Shohin juniper plans

[Oakacer]

Hi all. I have a lovely itoigawa juniper that I will begin work spring. Picked up from Greenwood bonsai in the UK.

the plan will be to do an initial branch selection, and potting into a training pot this March, with the goal to wire in autumn. Depending on how it does and it’s recovery over the next year, I’ll aim to repot it again next year.

ill post some images here as it progresses. let Me know what you think! Including if you know what to do with the trunk chop wound?!

here’s the tree


with this being the plan for styling over the next year


These are the roots, looking healthy!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think it could be a good idea to start wiring now. The branches on your plant are pretty thick already, and another growing season might make them harder to bend over such a small length. It would also help light reach the insides.

 

[Oakacer]

Thanks for your message. That’s a good plan, there’s 2 or 3 rather large branches to be removed on this tree, would you recommend removing those now to allow light through?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Nah, I'd wait until spring so you can stick them in the soil and maybe get them to root. That's more plants for the price of one! During an active growing season, the healing seems to be better as well.
The wiring now - or before the next growing season - part is because the lignification will continue, causing your branches to be less pliable every year after the other, and during a mild winter time (no frosts) you can perfectly wire junipers with very little risk of slipping the bark off of the plant.

The fun part is, if you wire now and for some reason you snap a branch.. You still have the ones you intend to remove! And this way you can work with those if something fails. It just takes a little adjustment on your design.

I don't know how much of a beginner you are, but I want to warn you that most professionals tend to say "Remove weak interior foliage". This is a good call, if you're working with huge trees and an already compacted design. If you're starting from scratch, it's better to prune (when the time is right of course!) from the outside inwards. This way you'll keep the interior foliage that will build your tree over time even though it's weak-ish now.
Just want to put that out there because there will be beginners pondering about how to approach junipers. I did a shohin myself in 2021. I learned that it's good to take it slower, because it's not going to get out of juvenile foliage anytime soon. But the framework is there and it's solid.

 

[Shibui]

Junipers will heal over wounds of that's what you want but junipers also look great with dead wood features. It's quite natural because they grow in harsh mountain conditions so there's usually plenty of broken and dying branches under natural conditions. Junipers with good dead wood show that they have survived harsh conditions whether the dead is natural or created by us so consider converting some of the redundant branches to jins. The same could apply to the trunk chop site.
It's always hard to advise where to add dead wood or which branches to keep and remove just from a couple of 2D pictures so you'll have to make the decisions or get some in person help.

I style junipers all year round down here though still avoid wiring and bending through spring after some unfortunate dead branches after spring manipulation. SW UK probably doesn't get too cold so you could probably start pruning and shaping the tree now. If possibility of cuttings is a factor I'd still put them in now. They should stay dormant over winter but will probably produce callus at the base and be ready to root come spring.

 

[Oakacer]

Thanks both, that’s really helpful advice. I have a couple of years experience so not much, and mostly with deciduous species, so this is my first serious attempt at a juniper. I’ll post updates here as I go to document its development!

 

[Oakacer]

A little update - major wiring of primary branches was done in early January



and after an extremely wet few weeks, I decided a repot into an oversized pot with inorganic soil was necessary given the very dense organic soil the tree was in which was just staying waterlogged. The tree was showing signs of swelling to the tips so I think the timing is about right. It’s been crazy warm here in the UK for the time of year.



if the tree regains some vigour then I I may do a little light trimming in summer to keep the proximal growth but probably wait until either autumn or next year to do more major work.

any comments or criticism greatly appreciated!

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

If you are planning to take off some of the larger branches you could also try to air layer those branches.

 

[Oakacer]

Lots of strong growth this spring so I did an initial thinning today - lots of small branches that need wiring, more work on the apex and probably more thinning out still to do but I’ll give it a little break again.

 

[Oakacer]

 

[Colorado]

Looking very good so far! Nice work!

Careful not to push it too hard too fast. If it was me, I’d leave it untouched for the rest of this year. You’ve already repotted it and removed quite a bit of foliage.

I have a little shohin juniper that is very similar to yours. I think the thread is titled “Colorado’s Itoigawa Juniper” or something like that. Might give you some ideas on development for yours.



Cheers!

 

[Oakacer]

Looking very good so far! Nice work!

Careful not to push it too hard too fast. If it was me, I’d leave it untouched for the rest of this year. You’ve already repotted it and removed quite a bit of foliage.

I have a little shohin juniper that is very similar to yours. I think the thread is titled “Colorado’s Itoigawa Juniper” or something like that. Might give you some ideas on development for yours.

View attachment 547937

Cheers!

Thanks! I do agree this is all probably a bit much. The itch to try and progress quickly is difficult not to scratch!

Your juniper is actually my primary inspiration for this tree funnily enough, it’s one of my favourites I’ve seen on here and I’ve been following your thread ever since I saw it. Great tree!

 

[Colorado]

Thanks! I do agree this is all probably a bit much. The itch to try and progress quickly is difficult not to scratch!

Your juniper is actually my primary inspiration for this tree funnily enough, it’s one of my favourites I’ve seen on here and I’ve been following your thread ever since I saw it. Great tree!

Aw shucks. Thanks a ton!

When I saw your tree, it reminded me immediately of mine!

Looking forward to following your thread.

 

[Paradox]

Thanks! I do agree this is all probably a bit much. The itch to try and progress quickly is difficult not to scratch!

I completely understand and can relate to that enthusiasm but bonsai is a marathon not a sprint. Lack of patience can and does result in a dead tree.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

I like that you created tension. One option also:

 

[Oakacer]

Summer update. Tree remains healthy and thankfully not showing any signs of juvenile foliage after all the work done this year