Rocky Mountain Juniper

[fourteener]

Here is a tree that's been in my possession for about 5-6 years. The first renovation removed a large mass of foliage on the bottom. There were two branches filling up the space. I removed one and wired out what remained. I've never been satisfied with the planting angle, last fall I repositioned it in the pot to the more upright position. This last week I spent four hours cutting off all the wire and 12-15 ours wiring it out to the tips. Wiring these out is a drastic investment of time. The sell of cat urine is also a bit annoying. My wife is a saint for letting me do this in the house on a rainy week.

Now I notice that as the foliage mass gets reduced it feels like the pot is too big. Also the original owner had the idea of a semi-cascade, thus the deeper pot. Now that I have it more upright, a different pot might be in order.

 

[Dav4]

Movement is everything and the angle change really nailed it. The overall image went from awkward to awesome...well done. Fwiw, I've come to really enjoy the "cat pee" smell. For me, wiring out 2 large RMJs every 2-3 years (15 hours a tree sounds right) and you almost have to like it!

 

[crust]

I agree the pot is a bit of a honker now.

 

[Mr GeaRbOx]

Beautiful tree. Thank you for sharing. If you were to go with another pot; what type/shape are you thinking? Perhaps a more angular pot to match the more angular appearance at the new planting angle? I'm trying to learn the thought process behind design theory (don't know what else to call it) Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks again for posting.

 

[fourteener]

Beautiful tree. Thank you for sharing. If you were to go with another pot; what type/shape are you thinking? Perhaps a more angular pot to match the more angular appearance at the new planting angle? I'm trying to learn the thought process behind design theory (don't know what else to call it) Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks again for posting.

I don't mind the shape of the pot now. But I would go 4 inches deep instead of 8 inches.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Nice tree and I like the pot too. Just a question, as I am not familiar with RMJ, does the tree give off the "cat pee" smell, or am I missing something? Just curious.

 

[Dav4]

Nice tree and I like the pot too. Just a question, as I am not familiar with RMJ, does the tree give off the "cat pee" smell, or am I missing something? Just curious.

Yup. The foliage smells like cat urine. Walter Pall said in a demo once that it smelled like "Puma" pee and was a defense mechanism designed to scare away animals away that might nibble on it...not sure about the validity of this statement/theory, but it's a nice story.