Juniper bought on a discount - what would you do?

[killarkai]

Hello, I'm a relative beginner learning with a handful of nursery starters. The other day I saw this juniper sold at a discount, and seeing that the trunk is already quite thick, and not wanting to wait years before getting my hands busy, I purchased it.
Coming home I discovered that it is severely pot bound and many of the roots are already turning black. After root pruning and re-potting and waiting a few weeks, new leaves are starting to grow again.
Now that I'm ready to start work on it, I come to the realization that I have no idea where to start. As you can see the first trunk at the bottom is actually quite high (over the 1/3 height) Most of the leaves are also concentrated on the top, if I prune those off it would look like a super bare tree. Being a juniper, its also not as though I could just chop off the trunk and expect it to grow back.
Any suggestions? I wanted to make it an upright broom style, do you think its still possible?

[Firecat]

Formal Upright.
Steve.

[kcpoole]

Bend the trunk and branches. (May need splitting) to make informal upright?

Ken

[shibui]

I think I would hesitate to do any major pruning or bending on the tree now. It has already been root pruned and repotted. Most conifers need some time to recover from trauma before enduring further.
My advice is to spend time working on a plan and let it recover for at least 3 months before starting more major work.

[killarkai]

Thanks Ken! Appreciate the mockup you made. Since I'm still a beginner I'm gonna try to go for a formal upright, thats a great reference picture you drew!

My advice is to spend time working on a plan and let it recover for at least 3 months before starting more major work.

sounds right, 3 months should pass by pretty quickly as I work on the others.

[Ray M]

Hi killarkai,
Ken and shibui have given you some great advise. Whilst waiting for recovery, take the time to look very carefully at what you need to do with each branch to achieve the final result. Encourage the roots to grow and multiply. I don't know if your aware of how far you can cut back a Conifer. Never cut back a branch past the last green branchlet. They normally won't grow back if you cut back to a bare branch.

Regards Ray

[killarkai]

Never cut back a branch past the last green branchlet. They normally won't grow back if you cut back to a bare branch.

Thank you, I didn't know about that!
Looks like I am also learning the first lesson in bonsai - patience.