Possible...or wishful thinking

[Cadillactaste]

OK----here's a suggestion. Get your self a good pair of bonsai scissors, not cutters but scissors that look like scissors and carefully, once you locate the individual branches, tcut away enough growth to expose both the base of the branch structure and the trunk. That way you can see the interior of the tree and try to make some decision to make a bonsai. Don't get carried away, you just want to open the tree up for now. We can discuss removing branches and putting some wire on the tree once you get over this little hurdle. Who knows with a little wire you might have a nice name bonsai.

Thanks Vance...for the advice...I will do just that...off to look for some bonsai scissors. I like how your having me slightly open it up...because it is so thick of needles. Sounds like a great starting point.

 

[Poink88]

Thanks Vance...for the advice...I will do just that...off to look for some bonsai scissors. I like how your having me slightly open it up...because it is so thick of needles. Sounds like a great starting point.

I highly recommend you get this.

http://www.amazon.com/ARS-SS-320BT-...2A1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394656124&sr=8-4

 

[Cadillactaste]

I highly recommend you get this.

http://www.amazon.com/ARS-SS-320BT-...2A1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394656124&sr=8-4

Appreciate the link...I will have to purchase one after I get dinner done. I was looking and there are so many out there.

 

[Poink88]

Cheaper here (free shipping) if you do eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ARS-Harvesting-Scissors-/141177133069?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item20ded0180d

You won't regret it.

 

[october]

I highly recommend you get this.

http://www.amazon.com/ARS-SS-320BT-...2A1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394656124&sr=8-4

I also highly recommend that style of shears. I also highly recommend leaving this tree alone until it has branches. I would open it up, but there is nothing to style. You can get a cheap $12 juniper that is older and has workable branches. Also, this tree is too young to really learn from. That is, unless you plan on staying with it and developing it over a 5-10 year period.

Rob

 

[Vance Wood]

I also highly recommend that style of shear. I also highly recommend leaving this tree alone until it has branches. I would open it up, but there is nothing to style. You can get a cheap $12 juniper that is older and has workable branches. Also, this tree is too young to really learn from. That is, unless you plan on staying with it and developing it over a 5-10 year period.

Rob

Opening it up will allow those branchlets to get some light and start to thicken. That's the idea in this. Make sure you do not do anything with the little green branches you are going to be exposing until they become woody and lignified.

 

[Paradox]

As I mentioned before, I have a juniper that was very much like yours is now, maybe a year older. I almost killed it because I was told it was an "inside plant". When I figured out this was not true, I took it home and clipped off the dead branches and left it alone out on the deck. I kept it in the garage over the winter the first picture is what it looked like the following spring.

It was a pretty pathetic little thing.

P.S. I really hate how the web page does attachments now. They are never in the order I want and I cant figure out how to type between them!

 

[Paradox]

This is how it looked the following December, and again in the following spring when I repotted it

 

[Paradox]

Finally this is it last September after I did some thinning out of the foliage.

Yes it is not a great tree, and probably will never be a great tree, but I love seeing how it grows and progresses year to year. That is all that matters.

Your little tree could end up very similar with some time. I was also going to suggest you thin out some of the foliage on yours as there is a lot going on in that little mass of needles, but I would be careful not to do too much.

 

[Paradox]

As for inexpensive pruning scissors, I absolutely LOVE these

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-9921-...d=1394668238&sr=1-4&keywords=fiskars+scissors

 

[Victrinia Ridgeway]

V,

Is that pine the one in the book cover?

Love the chainsaw action btw. One of my idol...I wish I have half his energy when I am his age.

Yup... that's my cover photo... and I agree, the chainsaw thing is a scream. lol

V

 

[Cadillactaste]

As I mentioned before, I have a juniper that was very much like yours is now, maybe a year older. I almost killed it because I was told it was an "inside plant". When I figured out this was not true, I took it home and clipped off the dead branches and left it alone out on the deck. I kept it in the garage over the winter the first picture is what it looked like the following spring.

It was a pretty pathetic little thing.

P.S. I really hate how the web page does attachments now. They are never in the order I want and I cant figure out how to type between them!

Yours looks so much more open than mine...mine is so thick of needles. I also measured mine...because yours looks bigger or has that illusion. Mine is 6" wide...and 4 1/2 " tall to the top if the needles,with only 1cm for the trunk. After measuring it...I begin to see the real issues...it may just be to small to work with at this time...but a goal in mind was what this post was truly for. And I will have those scissors here...to help think around the trunk...possibly. Or at least have them on hand if need be.

 

[Paradox]

Yours looks so much more open than mine...mine is so thick of needles. I also measured mine...because yours looks bigger or has that illusion. Mine is 6" wide...and 4 1/2 " tall to the top if the needles,with only 1cm for the trunk. After measuring it...I begin to see the real issues...it may just be to small to work with at this time...but a goal in mind was what this post was truly for. And I will have those scissors here...to help think around the trunk...possibly. Or at least have them on hand if need be.

