AusBonsai

Here are a few pics of a procumbens i had a crack at over the weekend. Its my second attempt at styling a bonsai (i Wont show you my first), i have a few trees in waiting but being new to bonsai i needed something i could work on immediately.
It only cost $13 at the nursery which i thought was good value for money considering i spent all day playing with it
It didnt have much of an apex to work with so i had to be a bit creative with the wiring and hopefully over time it will fill out and be more of a presence. Anyway, i had some fun and im quite happy with the result and looking forward to working on it some more over the years.
Hope you enjoy and of course any constructive criticism or advice is always welcome.
Cheers

before After

Great material mate!

I really like Procumbens, something about the color and work-ability. Up in QLD they do get a fungus though, but with the right remedy they make fantastic Bonsai.
Keep me posted on how you go, I have never removed that much foliage from one. I'm sure it will bounce back, but I'd just like to see the outcome if you don't mind.

as the munt said, great material especially at that price.

procumbens and squamata are probably the only species im comfortable/confident with at the moment, although i dont really know the difference between them...

i think the amount of foliage removed should be fine, but it looks like you repotted/reduced the roots at the same time which could weaken the tree severely.
only tips from me would be to not touch the foliage or feed it until its well and truly growing again in the warmer months. a few of my trees have had far worse treatment and pulled through fine though so hopefully this guy pulls through too.

Hi Dave,
The reduction in foliage I think is fine, still plenty of green left so should come back nicely.
The repot has me thinking though, I assume in WA it is warm enough now to undertake it, although I’m not sure if both a repot and foliage reduction/styling simultaneously is the right move... how much did you cut back the roots I guess is a valid question? The other thing though is why did you repot but not at the angle you wanted the tree to sit? The final shot shows the juniper in its new orange pot, but then angled inside the plastic one ... I guess you changed your mind?
I think the end result was a pretty good start on this, hopefully it’ll kick on & you can keep the refinement going, and repot at your new angle?!!?

Thanks for the feedback.
Im really just experimenting at the moment, i guess we all kill a few before we learn a few things? ....right?

The reason for the re-pot. It was buried quite deep into the original pot so i wanted to take a look at the trunk and also it was quite hard to work on being so low. So i took it out and thought i might repot it, mainly so the roots wouldnt dry out. I was a little ill prepared or maybe just too excited to prune so i wasnt completely sure how to pot it. So the result is now its potted on the wrong angle and i though best not to touch it for a while.
I think we are a bit lucky here (touch wood) that our winters are quite mild. Its still 20c and sunshine here during the days and doesn't get too much colder overnight so i feel pretty confident to attempt it anyway. I kept most of the roots, just took out the big and twisted ones to help it go into the pot.
Time will tell and hopefully this little guy gives me a few good years to work on him