AusBonsai

This is one I started back in May on a lazy day off work.... In a fit of boredom I decided a paint by numbers informal upright juniper was what was missing in my life so I set out to make that happen...

4 hours later including the 2 hour return drive to bonsai emporium and I was bored again, with an equally boring tree to look at, so out came the pencils and the below virtual was born... I think although it may still be considered 'stock standard' it has a lot more drama and is far more interesting than my original attempt at styling.


This tree has started to wake up for the winter so time to decide whether to pot her up as is.. or work towards the virtual over the next year or 2.

This post is more to preserve the images and to serve as future reference for when I inevitably forget when I did what...

I may yet go a completely different direction and try out some new techniques on this one though.... I'm thinking a shimpaku conversion, and attempting the drill out bending/twisting method I read on the forum awhile ago but will see how it goes..

Cheers for lookin.


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The virt certainly looks a lot flasher, as long as the bark/vein actually grows circling around the trunk and not straight up/down.

From my reading, not experience, I understand that if you cut off the veins in order to form that live vein pattern, the tree wouldn’t necessarily be able immediately to redirect the flow of energy and could expire.


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I know there is this persistent idea that junipers have 'live veins' but I have never had any problems after putting spiral shari on Shimpaku here. All plants have the ability to redirect sap flow to adjacent cells so they can survive bark damage. As long as there's a continuous strip of bark between the roots and every branch it should be OK. I normally open up a narrow dead strip initially and widen it every few years. That allows subsequent trunk growth (thickening) so the shari ends up with more natural texture. Just takes a lot longer to complete the project.

Love your view for the future, Mbunro.

i started the shari on this one early spring last year.. green wire is to help me remember the line i was planning on taking. i was happy then but am now not so sure... the branching and canopy is starting to look good but unsure if i made the right choice with the shari...
mite look at getting it potted this spring and hold of on the shari for a couple of years until im more confident with my vision..

Well done Mbunro. I really enjoy your writing and how you describe where you started. I reckon the path you've chosen is excellent. For whatever reason, I get bored by these juniper specimens - so many are same, same; they are everywhere - everyone's first port of call. Meh! I have one that was given to me as a present and you've given me inspiration that I may be able to make something worth looking at. Here, in your example, you've made something eye catching and I reckon (for the very little that my view is worth) that this is heading in the right direction. I guess whether the shari adds something or not will be whether it can be scraped out in in the context of a relatively thin trunk... in some way, just the little portion at the bottom of this tree adds something already. Cheers, Mark

I get bored by these juniper specimens - so many are same, same; they are everywhere

Ha, i agree but i have allot of fun with them, cheap enough over here that im usually up for some risky behavior (this one not the best example of that)... its also nice to have a tree on the bench that matches the general publics view of a 'bonsai'..
this is one of the least impressive trees i own yet most people that have seen my trees point this one out as there favorite... and its in a faded orange nursery pot...

decided to start reducing the pot size instead of continuing with the shari at this point. will likely remove the left side branches next year.
its in an erin pot i bought for another juniper that since died.

That juniper is looking healthy, so well done! Looking forward to seeing how it develops.