Evilution of a juniper.

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » January 22nd, 2012, 3:44 pm

I use the word advisedly as I have been evil to this particular juniper.

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Anyhow i thought they were all pretty bland so i decided to really give it a tweak about 2 years ago and almost snapped it in half.

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Almost snapped it in half.JPG

I was after a really turbulent look and bent the trunk back about 90 degrees and then sideways and then up etc.

it was going fine until I really leaned on it hard but all the rubber, vet wrap and wire stopped if from a catastrophic break.

Anyhow time to get back on with it. I will start removing wire over the entire tree but leave the snapped trunk till last.

Grant

John Henry · Post by **John Henry** » January 22nd, 2012, 4:25 pm

Hi Grant, is that the juniper you did the demo on in Bendigo .
Thanks john m

emi93m · Post by **emi93m** » January 22nd, 2012, 6:05 pm

I thought it looked Great at the end of the second attempt

you obviously know what you are doing great work nice tree hope it lives

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » January 23rd, 2012, 7:05 am

john henry wrote:Hi Grant, is that the juniper you did the demo on in Bendigo .
Thanks john m

Hi John,

It is very similar to the one I did at Bendigo (same propigation stock that I had left over after my nursery days) and I did have it with me as a prop during the talk/demo.

Grant

MattA · Post by **MattA** » January 23rd, 2012, 8:50 am

Hey Grant,

At first I thought the title was a typo but then seeing what you have done to this juni all I can say is, WOW!

I would love to see the side & back views.

Matt

Post by **NBPCA** » January 23rd, 2012, 8:54 am

Hi Matt,

I got the wire off last night and took some photos but the internet didn't seem to work for a while.

I will post photos tonight.

The bends and twists have taken and set quite nicely. I should have used the drill out technique on this one and will do so in future. On the smaller right hand branch I used the trunk splitter and you can hardly see a mark.

Its all a learning curve, bend , twist, splinter, snap.

Grant

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » January 23rd, 2012, 5:30 pm

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Andrew Legg · Post by **Andrew Legg** » January 23rd, 2012, 6:22 pm

Good job on the bending mate!

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » January 24th, 2012, 3:25 pm

Hi all,

Just a couple of observations from the bending on this tree.

First. The black bicycle rubber was on the tree for about 19 months and the bark shows no sign of any deterioration due to the rubber. This is contrary to what we were first taught years ago about using raffia as it was a natural product, the bark could breathe etc. I do make sure the rubber is not in too direct hot sun by covering with vet tape to stop the transferance of heat.

Second. There are actually signs of the trunk/bark putting out very fine roots under the rubber in what must have been a slightly moist and dark place.

Third. The very large bends have mostly set very nicely with no major relaxation of the tree after a few days

Fourth. The rubber, vet wrap and wire certainly did stop a catastrophic break.

Fifth. I did not use the drill out technique or trunk split on the major trunk but with hindsight should have.

Sixth. On the smaller trunk I used grafting tape, then a non stretch tape, then another layer of grafting tape and their was also no damage to the bark after about 15 months in place

Grant

Andrew F · Post by **Andrew F** » January 24th, 2012, 3:47 pm

Grant Bowie wrote:
Second. There are actually signs of the trunk/bark putting out very fine roots under the rubber in what must have been a slightly moist and dark place.

Grant

Unintentional air layer perhaps...

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » January 24th, 2012, 3:56 pm

VelvetSicklid wrote:
Grant Bowie wrote:
Second. There are actually signs of the trunk/bark putting out very fine roots under the rubber in what must have been a slightly moist and dark place.

Grant
Unintentional air layer perhaps...

It just shows that trees are tough and will do anything to survive.

Grant

Andrew F · Post by **Andrew F** » January 24th, 2012, 4:14 pm

Grant Bowie wrote:
VelvetSicklid wrote:
Grant Bowie wrote:
Second. There are actually signs of the trunk/bark putting out very fine roots under the rubber in what must have been a slightly moist and dark place.

Grant
Unintentional air layer perhaps...
It just shows that trees are tough and will do anything to survive.

Grant

That's right. Resilience is key to survival.

Love where this Juni is going Grant, look forward to updates.

Grant Bowie · Post by **Grant Bowie** » May 25th, 2013, 4:10 pm

Hi all,

Had some fun today with this Juniper.

As far as can go today. A very complex series of bends has created lots of interest and a little more foliage will help.

Grant

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lackhand · Post by **lackhand** » May 25th, 2013, 5:05 pm

Thank you for the update Grant, quite impressive to see what can be done with a piece of very standard stock and some evil treatment.

Makes me wonder if I'm being to gentle to a few of mine . . .

I like where the tree is headed and look forward to seeing the next update. Thanks for sharing.

Webos · Post by **Webos** » May 25th, 2013, 5:19 pm

Great stuff, really good example of why we should all be taking regular photos of our trees. A very cool tree.

I like the final result apart from the very top branch, I think that's the only thing detracting from the flow of the branches. Of course, a photo never does a bonsai justice so I'm sure that in the flesh, it's even more powerful and complex than what we see here.

AusBonsai

Evilution of a juniper.

Evilution of a juniper.

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