AusBonsai

Hi guys!

As the title suggests this I'm my one and only, first ever Juniper. A Root Over Rock, Juniperus Squamata Prostrata. I picked him up about a month ago from Bonsai Sensation, for what I think was a great price!

Pos Front.


Pos Back.


Pos Left.


Pos Right.


It had beautifully vibrant green foliage, positioned atop a large but concealed jagged rock.

I had never owned a Juniper before so I wasn't exactly sure how to approach it.

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After a bit of research and finding the time to start, I decided to get my hands dirty and thin it out to get some possible ideas. After cutting down the pot I began with removing anything up and down, as well as any crotch shoots between any forks. I never realised how much time went into thinning a Juniper, let alone styling it! Let's just say it took me a LOONNNGGGGG time looking and cutting, just to get it somewhat thinned out.

Pos Front.


Pos Back.


Pos Left.


Pos Right.


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After much deliberation, I decided both the front and back could be great possible fronts. In the end I went with the original possible front, slightly off set to the right. I chose this front for a couple of reasons.

Firstly - A possum had decided to eat the foliage on the rear left branch, much to my irritation

Secondly - For some unknown reason I prefer trees flowing to the right hehe

Thirdly - Where the root runs down the rock and meets the branches it appeared too straight to me, with the branches coming off like a T-intersection.

The nebari looked the greatest from the left view showing the roots splitting both left and right, but due to the branch positioning from that angle it wasn't an option for me. In twisting the tree to the right a touch, it will show the rock nicely as it is slowly revealed over time - unfortunately I covered it back up with dirt before I took a photo, so you may have to trust me until I repot next year so the tree has time to recover from my.rough styling.



I began with wiring the main branches in order to pull the strong right flowing branch back toward the rear. This was done in order to reveal the chosen nebari/rock view from the new front. Once that was done I have begun to wire the lower branches on the left into pads, moving across to the lower right. Due to never styling a Juniper before, this has taken me much longer than expected, but I think thats going to make it much more rewarding for myself once I do finally finish.



Unfortunately this is all I have completed thus far. I'll add more updates as I go in the coming days. The apex is positioned high up currently, purely so I can fit my hands in with wire. Eventually it will be pulled down and forward toward the viewer, creating a layer of pads above/along the main trunk line and an apex.

Hope you all like where it's headed so far! All comments and critiques are more than welcome, as I have never styled a Juniper before and we are all here to learn.

Cheers,
Pearcy.
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Looks good mate. Nice and healthy too. Look forward to seeing it progress!
Ryan

Mate i think that your possible back should be the front or optimal position it has some nice lines find them and go from there also don't be afraid to shari the trunk it will help overall

Hey mate looks great, spring should be exciting for you!
Healthy tree [THUMBS UP SIGN]

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A little more wiring was done late last night and it's starting to take shape. It was hard work doing it in very poor lighting conditions in my garage late at night. I'll try my best to get it finished soon, but other commitments just seem to keep getting in the way... Quick update photo.



Jamie - The more I look at it, the more I think you're right. I think my plan will now be to continue with the selected front that I already had, but style it from both sides for the future. Over time I have a feeling the front may change.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Finally got around to finishing wiring up this one. It is probably overly manicured to most, but was as much about practicing some wiring skills as it was styling the tree.

It requires some further tweeking to get the branches where I like, thinking probably bring it down toward the right into more of a windswept semi cascade?

There is alot of filling our required in the apex and upper-rear of the tree, hopefully this will happen over the next couple of years.







As the title stated this is my first Juniper so feel free to comment with possible improvements, I take handle it

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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This one is putting on alot of nice healthy growth, so I decided to expose more of the roots. I disturbed more than I would have likes so hopefully it is ok. Yet again I was working in a poorly lit garage at night so I apologise for the photos.







I rearranged some of the roots, bringing one over the rear of the rock as well (on the far right). A bit of soil was then placed back on top to assist the roots recovery.

I'll be bringing the main right branch/trunk down in the near future, but will probably just let the tree recover for now.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Hi Pearcy,
now you have seen Hahn wire and bend, its time to put movement in that short upright trunk

Hi Pearcy,
Looks like you've done a lot of work on that Juniper. How much of the root ball have you scraped away?

maple wrote:Hi Pearcy,
now you have seen Hahn wire and bend, its time to put movement in that short upright trunk

Haha your right Barry. It will be alot more fiddly at this size compared to the ones Hanh was working on, but I'll give it a red hot go . I'm going to let it rest for now but, as I have concerns for its recovery from the root disturbance.

adge0001 wrote:Hi Pearcy,
Looks like you've done a lot of work on that Juniper. How much of the root ball have you scraped away?

Hi Adge,

Original plan was to scrape away 1/3, but I may have gone slightly over that. What is concerning me is that the 1/3 that I was aiming for ended up being more of the overall roots than I would have liked. The roots had not completely filled the pot yet, so percentage wise I'm guessing 60-65% of the overall roots were disturbed even though it was only the top 1/3 of the soil . I also gave the roots that were exposed a light trim. Hopefully this won't be detrimental to the tree, as I remember reading that disturbing too much of the roots on Junipers can be fatal. I guess time will tell!

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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This has grown extremely well since the repot... Almost too well in Fact.

I need to remove approximately 50%-60% of the foliage to bring it back in.

Is it too late in the season to remove this much?

If so, what amount would be safe?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Being evergreen I don't think that juniper really has a pruning season Pearcy. I'd be happy to reduce any of my shimpaku now. They are still in full growth mode up here and should still grow for another month or so before slowing down as the weather cools. I don't think they actually stop growing here, even in winter.

shibui wrote:Being evergreen I don't think that juniper really has a pruning season Pearcy. I'd be happy to reduce any of my shimpaku now. They are still in full growth mode up here and should still grow for another month or so before slowing down as the weather cools. I don't think they actually stop growing here, even in winter.

Thanks Shibui, I'll give it a solid trim in the coming days.

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