Adopted Juniper

[mwar15]

A local club member recently passed away unexpectedly. I ended up going over to her house and taking all of her trees to take care of until we can sell them at out show in the spring.

here it is before, I tried to save the little mushroom but... it didn't happen

I had been eyeing this juniper for a while trying to figure out what to do with it. I knew at the very least it needed some wiring to open it up and trimming. I feel like it needs a different pot. I was going to develop it into a semi cascade and this pot is large and too shallow for that. I am open to opinions.

 

[sorce]

The perfect taper and small branching makes me wanna take the bend out and go upright. Tall, thin, sprucish.

Sorce

 

[mwar15]

I never thought about that, I think it would be too tall?? And maybe too spindly?

 

[jk_lewis]

Hmmm. I can't imagine what I'd do w/ that.

 

[Vance Wood]

The problem with Procumbens Juniper is in the way they grow. If I had to do something with this tree I would freak you out but; in two years you would have something that you could see a future in. I would cut the rainbow branch, or rabbit snare branch or the bow branch, what ever you want to call it, back to thickest group of growth on the top of the bow. There appears to be a branch there that might be developed. Either way, branch in that position or not, here in lies the future of this tree if you want to make a bonsai of it any time in the next 20 years. With trees like this you have to treat them like raw material because they are raw material. They are not Yamidori with tons of potential, they are not older nursery trees with tons of potential; They are not a great deal better than rooted cuttings with not much going for them beyond the imagination of the person who owns them. At this point the best you can do is put it on a path where the future development will be bonsaiable, I know I made up that word but the concept is correct. JMHO A decent, pleasent bonsai, worthy of sitting on your benches, can be made of this tree in less than five years from this starting point.

You have fallen into the Juniper trap; try to save all of those long stringy branches and make some sort of wind swept cascade twisted monster bonsai out of it. No one can give you an idea of how this ubiquitous phantom bonsai is supposed to look like because none exist. You glom onto this amorphous idea and hope to discover a solution down the road. What happens is you mature in your vision and understanding, not the tree.

Eventually you will get to the hack and slash stage ten years late. Most little trees like this, if they don' t die, wind up being given away at some club auction because they have amounted to nothing and the you still cannot see a good future in it but you have the good sense to know you cannot beat a dead horse. Now the trick is to learn what you can do with a dead horse.

You have to learn to think small when faced with a big problem.

 

[Cypress187]

It's way better as before, so that's good.

 

[mwar15]

The problem with Procumbens Juniper is in the way they grow. If I had to do something with this tree I would freak you out but; in two years you would have something that you could see a future in. I would cut the rainbow branch, or rabbit snare branch or the bow branch, what ever you want to call it, back to thickest group of growth on the top of the bow. There appears to be a branch there that might be developed. Either way, branch in that position or not, here in lies the future of this tree if you want to make a bonsai of it any time in the next 20 years. With trees like this you have to treat them like raw material because they are raw material. They are not Yamidori with tons of potential, they are not older nursery trees with tons of potential; They are not a great deal better than rooted cuttings with not much going for them beyond the imagination of the person who owns them. At this point the best you can do is put it on a path where the future development will be bonsaiable, I know I made up that word but the concept is correct. JMHO A decent, pleasent bonsai, worthy of sitting on your benches, can be made of this tree in less than five years from this starting point.

You have fallen into the Juniper trap; try to save all of those long stringy branches and make some sort of wind swept cascade twisted monster bonsai out of it. No one can give you an idea of how this ubiquitous phantom bonsai is supposed to look like because none exist. You glom onto this amorphous idea and hope to discover a solution down the road. What happens is you mature in your vision and understanding, not the tree.

Eventually you will get to the hack and slash stage ten years late. Most little trees like this, if they don' t die, wind up being given away at some club auction because they have amounted to nothing and the you still cannot see a good future in it but you have the good sense to know you cannot beat a dead horse. Now the trick is to learn what you can do with a dead horse.

You have to learn to think small when faced with a big problem.

I see what you are saying, and i did feel that as I was wiring it. I couldn't really feel good about anyway I twisted it. I think it is too long and spindly and I will look over it some more and look at a potential place to cut it back.

 

[mwar15]

I ended up just leaving this tree alone and thinking. A club member was selling a small pot and I bought it and decided to go Cascade with it. Right now it's not where I want it to be. But I don't want to mess with it anymore until I see it made it through the transplant. I like the look of it vertical like going straight down a rock wall.