Mine is more open than yours in the first picture because half of the foliage had died and I cut it off. It wasnt much bigger than yours though, maybe a year older. It grew A LOT the year after it almost died. I am amazed at how much it grew to the point that I have to keep rechecking the dates of when the pictures were taken. It was pretty full before I trimmed it last year and now it is more open again because I thinned it out.

You might consider waiting a bit on trimming it and putting it in a bigger pot and then do some very light thinning of the foliage mass to open it up just a little. That will help it grow some.

 

[jkd2572]

There is no chop on this one. Same species 100 years later. It was a bitch to repot.

 

[A Random User]

Rob, actually I am looking at the roots of the tree on the right side. I seriously doubt that tree has been in that pot much longer than it took to get the camera out and photgraph it, if you look at the turntable its on you can see the disturbed soil laying on it, it looks like it was just set in the pot and photographed as the left side seems to not have any soil there yet at all. The soil is wet and not very compacted like that type of soil would be after even a few months. Add to that the fact the tree is setting way high in the pot and the foliage that is there is sparse and many of it has a yellow tinge I would not be surprised if its not in the burn pile by now. The design of it is odd, the largest branches are all in the top quarter of the tree. Just my humble opinion !

ed

I said pretty much the same thing in post #5 .
I agree... I have a feeling that some of that foliage didn't survive.

 

[A Random User]

View attachment 49429
There is no chop on this one. Same species 100 years later. It was a bitch to repot.

Well... don't you know it has to be chopped down in order to make a Bonsai ???
If It wasn't mine and I was listening to most here at B-Nut, I would chop at least
75 years off of that sucker !!!

 

[jkd2572]

This guy will never be air layered off, chopped, or even looked at wrong.....just cleaned up and thinned out periodically. I will then apologize to it and give it more fertilizer. He is a good 200lbs it his new shoes. Unlike yamadori its fun to look at him and imagine who was actively growing it as at the same time we still had plains Indians in Texas. Planes had not been invented. My grandmother had not been born yet. Our two great wars had not been fought. It's not an old piece of pottery. It's something that someone has looked after every day for all those years. It's just amazing to think about when you are thinning it out or watering it. Something we see on the internet and read about, but it's pretty cool to come home to everyday and just generally respect when you get to see it in person. I'm very thankful to have it in my back yard. I lucked into the purchase as the guy is private and had probably 300 similar tress that no one knows where he got them and he won't tell. Very interesting guy that looks like a cowboy and if you saw him on the street you would never imagine he loved plants much less bonsai. It's not my favorite tree. It's just one that I really like to set back and imagine its story as I really know nothing about it. Sorry this has nothing to do with the thread, but I had been thinking about lately.

 

[edprocoat]

Well... don't you know it has to be chopped down in order to make a Bonsai ???
If It wasn't mine and I was listening to most here at B-Nut, I would chop at least
75 years off of that sucker !!!

The best laugh I have had here in days ! Thanks man.

ed

 

[october]

Rob, actually I am looking at the roots of the tree on the right side. I seriously doubt that tree has been in that pot much longer than it took to get the camera out and photgraph it, if you look at the turntable its on you can see the disturbed soil laying on it, it looks like it was just set in the pot and photographed as the left side seems to not have any soil there yet at all. The soil is wet and not very compacted like that type of soil would be after even a few months. Add to that the fact the tree is setting way high in the pot and the foliage that is there is sparse and many of it has a yellow tinge I would not be surprised if its not in the burn pile by now. The design of it is odd, the largest branches are all in the top quarter of the tree. Just my humble opinion !

ed

Hi Ed, I am not sure if there is a question, point or if it is just observation here. However, as far as the branching, yes, in Bonsai we strive to to have the thickest branches on the bottom and they get thinner as they go up the tree. However, in many cases, this is just not the case, especially with many nursery trees. If you look at trees at regular nurseries and bonsai nurseries, many have the largest branches at the top. This is just how it is. To fix this as far as bonsai is concerned, we do many things. We cut those off and leave the younger thinner ones to develop. We hide the thicker branches with foliage, graft or sometimes create a shari along the bottom of the branch to create thinner look. Also, this tree is a bunjin or has strong bunjin like qualities. Certain bonsai aesthetics are not strictly adhered to when it comes to Bunjin. It is a looser style. However, do not mistake this for being easier to create or bowing out. It is difficult to pull off a successful bunjin.

I did not look at the photograph long enough to see all details. However, the tree may have been in that pot for years and was pulled out for some reason then stuck back in. Perhaps it was not in that pot, but put in that pot to see how it would look. Perhaps it came out of nursery container and was just put in that pot. I do not know.

As far as striping down a juniper. I submit the Kimura bunjin before and after. Also, notice the thickness of the branches at the top.

Rob

 

[William N. Valavanis]

The first image of the literati style dwarf Juniper was one of my demo trees when I was teaching in Perth, Australia, in October.

The tree is very healthy and was established in a bonsai container for years. I trimmed it and restyled it. Then it was put in different containers to show students the visual impact of various pots.

Complete photos of what the tree looked like before I redesigned and potted it can be seen in my blog:

http://valavanisbonsaiblog.com/2013/10/

The bonsai did survive and was an excellent tree for my literati bonsai educational program.

Bill