New Shimpaku advice.

[Reece]

Hi all,

I picked up this gem at the market day on Saturday.

For starters I'm pretty sure this is a shimpaku?? Haha….

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I want to clean up the trunk because the dead wood looks a bit oxidised and crappy. Im pretty new to Bonsai and this will be the first time I’ve attempted such a thing. From what I’ve read I can clean up the live vein by gently brushing it with a wire brush until I get that reddish brown colour. For the deadwood you can go a bit harder with the brush and then paint it with straight lime sulfur after it has been lightly misted with water taking care not to get any of the sulphur onto the soil. Does this sound about right?

My next question is about those “knobs” that are in the shari which are obviously the remains of old branches. Should I get a dremel or pencil grinder and remove these making the shari smother and more in line with the rest of the tree. I ask this because I haven’t really seen “knobs” like this on other shari and they create little pockets in the tree that can fill with water or whatever which I think in turn will promote rotting or fungal problems etc.

Also with the jin or jins. Any tips on cleaning up the really fine jins? I feel like they are very fragile and brittle. Wet and dry emery paper perhaps???

After I have cleaned it ill need to figure out what I’m going to do about potting it. I feel like this will have to go into a round pot due to the weird arch way that runs 90 degrees to the front/back of the tree because a rectangular pot will have to be overly wide to compensate for this. Does this make sense?

Last but not least what do you think should be the front? Foliage to the right or left?

Any other advice with this tree would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Guy]

the base looks problematic--probably needs to be laid right over as a semi cascade or possibly against a largi sh rock or some such--

[shibui]

All you have said is ok. I use a brass brush rather than steel wire because it is a but more gentle on the live bark. They are generally a bit smaller than the wire brushes so easier to get into the corners. look for a brass brush in any hardware store.

Lime sulfur is used either straight from the bottle or diluted 1;1 with water. Avoid getting it on live bark and leaves as well as the soil.
i would carve to enhance
the knots (remains of old branches) rather than trying to smooth them out. they are a valuable feature of the dead wood.
Most bonsai do not have very fine jinn. The reason is that, in nature, thin dead branches rot away and break off quite quickly. It is the larger dead wood that is a feature of the tree for years so that is what most growers focus on and remove the thinner ones.

You are right about the 'wierd' arch of roots. I think it looks unbalanced as it is. Possibly plant it a little deeper to show a more stable base?
I can't see enough detail to decide which front is better. That is up to you.

[Reece]

Ok thanks guys. Yeah the base is a strange one.....

[klaery]

I have never layered juniper but have read it can be done. That might be another option if you want to keep the angle and hide the odd roots but don't want to have a super deep pot. Once you had decent roots you could cut off the base and would then have superb stock. Would be a lot shorter though.

[bodhidharma]

The tree will change as you refine the foliage so i would go slowly and try not to "finish the tree" to quickly. Prune and wire out the foliage pads and get your branch design first. A lowered branch could make a lot of difference to its appearance. Just my thoughts. It name is "sargentii" which, i believe from previous advice., is shimpaku.

[shibui]

There has been a lot of different names for this species Bodhi and it was once referred to as Juniper sargentii but that name has been superceded. I believe the current species name is Juniper chinensis. I am told that its Japanese name is 'shimpaku' though some have told me that 'shimpaku' refers to any juniper in Japanese language but many of us are using that name when referring to this species.
Japanese bonsai growers also recognise that there are different varieties of this species on each mountain in Japan, Korea and China and they are referred to by the name of the mountain that the variety came from making it even more of a puzzle.

[Reece]

Interesting.... Thanks for the info!

Yeah I will need to take my time with it. The pot/base question was just more of a pre-emptive thing for the future. I wont be re potting it any time soon.

[bodhidharma]

There has been a lot of different names for this species Bodhi and it was once referred to as Juniper sargentii but that name has been superceded. I believe the current species name is Juniper chinensis. I am told that its Japanese name is 'shimpaku' though some have told me that 'shimpaku' refers to any juniper in Japanese language but many of us are using that name when referring to this species.
Japanese bonsai growers also recognise that there are different varieties of this species on each mountain in Japan, Korea and China and they are referred to by the name of the mountain that the variety came from making it even more of a puzzle.

Thanks for the clarification Shibui As if Bonsai is not difficult enough without the species Gods moving the goal post all the time.

[shibui]

As if Bonsai is not difficult enough without the species Gods moving the goal post all the time.

Could not agree more Bodhi