Help with choosing front of Shimpaku

[ADO]

Hi all,

I acquired this Juniper Shimpaku a little while back for a very good price (see photos below). As a relative beginner my judgement was that it was quite a nice little tree. Certainly one that I could develop over time. I haven’t done anything with this tree save looking after it and doing some very preliminary wiring. I know it is very messy and needs work.

Anyway, at this early stage I have two issues which are somewhat interrelated. Firstly, the foliage has mostly grown on one side of the tree (see Photo 1). At the same time, the best root spread is concentrated on the other side of the tree. So in essence, if I chose the front to be the side with the best root spread as the front, I am left with less foliage to work with (see Photo 2). Conversely, if I chose the front to be the one with the better foliage, I am left with a gap in the root spread. I know that the roots are the basis of a good bonsai and I understand that, its wether I can work with the sparse foliage on that side. the last two photos are of the base and roots from both sides of the tree.
Can anyone give any helpful thoughts/ideas/advice on my dilemma?
Thanks in advance
Adrian

Possible front.jpg

0061.jpg

Nebari Juniper.jpg

062.JPG

[Guy]

reckon if your going to keep the lowest two branches the finished tree should be about half the height

[ADO]

Hi Guy,

thanks for the advice. I like the height of the tree as is. There was a suggestion at the last workshop that the bottom two branches should go to maintain the balance of the tree.
which side should be the front do you think?

[Olivecrazy]

Hello i would go with the front with the lesser foliage an take the bottom right branch of then cut the bottom left to make a jin
Next wire all the branches an try to position them an angle them down as for the foliage get some fine wire an wire as much of the smaller branches as much as possible , then re-position an flatten out the foliage doing this will allow light into them an some back budding to happen .

Try googling wiring methods also youtube is great alot of good tips can be found there as well

[Bretts]

I reckon OV has it. Watch a few of this guys vids and you should have it too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu39hrCy ... plpp_video

[alpineart]

Hi ADO , My advice might hit a raw nerve but don't do anything with it but keep it alive . Grab a few poorer quality plants to practice on , then when you have the confidence and understanding have a gentle little play . This is a very nice tree it simply need refining . If you hack and chop now no doubt you will regret it later . The tree is healthy so your on a good thing . Never be in too much of a hurry to redesign a quality piece of material such as this .

If you want too hack it , go grab another $20- $30 nursery juniper and hack away before butchering this beauty , i'm sure you paid a little more than that for it . Do a few google searches on Shimpaku junipers and remember slowly slowly and you will always have this quality tree. all the best with it , which ever way you choose to go with it .

Cheers Alpineart

[Andrew Legg]

I'm with Alpine. Don't cut off those bottom branches until you have the rest of the tree ready for show. They will fatten the base and you can save some years on jins later. If they were in the way of progressing a design, sure, whip 'em off, but not yet. Take your time.

[Bretts]

I like your advice guys but I would worry that if some technique was not put in soon then one or two of those upper branches will take over while the lower trunks slowly dwindle.
I am thinking this could send the trunk backwards

[shibui]

Ado, The choice of front is usually a balance between the best aspects of a tree so don't just focus on one thing at a time. Look at the whole picture.

Generally the front should be a bit open so we can see more of the trunk. The trunk of an informal tree will usually have some movement. Pic 2 has both these while pic 1 has less of both???
When you pick a front for the tree there will automatically be a back and sides. The back needs to provide depth so should not be the bare side. Sides give spread so will need some branches - pic 2 again??

Your tree is still quite young and undeveloped so all these things can still be changed by pruning and wiring so no real need to get hung up on the front at the moment because you might still change it quite dramatically.

[ADO]

Hi guys



I appreciate all your advice on this.
I am in no hurry to chop anything off or anything dramatic like that. As Alpine wisely suggested, I will focus on looking after this tree and not doing anything dramatic to it. But I also want to start thinking about how the try might look down the track and the things I have to do to get there. As is said, I am not of a mind to start chopping anything.
Would it harm the tree too much to begin wiring and defining the foliage and branches?
I belong to a great workshop and envisage taking the tree back this month for some hands on advice.
in any case, slowly slowly wins the race.

Thanks again

[harry]

If you look at the roots more closely they will give you direction. As with all Bonsai. Branches can be moved to fit the style you want, most roots are where they are going to stay.

My Harry

[GavinG]

Watch it! If you listen to Alpineart you'll end up digging 470 Junipers with a front-end loader....

(And yes, Ian, I'm completely jealous.)

Search on the site for bending techniques - while your juniper has some maturity, it might be more fun if the trunk did something seriously dynamic. Junipers will take it, and you could make a very strong design if you put some powerful bends into the trunk. Then place the branches where you want the foliage masses to be.

And yes, Alpinart's advice is spot-on - you have a better tree than you know how to deal with. Get young stock to learn on, and then when you are confident, bend this one when you know what you want it to do.

Good luck. Do the club stuff. Then make up your own mind.

Gavin

[ADO]

Watch it! If you listen to Alpineart you'll end up digging 470 Junipers with a front-end loader....

(And yes, Ian, I'm completely jealous.)

Search on the site for bending techniques - while your juniper has some maturity, it might be more fun if the trunk did something seriously dynamic. Junipers will take it, and you could make a very strong design if you put some powerful bends into the trunk. Then place the branches where you want the foliage masses to be.

And yes, Alpinart's advice is spot-on - you have a better tree than you know how to deal with. Get young stock to learn on, and then when you are confident, bend this one when you know what you want it to do.

Good luck. Do the club stuff. Then make up your own mind.

Gavin

Hi Gavin, thanks for your advice. I have read quite a bit about bending and have applied some of the techniques to younger less developed stock with some success. But I won't be trying them on this tree until I learn more and gain more experience. The bonsai workshop I belong to is full of very experienced people that can help me develop this tree over time. I'll probably get some less developed stock to work on. I really want to take my time with this tree.

cheers

Adrian