What 18 months of training can achieve

[gerald randall]

I was gifted this Juniper from a friend who had it growing in his garden. I potted it up in an oversized pot for more rapid development and started some training. The first photo taken in October 2013 and the second about a year after potting it into the oversized pot. The tree has developed since October as I refined the branches. The trunk remains thin. I will repot into a smaller pot in the next few months.

[Pezz95]

Very nice, good work. It is amazing what in a shirt period what can happen

[gerald randall]

Thanks Pezz

Still a lot of work. I would like to put movement in the trunk, but do not have the skill for any of the techniques I have read about. This is not a young tree and the trunk is hard.

Any suggestions how I can bend this.

[Pezz95]

If I was to give you advice it would be wrong mate so not going to bother lol. Haven't had much experience myself with tbat


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[kcpoole]

Can be bent.
Split it, Raffia and wire it then bend

do you have branch splitters or knwo anyone that does?

Ken

[raewynk]

I thought the original photo was right on the money.
But as I said that is only my opinion.

Cheers
Rae

[gerald randall]

Thanks for the comments. Ken, I feel like a novice trying something for the first time. This is not a young tree, so I am nervous I mess this up. Probably better to take it to a master and ask them to help me with it. Although I have only worked on this tree for 18 or so months, I don't want to lose it.

You clearly have done it a couple of times as you seem very confident in the success.

[Andrew Legg]

Gerald, I have one very similar to this that I got from Rudi a few years back. Been nursing it back to health. Trunk is about 3cms at the base. Thickest branch is about 1cm but stiff as a nail! My feeling is tha the only way to bend these is with a bracing system and very slowly over time to move it into a different shape.

You are more than welcome to bring it round to my place one evening or on the weekend and we can give it a think and compare ideas. The other option would be to talk with Stephen at Stone Lantern He's doing some REALLY fantastic work splitting and bending junipers at the moment. He's the kinda fella that would be more than happy to spread the love!

Cherrs,

Andrew

[gerald randall]

Thanks Andrew. I will ask Stephen if he will help me. With him having way more than 1000 trees, I will have to check if he has time to help. I think he is likely to take some time. I do trust his judgement. He may be a bit less cautious than I am because he has so much great stock. But, he knows his stuff. You have seen his trees and forests....an amazing collection of trees.

Having looked at the tree this evening, I'm not sure how much movement is necessary, if any.

[Andrew Legg]

Cool.

[gerald randall]

I had a bit of time to look at this tree yesterday. The trunk actually has some movement, it just can't be seen from the front I chose. I will be repotting when it is warmer and then I will turn the tree to the new front. It will hide some of its obvious trunk and branch challenges and show a better trunk movement. It will then give me some time to correct the challenges, while the tree looks reasonable in the interim.