Styling suggestions. Squamata juniper?

[phillicondor]

Hi all. Just looking for any advice on styling. Found this at a local nursery a few months ago and I've played around with it abit. Not sure what to do about the three branches in the middle? From what I've read it's a big no no to have these three way branchings but I think it'll look worse without it. I think I need to try and bring some of the branches in or put a big bend in the trunk. The other thing I was thinking about was jinning a branch. New to all these techniques and I'm sure there's lots of problems with my little tree so any advice or comments are welcome. any links to good info/videos on bending techniques would be appreciated too. Cheers, Phillo

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[Jarad]

With all those thicker branches you at least have a few options.

What makes a bonsai appealing is the appearance of age. The way to give it the appearance of age is taper and movement.

Do you have a style in mind?

Have you had a little read of this:
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... _Bonsai%3F

If it were my tree, I would chop them all off apart from that first right branch, change the planting angle by rotating the tree 30-45 degrees to the left and slip potting it into a bigger pot to encourage growth.

But there are more experienced people on here that will be able to give you better direction.

[MoGanic]

Hi Phillo,

Good on you for getting stuck into it.

If you're after a larger tree with thicker trunk in the future, I wouldn't be cutting much off at all. However, if you want to style this tree into close to its final design, then you can be as creative as the tree lets you.

The problem with styling is you'll be given many different options because not everyone on here likes the same thing. And given your tree is at such an early stage, it presents many options.

Personally, I like semi cascading Bonsai, so I'd be bending and twisting the left branch to become a future Jin, the middle branch would be the new apex, and the right hand branch would be the cascading branch. Of course you'd need to tilt it to the right and bend all three branches - heavy work - so a good feeding regimen leading up to the late autumn/winter time when you complete such changes is highly recommended.

The other thing I've found with Junipers of any species, it's very hard to start Shari too early. I've put Shari (albeit thin) on all the Junipers I own because I know this creates a buldge as I widen the Shari over the years and gives a very impressive look over a few years - IMO Junipers look better when there's more dead wood then live wood .

Any questions on my essay let me know mate.

Cheers,
Mo


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[kcpoole]

Take pic #3 and make a Cascade out of it.
Cut everything off ( or Jin them), except the bottom foliage in that view and whack it in a cascade pot.
no need to even rotate the image to do a virt

Ken

[dansai]

I would remove the centre branch and bend the larger branch/trunk as much as possible to bring it close in to the base, chuck it in a larger pot, fed it well, leave it for a few years and then style it into a small sized tree. But I'm assuming you want to have a go at styling it. In which case you can still do the above without the larger pot and the wait, jin the lower branch, thin the top a little and wire out all the little branches.

[bodhidharma]

I would also read the thread about juniper squamata in pests and diseases.

[Elmar]

Haha Phill,
There's three options! Look up the styles of trees (see Ausbonsai Wiki) and see what you like and how it fits your tree.
Then ask more specifically on how to bring your tree into that style. That way, you're not getting ideas but guidance to where you want to go...


Cheers
Elmar

[phillicondor]

Thanks everyone. Lots of options. To be honest I was going for the whole massive old spreading tree style. Might have been a bit ambitious. After a bit of research and looking at pics I think I'll go the semi cascade style. And I've watched some Shari and jinning videos so I'll have a go at that too. I've got a few plants in big pots trying to grow up a bit but I want something in one of those nice little pots to look at lol.