entry 2 juniperus squamata

[Jamie]

after the withdrawal of the juniper chinesis i had in for the contest i decided to enter this squamata instead.

species- juniperus squamata
age- young, no more than 5 years
trunk size-8mm across
twunk length- 500mm
cost-$10

so this is it as i bought it.

new bunjin entry.jpg

from here all i have done is wire and stake it upright.

bunjin entry.jpg

bunjin entry2.jpg

bunjin entry 1.jpg

the reason for using such young material is that it will be quite flexible, easy to manipulate and i can get some solid growth on it. i still have plans for this as i did the last one, just slightly different thats all.
i have only wired and staked it into an upright position for now, i havent taken any foliage of as i want it to push as strong a growth as i can get it to for the next few months, i am going to resist chopping into it as much as possible for as long as i can, untill then it will be a strong feed program and maybe a slip pot up to the next size.

thanks for looking.

jamie

[Jamie]

just to make sure this one is the replacement for my entry 2 chinesis.


i will have better pics and some work done on the weekend, minor pruning and shape work though that will be it, i want to keep as much growth on this one as possible to push as much energy into the tree over the year as possible

so pup, don and leigh, i know it doesnt look like much now, but i will get it to work even if it isnt a finalised style tree it will be on its way and i will learn a lot about bunjin from this by starting from basically nothing


jamie

[Jamie]

after deciding to go over this one today because it was looking at me saying, style me, style me i couldnt help it so i got the scissors out and away we went, for an initial style i am quite happy, i am still unsure of the lower brnach whether it is necessary or not, i am thinking its not so that might come off later, i will let it recover for a while now and get some strong growth back on it. so here it is after the style

squam. side.jpg

squam. side1.jpg

squam. side3.jpg

the pic above shows once again how much a camera picks up that a naked eye doesnt, the brnach on the left hand side second up needs to come down a touch.

squam. top veiw.jpg

jamie

[Jamie]

and another update, this one is doing well, it is pushing new growth where the foliage is so thats a good thing, i am still undecided about the foliage at the lowest point on the trunk whether or not its necessary, i am starting to think no, i am hoping the instructors could give me some guidance on there thoughts of it.

squam 2 weeks.jpg

i will get a few more shots from above and left and rights or rights and lefts and fronts and backs, i think they all have the potential.


cheers.

jamie

[Pup]

Jamie I am not sure of your front, but pic 3 shows the lower unnecessary branch, as do all of them. This to me is the better of all of them. I would lose it and straighten up the trunk by approx 20%.

Just a thought, but you are the artist.

Good luck OH By the way happy birthday
Pup

edit to correct my self

[kvan64]

Jamie I am not sure of your front, but pic 3 shows the lower unnecessary branch, as do all of them. This to me is the better of all of them. I would lose it and straighten up the trunk by approx 20%.

I agree, the trunk should be standing up a little bit. Another way to do this is tilting the whole thing at 15 degree angle. This would also help "soften" the straight/verticle bottom part before the first branch.
Just a thought.
Cheers
DK

[Jamie]

agreed, this one is gonna need a makeover though, the hanging branch has died back, the rest of the tree is strong as and firing away on all cylinders pushing heaps of new growth, so slow and steady with this one to


jamie

[Jamie]

just a little update, i removed that little clump of foliage down low, it wasnt helping the overall look, not that i am happy with the overall look either, but gotta keep going with it now, i dont know how the hanging branch has survived as i nearly snapped it completly about a month ago, i wrapped it in graft tape, and then kept wire on to hold it shut, it will always be a weak point now.

i intend on not touching it till late this year now just feed and water is all, its got new buds all over the place so i might be able select some new foliage areas if they are strong enough by the end of the year.

Litcomp2.jpg

Litcomp1.jpg

Litcomp.jpg

i am still not happy with the overal look, things can change a lot in a year though aswell

jamie

[Jamie]

well after not being happy with the overall look i decided to tanuki graft this one to give it more interest, it is quite hard to work with such little material so adding the deadwood was the olny way to go, i obviously cant put a shari up the length of the trunk like i want to but i gotta work with what i got!

so my plans are still the same, i havent touched the tree apart from getting the deadwood attached, it is still to be left to grow out and will be styled and potted at the very last minute of the competition.

Literatientry.jpg

Literatitop.jpg

jamie

edit- i forgot to add that i have snapped the hanging part of the tree, not completely but enough that might slow it down a fair bit, but it will always be a weak point now, i think that is about four snaps this tree has taken and is still kicken dunno how but it is.

[Pup]

Before you waste too much time Jamie! sorry it does not do it for me.

[Jamie]

its not doing much for me either pup


it will go in the corner for the rest of the year and will see if it is worth bring back out then, i doubt it though.

[Jamie]

hi guys,

after much deliberation on this little bit of stock, I put it in the corner since i last posted it and just let it grow, I was not happy with it at all, I knew it needed something but i wasnt to sure. I was pretty sure some deadwood would definately help but finding the right piece wasnt easy. the way I ended up getting it was through my mother in law taking the life of the tree, which i had been developing for a few years and was not happy when i got home and found it bone dry and dehydrated, I tried to save it but it didnt happen.. so I have made it come from the ashes like a phoenix and it has now been reborn with new life.
the little juniper I have did survive, dont know how but it shot back all over the place and gave the tree enough strength, i was actually impressed with how much it put on in a few months. so of came the old dead wood and this is what followed.

literati before.jpg

literati before 2.jpg

the juni before anything done

deadwood for literati.jpg

the dead wood, I havent stripped it back to timber for white deadwood shari/jin, I actually started thinking that it wasnt necessary but time will tell, worst comes to worst and I can use some paint.

before potting.jpg

this is it before potting into its pot

potted1.jpg

potted2.jpg

And finally potted

I actually feel this tree is going somewhere now where before I didnt, it was bland and boring before the right piece of deadwood has been attached.

hope this comes up to expectations pup?? I may also remove some of the jin, it might be to heavy on the jin but for now it can stay until I decide what is best, its easy to take off, but not so easy to replace, beleive me

Jamie

[Jamie]

starting to fill right out with foliage, dont see any point changing it out of the pot its in now, it is goin through a bit of a growth spurt and putting it in a bigger pot isnt going to acheive anything in the next couple of months before december when it needs final pics. when that time comes around there will be everything neatened up, and big, clear pics

literati juniperus.jpg

literati juniper.jpg

jamie