Another JWP: seeking styling advice

[harshadg]

Recently acquired this leggy JWP and I’m trying to think through styling options. The graft is pretty seamless and potentially has a decent nebari. An informal upright is one option but wondering if there’s others that could make sense too before I commit to a trunk chop.

Retaining the length either in the form of a cascade or a literati would not work with the relatively modest nebari - I think.

Appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[Lorax7]

Well, a shakkan (slanting) style is what it’s already kind of doing naturally, so that’s an option.

 

[harshadg]

Ended up doing this. I’m not super happy about the contrast in movement (or lack thereof) in the long straight trunk and the movement in the branches. Some of the branches will go eventually.

 

[Dav4]

Inspiration, perhaps. A recent creation from Todd Schlafer of First Branch Bonsai. Your trunk isn't that dissimilar from that of this collected Black Spruce

 

[Paradox]

What does it say on the white tag stuck in the soil?

I would wrap the trunk in raffia and bend it more over the base. To the left in the last picture you posted in post #3

 

[harshadg]

Indeed @Dav4. That’s a very nice tree.

@Paradox tag just says P parviflora ‘Eiko Nishiki’ - but I’m not sure that the cultivar is accurate.

 

[Lorax7]

Ended up doing this. I’m not super happy about the contrast in movement (or lack thereof) in the long straight trunk and the movement in the branches. Some of the branches will go eventually.

It looks odd for it to have that long straight section of trunk and then suddently get curvy at the apex. To make it look natural, you're going to need to put some curves in that straight section of trunk. Fortunately, JWPs tend to be quite bendy. It will require quite a bit of effort but is ultimately do-able. To be on the safe side, you're going to want to wrap with raffia. Use thick copper wire to wrap that section of trunk, then bend carefully. You will likely need to use rebar and guy wires to hold the bends in place. Considering that it is newly-acquired nursery stock, it may not be sufficiently root-bound yet for rebar to just stay in place where you put it when you hammer it down into the root ball, so you may have to figure out a way to anchor the rebar to the nursery can so it doesn't shift once it's under load from the bent trunk.

I've got a couple of progression threads showing how I bent trunks on JWP here and here.

 

[harshadg]

Thanks - sounds like I’ll have to try it!

 

[Potawatomi13]

Keep trunk for sacrifice to develop low trunk. Use lowest branch or two to become future tree. Straight long stovepipe trunk does not compute.