A year in the life of an abused juniper

[Relknes]

So, I normally take things a bit slower than this, but this was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to do a lot of work to this tree (it would have been removing roughly 80% of the green) so I split up the operation over two sessions, one in the spring and one in the fall.

Spring 2016

• Relknes
• Oct 19, 2016

Here comes another one, just like the other ones...

Spring 2016 Trim

• Relknes
• Oct 19, 2016

This shows some of the branch structure. It was kind of a mess in there. The trunk was folded sharply over itself, which I thought I might be able to solve with a branch bender.

Spring 2016 Style

• Relknes
• Oct 19, 2016

Here was the initial styling. The foliage hides the ugly fold in the trunk, and I potted it in an oversized pot for training purposes. After this I fixed the branch bender on it and started trying to pull the trunk away from itself. It failed. Toward the end of the summer, the trunk was starting to fuse to itself, and I thought I might be on the verge of developing a flaw that I couldn't correct, so i decided to do another major operation to remove the problem branch.

Fall 2016 Style

• Relknes
• Oct 19, 2016
• 1

Here is the tree after removing the problem.

Fall 2016 New Front

• Relknes
• Oct 19, 2016

And here is the new front.

Next year, I plan to give the tree some much needed rest; basic pinching/pruning and some wiring to develop pads, but no major cuts. I hope it survives!

 

[defra]

Cool progression in just one year
lots of work but it seems healthy so i think it Will survive i have done worse and that one is still alive lol

 

[Relknes]

Here is a concept drawing, showing where I hope to take the tree over the next 3-5 years.

Fall 2016 Concept Drawing

• Relknes
• Oct 20, 2016

Planned changes include:
1. Getting it in a smaller pot.
2. Changing the planting angle to bring more roots to the surface in back and bringing the jin more dramatically lower, possibly below the lip of the pot.
3. Jin the low branch, and connect it up to the existing shari along the back of the tree, creating two distinct live veins.
4. Develop the apex
5. Develop a branch to create a jin high up on the left side.

Of course, the tree might change these plans if it develops in an unexpected way, but that is always the case.
Changes 1 and 2 might take place in the spring of 2018, with 3 and 5 happening in stages between fall of 2018 and spring of 2020.

Thoughts?