here asking if anyone had used one as Bonsai and heard all kinds of bad info about them and dismissed it. A week later I thought for $20 why not, went back and all had sold, the guy said they had more coming in the next day. I came back and at first they looked the same but they all had 3-4 pencil thin twigs with foliage shaped to look like a Christmas tree. You snooze you lose.

ed

 

[fourteener]

Believe me, I stop at Home Depot and Lowes at least once a week (I pass both on my way home) in the spring until I get sick of looking. I look at ALL the trees and I dont find junipers with trunks like that. They are all mostly 1 gallon babies with thin little trunks and no potential. I found one last fall that is a bit bigger but it definately is the rare exception.

I don't find the best stuff at the big retailers. I find the better stuff at non-chain type of nurseries. One reason for that is that the big box place sends all their stuff back while the individual nurseries tend to overwinter their stuff. Some things sit around for 2-3 years cause they aren't as pretty as the new stock. That's how I've found the best plants.

 

[fourteener]

As for the main tree in this post... I think it has great form and that really matters. The next steps in refinement for a tree like this is to. Are sure you don't let it get too much extension. Then I always ask myself how can I have less branches to maintain the same area of foliage. It looks like a couple of places you could take out competing branches and let the one fill in the space. Also just an easy thing of clipping off the dangling little scraps helps clean up the image.

 

[Eric Group]

Nice progress & looks very healthy but I think it can be improved if reduced by removing the top 1/3 canopy and reducing most of the branches back.

I see a totally different tree but MUCH nicer one in there.

Totally disagree- the image he created in the first pic is great, and if it fills in even more, the foliage will better match the size of the tree.

Not everyone tears their trees down to stumps Dario!

 

[fourteener]

So of the first three pics, which one do you like as the front?

And I love the little accent plant. Do you know what it is?

 

[Poink88]

Totally disagree- the image he created in the first pic is great, and if it fills in even more, the foliage will better match the size of the tree.

Not everyone tears their trees down to stumps Dario!

As they said, opinions are like a-holes...everyone have one. I just shared mine...not forcing it to him or anyone.

 

[Vance Wood]

Just a bit of a side bar explaining nursery diving. Some of the remarks offered that you cannot find anything "Good" at big box stores in general is plausibly correct due mostly to the way they do business. The big box stores are retailers only. They are not equipped to keep merchandise past the point where they have to consider winter storage so most of the inventory they have left in the Fall is sold dirt cheap or tossed in a dumpster. Sometimes you can find some pretty good deals late in the season if you know what you are doing with the material you select.

Having said that the independent, or Mom and Pop nurseries, do not for the most part have that corporate option of give away or pitch and trash. Most of them have a sizable investment in their inventory and they must keep and cary over what they do not sell. These places can give you the opportunity to find some pretty nice trees that are starting to obtain some character. They may not be Yamadori or pre-bonsai but they are better than nothing. Some of these nurseries may have had a particular tree for five or six years and may be willing to sell it cheap rather than go the the trouble and expense of repotting it. Some of these trees can make some pretty good bonsai.

I bring this up because 99% of my trees are from nurseries.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I think that I like the first as the front. I will probably let it grow a little before I trim some more. Keeps me from going too far. The accents are dwarf mondo grass, also from Lowes.

 

[coh]

It can also help to get to know the owner of your local "mom and pop" nursery. I've become friendly with the owner of a local nursery and she has given me plants for free and offered huge discounts on others (think 75% or more). Of course, I've spent thousands at their place over the years, but I would have done that anyway.

Chris

 

[Eric Group]

As they said, opinions are like a-holes...everyone have one. I just shared mine...not forcing it to him or anyone.

Hey, who you calling an a-hole!?!

JK

I know man, I was just playing with you about the stump comment... This particular little juniper probably could stand to have some of the long trailing branches shortened a bit, but I was just saying I really like the movement and the overall look, and if he does as well then I would just use the shape as a nice ground work, let the tree grow out a little to thicken up the foliage in a few places, give you more to work with and refine... And I think this could be a damn nice tree without a huge overhaul... Of course I prefer a bit more raw/ natural style to most trees, even Junioer. Some people seem to think it isn't a Bonsai unless it is cut back to nothing, every branch is almost completely re-grown and wired to a contorted state of near death! (Especially on Juniper) I guess that works for people sometimes, but more often than not- in my experience- your averge hobbyist is going to kill a pretty nice tree by trying to treat it that way.. Just my opinion....

 

[Poink88]

Hey, who you calling an a-hole!?!

No one.

 

[Poink88]

Nope, look at pick 2. On the right of the trunk at the base there is a small root eminating from the right side. Now, look at the third pic. That root is now coming towards the viewer. Also, in pics one and two. Notice in pic 2, the trunk right underneath the apex is shadowed because the apex is leaving over. I believe that the poster has pic 1 as the front. I think pic 2 makes a better front. However, it will need to gow and be wired to accomodate the new front.

Rob

I was waiting for the OP (John) to answer this but he did not.

Look at the low deadwood/jin on which side it is on and where it is facing.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I will post better pictures tomorrow and comment more. I am corrently away fron home,attending a safety conference in Dallas.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

OK, made it back home and managed to take a few extra pictures. I rotated it 90 degrees each time. The first is what I call the front, and it leans towards the viewer in that view.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Here are a few more. The last shows how much I have already cut off, I did it in January.

 

[drew33998]

I really would try to work with what you have. Make a lot of small pads instead of a few large ones. You can always cut it off later if it doesn't work for you.

 

[fourteener]

OK, made it back home and managed to take a few extra pictures. I rotated it 90 degrees each time. The first is what I call the front, and it leans towards the viewer in that view.

So now that you've chosen your front I think there needs to be some decisions about extensions and negative space.

Extension is the lifelong job of bonsai, growth always wanders away from the trunk, design and horticulture pushes it back toward the trunk.

Negative space... You have foliage everywhere. A key design element is to define where foliage isn't. This is where the virts can help a little. All the foliage makes it look like a big lollipop on a stick.

The irony is that the trunk will look thicker if the branches aren't so long. Whenever I am done at a master workshop, so much foliage is taken off to reveal the trunk in a significant way.