procumbens 'Nana' staked vertical

[James W.]

Spring update. Growing well.

 

[James W.]

Grew well this summer. Wired the top up in August.

It is a little hard to see what is going on in there.

 

[James W.]

Growing well this spring.
Wire was just starting to bite in so I removed it. Still need to re-wire to keep it growing upward.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Take a look at what @thomas22 did on his tree (post on first page). He took the tree and highlighted the trunk. While using basic design concepts to make the tree feel balanced and visually appealing. IMHO, this is a great time for you to try your hand at something similar.

Choose a front and begin to cut branches (create jins, if need be) and highlight the trunk. In this case, youve created a procumbens that has been staked, with a trunk that grows up, a rarity with “nana”, now show it off!!

Also, this is a good time to work on junipers.

 

[James W.]

Take a look at what @thomas22 did on his tree (post on first page). He took the tree and highlighted the trunk. While using basic design concepts to make the tree feel balanced and visually appealing. IMHO, this is a great time for you to try your hand at something similar.

Choose a front and begin to cut branches (create jins, if need be) and highlight the trunk. In this case, youve created a procumbens that has been staked, with a trunk that grows up, a rarity with “nana”, now show it off!!

Also, this is a good time to work on junipers.

Yep, that is what I'm working toward.
Right now it needs to grow some.

 

[Michael P]

This is a staked procumbens juniper that Kathy Shaner styled over a period of 2 years in demonstrations for the Bonsai Society of Dallas. I was the lucky winner in a raffle for the tree. The photo was taken in 2003. I loved it for about 4 years, but it didn't love me back. Every time I touched it, it tried to die. I finally gave it to another club member because I couldn't bear to watch it decline.

 

[James W.]

Late summer update:
Just let it grow this year. Hard to see where the tree is heading right now.

Now I need to prune a enough off so I can find the trunk again. Then probably chop and wire up a new leader. Last June I think I removed the wire from the selected leader too soon and didn't re-wire it so I will have to deal with the droopy top.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Hard to see where the tree is heading right now.

Step away from the tree It is pretty clear that you are struggling with developing a plan for this material. Sometimes I think people make the mistake of wading in and starting to cut and bend before they know where they are headed. They let their work define the tree, instead of letting the tree define their work.

What kind of tree are you hoping to style? Do you have an image in your mind? If not, where can you go to get inspiration? Can you find a tree image somewhere online that you can use as a style guide? You don't have to try to make a carbon copy... rather use another tree that inspires you to help define your work path - what you want to do and what you want to avoid doing.

Look at the two different trees that were shared on this thread. In one case the artist took an upright procumbens and used the top of the tree. In the second case the artist took an upright procumbens and used the bottom of the tree - while jinning the top to create a strong line. Very different approaches to material that might have looked pretty similar at the beginning.

If I get stuck with some material, I have learned not to work it until I get unstuck. Usually I go online and try to find an image of tree in nature to inspire me. If I can't find one that way, I look at bonsai images of similar trees... or perhaps different trees species styled the same way I think I might want to style the tree. Then I print out the picture and keep it by my side as I work - not as a blueprint for what to do, but usually as a blueprint for what NOT to do. After all... if I haven't done something bad, I don't have to undo it later It is hard to regrow a branch that you have removed, or regrow a trunk you have shortened, or replace deadwood that you carved away. It works for me. In a perfect world, if you were styling a bristlecone pine, you'd be doing it out in the woods surrounded by a bunch of 3000 year old trees, so you could have good reference material to keep you from doing something that would look unnatural.

And if you are super stuck, take your tree to a bonsai professional and ask for advice. Don't ask them to style the tree for you - ask them for design help, and then YOU do the work.

 

[James W.]

Step away from the tree It is pretty clear that you are struggling with developing a plan for this material. Sometimes I think people make the mistake of wading in and starting to cut and bend before they know where they are headed. They let their work define the tree, instead of letting the tree define their work.

What kind of tree are you hoping to style? Do you have an image in your mind? If not, where can you go to get inspiration? Can you find a tree image somewhere online that you can use as a style guide? You don't have to try to make a carbon copy... rather use another tree that inspires you to help define your work path - what you want to do and what you want to avoid doing.

Look at the two different trees that were shared on this thread. In one case the artist took an upright procumbens and used the top of the tree. In the second case the artist took an upright procumbens and used the bottom of the tree - while jinning the top to create a strong line. Very different approaches to material that might have looked pretty similar at the beginning.

If I get stuck with some material, I have learned not to work it until I get unstuck. Usually I go online and try to find an image of tree in nature to inspire me. If I can't find one that way, I look at bonsai images of similar trees... or perhaps different trees species styled the same way I think I might want to style the tree. Then I print out the picture and keep it by my side as I work - not as a blueprint for what to do, but usually as a blueprint for what NOT to do. After all... if I haven't done something bad, I don't have to undo it later It is hard to regrow a branch that you have removed, or regrow a trunk you have shortened, or replace deadwood that you carved away. It works for me. In a perfect world, if you were styling a bristlecone pine, you'd be doing it out in the woods surrounded by a bunch of 3000 year old trees, so you could have good reference material to keep you from doing something that would look unnatural.

And if you are super stuck, take your tree to a bonsai professional and ask for advice. Don't ask them to style the tree for you - ask them for design help, and then YOU do the work.

Thank you for your kindness to reply.
I will re-phrase my statement "Hard to see where the tree is heading right now." to "I suspect that it is hard for you to see what my vision for this tree is."
The tree is becoming an informal upright with some not-too-subtle trunk movement. I am envisioning a relatively sparse tree with little if any dead wood. Almost all of the foliage is there just to keep the tree growing and help continue developing some decent taper.
I will do some work this fall and then you might be better able to see what is happening. (Or I might decide I don't really know where we are heading. Then I will have to pause and regroup.)
I wish I was a good enough artist to sketch what I want. That would help me to remember where I'm heading the next time I get to cutting and wiring.

 

[Japonicus]

I would clean it up a bit now. I'm about done with all my procumbens going into the end of the growing season.
Still doing a little thinning with caution, but want to be able to get good air movement during dormancy,
and any pesticide applications to reach into the trunk without having to jam the nozzle tip into the foliage and rotate.
Otherwise there will certainly be more browning to clean up come Spring.

Last June I think I removed the wire from the selected leader too soon and didn't re-wire it so I will have to deal with the droopy top.

Now is fine time to fix that.

 

[James W.]

Trimmed and next trunk wired up. Easier to see what is happening now. Also took a picture with some of what will eventually removed covered.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

This was my staked procumbens. It's now about 20 yrs old and keeps building the nebari. It spent a long time on the "straight and narrow."

 

[Beanwagon]

Trimmed and next trunk wired up. Easier to see what is happening now. Also took a picture with some of what will eventually removed covered.
View attachment 332203View attachment 332202

To me it I looks like it needs a few years of untouched growing in the largest container you have.

In just under 4 years of growth with the occasional trim in a large pot i had this much growth/thickening of the trunk.

 

[James W.]

To me it I looks like it needs a few years of untouched growing in the largest container you have.

In just under 4 years of growth with the occasional trim in a large pot i had this much growth/thickening of the trunk.

This one I am going to keep small. I have some larger ones to work on.