Old juniper Restyle- semi cascade to informal upright

[Jamie]

hi guys!

i got a bit of an early start to my weekend and got to sit down this morning and work an old juniper i had left growing at the mother in laws, my wife actually bought this one five years or so ago when i first got into bonsai, i beleive this was my very first tree we ever bought, it was gangly and sparse, i dont kow why we bought it, she liked it though!
this tree was container grown its whole life, the wood is very dense on it, when i got it the bloke who sold it to me said he had it for 35 + years, i got it very cheap because it was very gangly and sparse and the pot it was in was horrid, then a made the even better choice back then to put it in the blue square one
its about 40mm trunk just about the roots.

pup may even remember this one from back on BT! he told me back then i would find the tree where i did today

ok se heres some pics, before, after a wire up and the styled tree for now. it still has a fair way to go but i think is a massive make over which i am quite happy with!

Oldj.jpg

this is basically what it looked like when it was bought but was a little sparser and in a horrid pot, worse than the one it is in there!!!

Oldjcasgone.jpg

here is where pup told me many years ago that i would find the tree!

Oldjroots.jpg

the root spread is absolutely horrid, going every where but where it should, when i first got it i jammed some rocks in under them but today they have been removed, i dont know what i was thinking !!

Oldjside.jpg

a shot of the side after it had been wired out head to toe, all the fine little twigs that were there to the tips, 4 hours of wiring!! this could of made a nice frint to but decided against it!

Oldjrestyled.jpg

and here is the finished styling so far, there is a big natural shari running under the left side of the trunk but needs to be exposed still, it will connect up with the jin. it still needs a lot of refinement which i will be working on over the next few years!

my wife never let me work with it when we first got it, i am glad i didnt now as i have found a far better tree since i have learnt design a little better!

Jamie

[bodhidharma]

Actually Jamie, that is bloody fantastic good job, a bit of age (10 years or so) not long in the scheme of things, that will be stunning. It is a little unbalanced at the moment but that is just time. I think the bottom left hand branch could be a tad longer and lower over the jin and the bottom right two a little shorter. Maybe even lose the end of the bottom right hand one.

[Pup]

G,day Jamie, you have found it well and truly, a very nice little tree, when you next re pot try to get the roots sorted out, and lower them.

Also what Bohdi has suggested will much improve your tree as it matures.

See what comes with patients, it is a bit like fatherhood you learn as you go, and it is all good. Design principles applied while you are growing, providing you have not cut it back too far. Will present themselves to you.
Another reason to look at your trees every year to look for improvement.
Bonsai is a living art always moving, never just one place or way.

Cheers Pup

[EdwardH]

Hi Jamie,

This is a great tranformation. I am sure that this tree will continue to improve in stature over the years.

[Amanda]

The shadow in the middle and left gives the illusion of another branch for depth which would also balance out the top.

I am seriously liking where it's going

[Jamie]

gday guys

thank bodhi i was quite happy qith the transformation and knew it wouldnt been an instant stunner but would take time to develop the foliage and bring them back in a bit closer, i feel this tree will grow as i do and should balance out in time like you said the foliage was so far out on the tips of the branches a lot of compression wiring was needed to get it in semi close to the trunk, still needs some more but that will come

thanks pup i dont know if you remember it, it was a fair long time ago when i was just getting started those roots are a night mare to be honest it will take several years to work them out and get them right, i was going to wire them when i got it out but decided it might be to much for the tree to cop so much even though it was basically a wire out and placement it was a fairly long process with some movement going on in the root ball. i couldnt get a pic of the roots once i got them out i had to work quick with this one. i totally agree about the patience, this one was 5 years of looking at it and not knowing what to do i have one at the mother in laws that is the same variety of juni that put in the ground because i didnt konw what to do with it at the time, i might have a look at that over the weekend very true about the father hood analagy and to right bout bonsai being a moving artform that changes over time, we have to develop with our trees, i always try and strive to do better when i work on a tree than the last!

Gday Ed agreed, it is just a time thing now, pinching and trimming when the times are right to get some back budding and get the folaige to fill right is a deffinate!

hi Anja agreed on if there was a branch in those places would balance it more, the biggest problem with working on trees like this is you can only work with what is presented, yes it can be manipulated to suit in situations, this one has been manipulated quite a lot to get it to here, to get a branch on the left i would either have to graft a branch in, bring one down from the left hand top branch, and as for the middle one that will be quite awkward to, i think it could fill in a bit to much to have one there and lose the negative space effect thanks for the idea though i will definately consider it!

jamie