JUNIPERUS TOLUROSA (Hollywood)

[Hartinez]

This is a pre-thread Thread. I bought this guy in June of this year. Repotted and cut back most of the unwanted foliage, branches etc. At the time of purchase at HD I knew I wanted to do some type of tall and elegant Literati, due to its movement in the trunk and It’s foliage. I’ve been enamored with Tolurosa since my trip to San Diego this spring. I Planned on styling it at the time of purchase and intitial repot, but with the amount of foliage I removed, I decided waiting was for the best for the health of the tree. I went ahead and jinned several branches a week ago, with more carving and work to be done with time.

I’m not set on my final decision, so I thought I’d share my idea here to get feedback and criticism on my idea. Sooooo... let it ride. I’ll need to wrap with raffia and bend both trunks rather extensively, but the thickness shouldn’t be a problem.

Here’s a sketch of my thought. And what I see as a desired front.

Keeping both trunks may not be the final decision but it’s what I see as of now. The other thought would be to Jin the entire upper trunk to create a nice contrast between the lower trunk and deadwood.

 

[Hartinez]

Single trunk may be the best look the more I look.

 

[sorce]

I'm big on using the trunks as they come, with good hard looking for interesting lines in the first place of course....

That said...

I'd wire the trunks just for a slight bit of movement at the ends....
And the green.

I like how they stand now.

Fun.

Sorce

 

[Hartinez]

I'm big on using the trunks as they come, with good hard looking for interesting lines in the first place of course....

That said...

I'd wire the trunks just for a slight bit of movement at the ends....
And the green.

I like how they stand now.

Fun.

Sorce

Thanks for the reply sorce. I feel like as of right now, the two trunks are at odds with each other. I’ll need to get them working together and don’t see that happening with out some significant wiring. The foliage is unruly, and reputationally so for a Hollywood. I’m a big fan of completely wiring out juniper foliage to get that traditional pyramidal or triangular form.

with that said, I’m Not sold on my idea and you may be right about mostly leaving the trunks be, especially if I still wire out the foliage as intended.

 

[Hartinez]

Ive decided to leave this tree be till next spring/summer. With as much as I want to bend the trunks, i want them to have a chance to heal if i cause any damage, internal or not.

 

[Michael P]

I love this cultivar as a landscape plant and always wondered how it would do as bonsai. You mention that the foliage of this cultivar is unruly, could you expand on that? I like your sketch of the two trunk design.

 

[Hartinez]

I love this cultivar as a landscape plant and always wondered how it would do as bonsai. You mention that the foliage of this cultivar is unruly, could you expand on that? I like your sketch of the two trunk design.

From what I’ve noticed so far and to be honest, what I’ve heard from others, is that the foliage works great on a landscape scale but in bonsai tends to be a lot longer than is desired. My own experience with it is very limited but I will def update as it fills in.

 

[Hartinez]

Went for it. Prolonged freezing temps not expected for several more weeks. And even then I’ll just need to give this guys extra protection this winter. I removed only 5-10% of the foliage. Come next summer I’ll remove more foliage and detail wire quite a bit more as the image right now is a bit of a mess. It’ll be interesting to see how the tree responds and how tight I can keep things.

 

[Hartinez]

What I originally saw as the back, that may actually be a better front. Still not sold on both trunks.

 

[just.wing.it]

Hmm.
Nice work!

I have mixed feelings about it....but I'd bet that in time, it will grow into its new shape and unmix my feelings.

 

[just.wing.it]

Wait....wait.....
I see the problem now....

The lower subtrunk is going up.....
But the upper subtrunk is going down.

If they shared a somewhat similar trajectory, it would appear more balanced.....imho.

Edit:
Its possible that a severe change of inclination could do the trick.

 

[Japonicus]

You do a lot of work. Cleaning, prepping, drawing out a sketch, thinking, taking photos, posting...
then I come along and say "have you thought about raft?
I love the Hollywood. Do you have a before picture?

 

[just.wing.it]

You do a lot of work. Cleaning, prepping, drawing out a sketch, thinking, taking photos, posting...
then I come along and say "have you thought about raft?
I love the Hollywood. Do you have a before picture?

Raft is nearly what I was thinking as well with my inclination change comment.
.....I just didnt say it out loud.

 

[Japonicus]

I'm a little confused because both fronts, the lower tree, the trunk appears to be coming forwards...why is that?
The wire, in the new front, and the shadow in the other front idea photo, obscures the union
so I can't really say, but it's a great position to be in to have multiple fronts. Now make it 3D

 

[Hartinez]

Wait....wait.....
I see the problem now....

The lower subtrunk is going up.....
But the upper subtrunk is going down.

If they shared a somewhat similar trajectory, it would appear more balanced.....imho.

Edit:
Its possible that a severe change of inclination could do the trick.

Yeah, I’ve bent them quite a bit, and the intention long term is to have them mirror each other. I think a better angle change and a more refined bend will help.

 

[Hartinez]

I'm a little confused because both fronts, the lower tree, the trunk appears to be coming forwards...why is that?
The wire, in the new front, and the shadow in the other front idea photo, obscures the union
so I can't really say, but it's a great position to be in to have multiple fronts. Now make it 3D

The trunks and branches are definitely radial. I need a better camera and photo setup. Though i don’t think my trees are quite good enough for such a setup! so I actually just created a Vimeo account to start taking videos. Hopefully those will help show the dimension of these trees better.

please excuse my strange ASMR noises.

 

[Hartinez]

Thanks for the feedback and for taking a quick look fellas. @just.wing.it @Japonicus

 

[Hartinez]

You do a lot of work. Cleaning, prepping, drawing out a sketch, thinking, taking photos, posting...
then I come along and say "have you thought about raft?
I love the Hollywood. Do you have a before picture?

No at purchase photo unfortunately. And one of my biggest issues. Is being too he’ll bent on a design, even when it may not be the best plan for it. With that said, i don’t know that raft style would have worked from the get go anyways.

 

[Japonicus]

The trunks and branches are definitely radial. I need a better camera and photo setup. Though i don’t think my trees are quite good enough for such a setup! so I actually just created a Vimeo account to start taking videos. Hopefully those will help show the dimension of these trees better.

please excuse my strange ASMR noises.

Trunks to the right and main trunk leaning towards the viewer

 

[Hartinez]

Trunks to the right and main trunk leaning towards the viewer

are you saying you like that? Or just wondering as to why?