My first bonsai, juniper, c.2009

[Bush bunny]

DSC02274 Needs wiring lower right half..JPG

DSC02273 My first juniper c.2009.JPG

This is what started off the hobby, a gift from my son, Dec. 2009. It was very small, in a pot with the Chinaman fishing on one half with the rocks, now in my first landscape, but it was broken so it had to be re-potted in a larger plant pot. Then again in this blue one, re-potted last summer. The ABS president, had bought one too but bigger. He thought mine would only be 3 years old at the time. Other than re-potting it, the last but one, was a near tragedy, with kitty litter at the bottom to aid drainage clogged up the drainage hole. But it is throwing new needles, and has had very little die back over the years. ' It' chose to become a semi cascade not me!

All I have done is cut a few branches from the main trunk, to see the trunk more clearly.
But that bottom half on the right, they need to be wired to bring them in line and give the cascade more balance to the top half. Advice welcome. No I haven't named this one, but obviously my son John's favorite. Maybe I will name it Johnno.

[kcpoole]

Hi pat
Is it an upright, or is it a cascade?
to me it is trying to be both. A cascade has the most of the main foliage below the rim of the pot. in your case it looks like it has a large busy head on it as well as a cascade branch.
A bonsai shoud be one or the other.

See the Wiki link here https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... le=Cascade for a good example of what a classic cascade looks like.
personally i do not like cascades with any foliage or head above the pot.

the cascade should have individual foliage pads, that together make the outline a roughly triangular shape. The apex or not is up to the artist.

I will show one of mine tomorrow that will explain what I mean


Ken

[Bush bunny]

Forgive my ignorance Ken, but I thought it was classified as a semi cascade? No it is not a full cascade. Look forward to tomorrow. When I mention the cascade part, I meant the lower half of the tree growing downwards not upwards like the top 'alf. Get my gist. Maybe not?

[kcpoole]

Forgive my ignorance Ken, but I thought it was classified as a semi cascade? No it is not a full cascade. Look forward to tomorrow. When I mention the cascade part, I meant the lower half of the tree growing downwards not upwards like the top 'alf. Get my gist. Maybe not?

Kengai / Han Kengai same thing but different
Cascade / Semi
See both wiki pages.

https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... cade_style
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... le=Cascade

Generally to me, Semi cascade may or may not have a head, but if it does will be much smaller than the cascade branch.
Think of the the foliage masses. if the main mass is above the base / then the tree is more upright, if it mass is moving away and down then Semi cascade.

if the tree is an upright then the lowest branch must be above the pot rim. Conversely, if the tree is a Cascade ( or Semi) the bulk of the Foliage mass must be at the pot rim or below.

Also Cascades are typically viewed from in front of off to one side so you see the profile, where semi cascades must be seen from the side so the branch does not poke you in the belly.

Ken

[Neli]

Pictures are not good. They need to be taken level with the tree on plain background, from several angles...What I see is that you cut the most important secondary branches close to the trunk

[Bush bunny]

DSC02284 Bottom 'alf'.JPG

DSC02284 Bottom 'alf'.JPG

DSC02283 Side view again.JPG

I will later today, but the pot is too heavy for me to lift, I'll get my son to do later.
But I took these this morning, obviously they are not very good either. As the table is now in part shade being 10.30 - 1-.45 am.

Yes the pics are not good, I will take some more today on a table and maybe get John to crouch down to eye level as I can't. "Age should not wary them, nor time forget'

[Bush bunny]

Photo0277 Original juniper pot.JPG

DSC02299 Side view of juniper.JPG

DSC02295 Juniper lower half..JPG

DSC02293 Trunk of Juniper.JPG

DSC02292 Juniper side on..JPG

Well tomorrow did not come as promised, but I had to get my son to lift the pots onto my work table, which is the best I can do. Anyway here's some. I'm not a good photographer I'm afraid, I can't bend or lift not concrete pots anyway. I'll show you the pot it came and it broke. It was tiny with Chinaman that I used in my first landscape. I potted it eventually in the one it is in now, but the kitty litter just set like soft concrete so I had an emergency re-pot a few weeks ago. But its showing new shoots, and had little cones too. But it is untidy at the bottom half. I think I will trim off some of the surplus branches and wire the bottom ones so they become closer and not turn up their branches.

Here goes. Ah the bit of ribbon around the trunk, I cut off when I re-potted it a second time, it was stabilizing the tree until it rooted again initially. Actually despite the poor drainage, it was showing new white shoots when I re-potted it, so I was lucky I think. Just started to give it a bit of Seasol. May put some moss around it later.

Cheers Pat.

[Paul W]

Hey Bush Bunny
You have me intrigued
I have got to put a face to a name,is that your picture in the avatar

[adge0001]

The fifth image of your thread is a better image. You've got some choices. Let it grow and focus of getting some branches to grow closer to the trunk where you originally cleared it out. It'll take longer but quality will eventually be higher (compact and taper). Or, wire everything and place branches down in the outline of an imperfect/off centered triangle shape as mentioned earlier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[Bush bunny]

Me of course, pat lightfoot, it's not a secret. It was one of the publicity pics taken when I published my book, under my pen name, Patricia Down-Mayne. It wasn't pic they chose in the end, they chose the one of me saluting with my akubra hat, and looking rather cheeky. In tune with the writing and style in the book. It's 5 years old, my hair has grown out to its silver. The old gray mare, me.

[Bush bunny]

Thanks adge, they were not really branches just twigs with little foliage, but I get your gist.
That's all I've done to it, it chose to bend the way it has. Anyway, I must do a serious potting tomorrow, we are digging out a wisteria, and potting it up. Thanks anyway.

Pat