Largest Juniper from nursery stock so far

[Likebull1]

So far the best $21.00 I've spent so far buying a tree.
There isn't much inner growth but I'm clearing out some dead branches (don't worry I'm saving the thicker ones and ones worth saving) to allow sunlight to reach in.
I mostly fell in love with the thick curved trunk. It's hard for pictures to do justice.
Just going to try and get this one as healthy as possible before winter so I can repot it and get it out of the nursery soil.
I'm not going to lie...this one intimidates my quite a bit. Luckily I have a year and a half to think it over.

 

[leatherback]

Nice one.

You will probably be able to reduce the thick branches by half their length, leaving half of the foliage, bringing more light to the inside. If you next year let the remaining foliage run, with substantial sun and fertilizer, you should get decent inner growth, allowing you to build a fairly small tree.

 

[Likebull1]

Nice one.

You will probably be able to reduce the thick branches by half their length, leaving half of the foliage, bringing more light to the inside. If you next year let the remaining foliage run, with substantial sun and fertilizer, you should get decent inner growth, allowing you to build a fairly small tree.

I did end up removing some of the length on the thick branches but didn't go too hard. I also tried my hand at carving some of the branches I cut back. I didn't sand them yet but I think it's coming along nicely!

 

[leatherback]

I also tried my hand at carving some of the branches I cut back.

I would recomment to STOP doing this.
It is MUCH beter to use the natural grain of the wood voor deadwood. As the wood ages, it cracks and it looks odd if the shape of the wood is very different from the grain of the wood.

 

[Likebull1]

I would recomment to STOP doing this.
It is MUCH beter to use the natural grain of the wood voor deadwood. As the wood ages, it cracks and it looks odd if the shape of the wood is very different from the grain of the wood.

Damn and I thought I was doing a good job lol. Well thanks for the advice. I'll stop while I'm ahead and hopefully I didn't do too much damage

 

[Empty Mountain]

I think that you can achieve a more sustainable design just using bonsai cutters to split the wood and pliers to pull fibers along the natural grain. Turning a straight branch into a twisty jin will look worse as it ages:

 

[Bonsai Forest]

Bark windows along bottom, tilt, root hormone, bury, forest, moss is the direction I would go

 

[Likebull1]

Bark windows along bottom, tilt, root hormone, bury, forest, moss is the direction I would go

Huh?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Huh?

He would remove small patches of bark on the downside of the trunk, apply rooting hormone, and lay it on its side and bury the trunk. Then he would style the branches as separate trees to make a forest, laying moss over the base.

 

[Likebull1]

He would remove small patches of bark on the downside of the trunk, apply rooting hormone, and lay it on its side and bury the trunk. Then he would style the branches as separate trees to make a forest, laying moss over the base.

AHHHH thank you. I was confused on the wording. Thanks for clearing that up for me