juniper bunjin

[aaron_tas]

this sabina juniper (juniperus sabina sp.) is urban yamadori from mumsy and dadsy's garden in hobsy, tranmere to be more precise.

professional guesstamation on the age is approx 30 years.

it is a prostrate juniper but was staked with a lovely piece of timber that turned into a rotten piece of timber by the time i dug it in mid-late september in 2008.

images are as of a couple of weeks ago

juni1.jpg

juni2.jpg

the reason it is in the aged/styled stock category, is that i have been considering the styling of this tree for a year now watching it grow slower than i would like, but growing healthier none the less. also i recently took the tree to tony bebbs critique and styling advice demo, and asked him about my ideas dreams and apirations (that's what he called them) for the tree... he changed the front. the line that he saw in the trunk, and the choice for the new leader...i instantly liked more than my original design. so while he was there, i cut everything off that i saw didn't fit inside the trunk that he saw.

juni3.jpg

my idea for this tree stemmed from tony's thoughts on the tree and also an image in my mind of a juniper i have always wanted, with a strong trunk with not so strong movement, but quite alot of movement in the top of the tree(movement like in the top of jamie's tree in his avatar)

[aaron_tas]

i want to photoshop it...

[Pup]

Not too much Photoshop I hope! just enough to show us where you hope to go.

Good luck Pup

[stymie]

May we have the height measurement for the start of the comp. Perhaps with a pic against a plain background.

[aaron_tas]

as it stands today, this tree's height is 1100mm and the way i'm hoping to have its angle rotated, it should reach a taller height by next year

pics taken yesterday, 02.10.2009.

juniper11.jpg

juniper12.jpg

juniper13.jpg

juniper14.jpg

juniper15.jpg

the next step i am hoping to achieve is to slip pot it into a training pot, or even it's bonsai pot (if i can find one suitable), and secure it in the pot at the desired angle.

[stymie]

Very helpful. Gudonya buddy.

[aaron_tas]

i decided that it was as good a time as any to repot my juniper.

so i took it out of the polystyrene growing container it was in, and tied it nice and tight at the desired angle into a good quality chinese drum pot from lynne up at the bonsai centre in riverside.

slip potted, only took some dead root from the rootball. but i did bang it against a rock twice.

i then filled the pot with a mix of 80% gravel 20% coir peat.

here we can see the happy union...

juniper in pot.jpg

so, at the moment i have only considered the planting angle and the line of the trunk up until where the green line stops.

juniper in pot line.jpg

even before i am considering wiring the heavier branches, i am still toying with the idea of only using the top foliage mass.

juniper in pot circles.jpg

but i think i will still fully style both before i make the decision to iether chop or leave the bottom section...

[aaron_tas]

i would like to make another note at this point...

although i have no photo's of it (my hands were dirty), while i had a chance, i did make a couple of changes to the arrangement of the heavier roots in the rootball for the basal flair as it enters the soil level, but more in this case to uncross the roots.

this kind of work is just as important as the work above the soil level