AusBonsai

Juniperus Conferta, this plant was purchased October 2006 along with another one that was equally as ugly. There was an add in the local paper for a landscape gardener that was closing up so i went along to see what plants he had. I paid $5 each for the two Junipers and also i bought a heap of $5 Green Island Figs. I will start another thread with them also. The two junipers, i thought that they could be put to good use trying out things on them. Such as splitting the trunks and seeing how much movement you can get out of them, that was the death of the first one, but i did put it through some fairly harsh treatment. The second one i didnt do so much with it and it sort of sat around looking inconspicuious. I did do some bark stripping and and one serious root prune where i reduced the roots by about 75%. It just kept bouncing back until i took a look at it one day and thought about wiring it. It had been getting fertilized and watered along with everything else so it had become quite healthy. It has had one initial wiring of the trunk and some branch selections made over the last 12 months. I am going to leave it now until next year when the crown should have filled out and i can work on making the deadwood look more believable. They dont appear to be a very popular species for Bonsai, not quite sure why that is because they are very hardy and react in the correct way that we need trees to react, as in back budding and vigerous growth. They are also extensively used in the landscaping industry for small gardens in office buildings and rockeries and the sort, so they should be readily available. If you find a decent trunk on one in a building or some privately owned area, offer to replace it with a new plant, you may be surprised at the owners response.
Comments are welcomed and tell me your choice of front.
Peter

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the info on this juniper. It is a great transformation considering that it has only been about 3 years.

For me, the two views look equally attractive.

Regards,

Viet.

beautiful work pete, i agree with viet both sides work really well. maybe i like the first view just a little more. you have really nailed this one and if those roots can be cleaned up in future you got a real showie

daiviet_nguyen wrote:Hi Peter,

Thank you for the info on this juniper. It is a great transformation considering that it has only been about 3 years.

For me, the two views look equally attractive.

Regards,

Viet.

Thanks for your comments Viet.
Only 2 years, i got it in October 2006. Plenty sun, plenty water and plenty of food.
Peter.

anttal63 wrote:beautiful work pete, i agree with viet both sides work really well. maybe i like the first view just a little more. you have really nailed this one and if those roots can be cleaned up in future you got a real showie

Thanks Antonio, the roots will come up better then they look now, but it will never have good nabari.

Nice progress Peter! You have taken an ugly duckling and it is changing into a beautiful swan.

I prefer IMG_2736.JPG as the front for 2 reasons. First and most importantly is the Nebari, I don't like the exposed root crossing the trunk on the other (back) side. Also the movement of the trunk is more appealing this way.

Thanks for posting mate! Maybe we should set up a progression section under exotics for posts like this.

Steven

AusBonsai wrote:Maybe we should set up a progression section under exotics for posts like this.

bonza idea steve...

...and great progress peter
i think the nebari is better in the first photo...

It's difficult to believe that they are one and the same tree - excellent progression Peter.

I agree with Stevens summation of the best front and for the same reasons.

I also think that a progression section for Exotics is warranted.

Jon