Another nursery juniper

[Saffa365]

£29.95 nursery juniper
Spent a quite a few hours styling this tree , it was a very low profile bush when I purchased it .
I know the wiring is not great , I'm still learning so be gentle with the Critism

As far as style goes , I don't have a creative bone in my body so I've just done what I thought appealing to my eye .

I can't finish the Jin until the wire is removed

Hope u guys enjoy

 

[Saffa365]

Pictures really don't show any depth in design

 

[augustine]

You did a good job. Keep in mind that a juniper's strength is in the foliage and a tree is weakened after a significant pruning.

Maybe leave it alone til the end of the season. What do you plan on doing about repotting? Some of these nursery junipers are quite rootbound and the amount of work needed to repot is also quite stressful, but you may know this already.

 

[sorce]

I've just done what I thought appealing to my eye .

Well that worked!

But this..

I don't have a creative bone in my body

BS!

I love the green placement.

You definitely achieved attention grabbing!

Well done! Good beginning.

Sorce

 

[Saffa365]

Yes this is a issue I'm facing , apparently it is pot grown , it was huge and showing amazing signs of growth ( for its size )

It is probably the healthiest specimen I've found on my many visits to nurserys

I probably won't repot soon and let it gather strength from this episode .

I don't think it is pot bound and could Definately get through another Season

Although I would love to put it into a proper pot

I'll let the tree dictate my next move

 

[Saffa365]

Well that worked!

But this..

BS!

I love the green placement.

You definitely achieved attention grabbing!

Well done! Good beginning.

Sorce

You too kind Sorce , plenty Ryan Neil vids later

This is the first tree I've spent time styling beginning to end and I've finally felt proud of what I've achieved

 

[sorce]

plenty Ryan Neil vids later

If my becones obvious that....
Yes.
Bonsai Mirai Live is worth $300 a year!

Seek the best Info.
Reap the best results!

Sorce

 

[Soldano666]

Nicely done. I'd now feed hard all of 2018 and let it regain some steam before repotting. It look slike you may have removed a lot. Excellent start though

 

[Stan Kengai]

Very nice work. If I had to critique, I would like to see the branches brought in more, closer to the trunks. This would compact the design and give the plant some room to grow into. Do not make any changes to the wired branches now because bending branches twice can separate the cambium from the phloem.

 

[Joe Dupre']

You did good! Good flow and movement. I'd be proud to have it in my bonsai garden.

 

[Saffa365]

Cheers for the positive feedback guys
It probably wasn't the best time of year for the work to be done , I'm going to keep it away from frost until it starts warming up

 

[Saffa365]

Nicely done. I'd now feed hard all of 2018 and let it regain some steam before repotting. It look slike you may have removed a lot. Excellent start though

Indeed I did remove quite a lot , probably too much but for the price I paid it was more about practicing wiring and trying to style something

Hopefully I'll get away with it this time

 

[Potawatomi13]

plenty Ryan Neil vids later

AHA! That explains how well done it is. Good student.

 

[Saffa365]

Question:
By reducing foliage in the dormant season ( late winter ) surely this makes more sense as the tree has reaped the benifits from last seasons growing and accumulated all the reserve energy it needs for Spring growth ?

If the foliage has been drastically reduced , surely it makes sense that root work can be carried out ( repotting ) after signs of growth have been established again in spring ?

I'm just thinking out aloud here

 

[M. Frary]

I would let it grow freely all next growing season then the next year repot it when it showed signs of growth.

 

[River's Edge]

Question:
By reducing foliage in the dormant season ( late winter ) surely this makes more sense as the tree has reaped the benifits from last seasons growing and accumulated all the reserve energy it needs for Spring growth ?

If the foliage has been drastically reduced , surely it makes sense that root work can be carried out ( repotting ) after signs of growth have been established again in spring ?

I'm just thinking out aloud here

Think recovery instead. If you remove lots of foliage then ensure the roots are protected to support the amount of regrowth required. If you remove lots of roots then keep the foliage for photosynthesis to feed the roots. This is a conifer not deciduous. One major procedure per year is a good guideline and then only if the tree responds well and is healthy.
I would reccomend leaving for at least one growing season at this point.

 

[Saffa365]

My reason for this justification is I didn't examine the root system properly , and I do believe it to be pot bound somewhat .

As there are roots appearing out the drainage holes of the pot

I'm going to cut off the top 3rd of the nursery pot and create a 1 inch wide extended platform , basically I'm going to slip pot the top 1 3rd and leave the rest as is

My aim is to produce new roots in decent bonsai soil so when repotting is finally done next year there will be a lot of new roots close to the surface enabling reduction of the root ball

This is my theory anyway

Ill post pics over the weekend

 

[BE.REAL]

Ill post pics over the weekend

O.k. Its Saturday afternoon, weekend is here, waiting for the pic's!!!!!

Just playin', but am very curious to see what you do, to clarify what you stated. It seems interesting enough. As you will find and others will attest too, Bonsai has a lot to do with experimentation and a Gigantic amount of Patience! It is great to read and view all the advice you can, but nothing is better than experience. Mostly because everyone is different. There are so many factors when growing trees I.E. geographical location, soil/substrate, water/ing, container/pot/colander, cultivar, time of year, etc, etc, If I have learned on thing, and can pass it on, it would be a priority list for growing: 1. roots 2. nebari 3. roots 4 trunk 5. roots 6. branching 7. roots 8. styling... and so on. I think you may have caught what I was thrown down, in that, roots make everything in life! I sound like a life coach, haha. so wherever I get a tree, first thing is getting roots setup for success. Which means if a nursery can, my first move is to get it repotted, if bought in October, it gets protected and wait until repotting season, early spring. I don't do any styling, wiring, what have you, until after that repotting(which might mean 2 seasons from when purchased..sometimes). as the saying goes, one act a season. For me, its very similar to stock market investing, consistent small moves over the years, will pay off handsomely down the road. So if you take your time, learn the tree, how to read it, and be patient, and set it up for success, it will pay off. Obviously if some things can be cleaned up or whatever, but nothing serious. I have seen too many peeps, all geeked out to get the tree home and style it, wire it , and prune it , only to find out 3, 6, 9, 18 months later the roots are for S@#T! I don't have the experience as many others on here, but I have listened and read and have learned that bit of info from all of it. Patience!

But look forward to your pics, and you did well with what you had, but make sure it can last the long road ahead.

 

[Saffa365]

Embarrassed , I had good intentions to do what was planned , but the Mrs had me doing home renovations

Be.real you wrote a long one , I'll fully read it in a bit once I've cleaned off

 

[Saffa365]

So the full story is ,I did get the tree home and yes I did rush to get it styled , but for the price I paid I was not really worried about loosing it as it was a means to practice my wiring

But unfortunately when it was done I ended up with a decent subject , one I don't want to loose

From a past experience with acacia burkei , I slip potted them into larger pots and better soil , the amount of new small roots that occupied the akadama mix was astounding

Therefore my thinking is that I can slip Pot the top 3rd of roots to produce better roots for when I do a entire repot in a seasons time

I will post pics and share my experiences at the end of the day there is more than one way to get to the moon just some work better than others