Itoigawa Juniper first styling

[NJoyLife]

I received this Itoigawa Juniper as a gift from a friend who propagates these from cuttings.

The material had a nice natural twist in the trunk already which inspired me to attempt
to create an image of a high altitude, Juniper that has been put through a century of harsh weather.


I started cleaning out the weak interior foliage and began wiring most of its branches. The trunk was double wired in preparation for the bends that were to come.
Shaping the multiple bends was surprisingly uneventful. I plan to add Jin and Shari and do some more pinching and detailed wiring at a later date.

You can see the progression through its first styling. Time for it to relax and have fun in the sun. Until next time...

Regards,
Mel

 

[Smoke]

I received this Itoigawa Juniper as a gift from a friend who propagates these from cuttings.

I plan to add Jin and Shari and do some more pinching and detailed wiring at a later date.
Regards,
Mel

Just want the tree to relax....
.....you just don't feel like detail wiring
....or....another reason we should all know about in why later?

Just curious......
....curious because I never understand why the best part of the tree is never finished? The detail wire is what separates the men from the boys...and mostly I always see the boys here....


It seems there is a nice tree here if finished?

 

[zelk]

This is an extremely young tree, I don't see the immediate need for detail wiring. In a few years your trunk will thicken and you can develop branches as the foliage lengthens. I would only detail wire branches that obstruct light from hitting the interior or are obviously misplaced. At this point some of your final branches may not even exist yet. Nice work! Let it grow

 

[Smoke]

This is an extremely young tree, I don't see the immediate need for detail wiring. In a few years your trunk will thicken and you can develop branches as the foliage lengthens. I would only detail wire branches that obstruct light from hitting the interior or are obviously misplaced. At this point some of your final branches may not even exist yet. Nice work! Let it grow

You do understand that this tree is barely 6 inches tall? It does not need a larger trunk nor does it need longer branches nor does it need more branches. In fact the OP has foreshortened most of the branches already.

Now if this were gonna be a two foot tall tree...I agree. This appears to be a final height tree to me based on what the OP has done thus far......

 

[Smoke]

One does not have to wire with 30 gauge wire, but a layout of branching surly is possible. This Itowigawa received similar treatment in Feb. at least I have a starting shape.....that is all.

 

[NJoyLife]

Great discussion here from both ends of the spectrum. Now that the newly shaped and thinned out branches will be receiving more sunlight, I am waiting to see what kind of backbudding I get in the near future. I'll come back and deselect the weak and undersirable growth and will continue with branch selection and will do the detail wiring during the 2nd styling session. This is my current thinking.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Regards,
Mel

 

[Daluke]

One does not have to wire with 30 gauge wire, but a layout of branching surly is possible. This Itowigawa received similar treatment in Feb. at least I have a starting shape.....that is all.

View attachment 151649 View attachment 151650

How far is too far?

I like both trees. I'm curious if there is some magical formula that can be applied. Some say don't take off more than 30%. Others say go hard or go home.