Needle Juniper needs wise heads

[techpetal]

As I've said before Rod,

Damn your good with virts, Damn good!

Tech

[Jamie]

cheers Rod that saved me about an hour or more, Gav, Rods virt is what i was seeing too.

(I read your request earlier just got a few request to get through before i got to yours )

jamie

[Webos]

I think I'd go with the lowest left branch and take the rest off. I'd train all of your foliage right down low into a nice little dome.

something like this very rough virt

[kcpoole]

I like Rods Virt if it as achievable
The smallest tree within is a good motto

Ken

[Loretta]

JMHO cheers Pup[/quote]

thanks Pup

[Dumper]

darn coffee..........
coffee makes me shaky and i got hyped up and drew this.

[MattA]

I can't come to grips with cutting a whole tree down to a 1/4 of it's size when there are branches that have years on them, obviously I'm not a true minded bonsai-ist at heart yet,

LOL ... that is a major hurdle to overcome, but overcome it you must otherwise you will only ever have pot plants

I can see that all too clearly Ozzy, just seeing these few virts make my mind boggle. You guys have a totally detached emotion for the tree as it is, but at the same time a true eye for what it can become. I hope I can develop the imagination that can make an ordinary tree into a bonsai. I admire you all, just have to control my fear of ruining a potentially good tree...as I've been told before...easy to cut...hard to replace.
cheers Loretta

Its about wanting to make the best tree out of the available material. If you look at the mugo that Grant has been restyling, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and that it is going to actually improve it. If you just hack at it without a clear plan thats when you end up ruining it. Very easy to cut, almost impossible to replace.

Study the tree, look at it from every angle, even lay on your side or hang upside down if needs be. The more major the changes the more you have to study it before you start. If it means you do nothing for a year or many thats ok, bonsai is about patience as much as it is art, design or horticulture. I am very attached to my trees and therefore dont rush into doing anything with them, I have a lifetime to do it so it doesnt have to be done today.

Matt

[LLK]

There's no denying that there are some nice, theoretically feasible styling proposals here. Compliments to the authors... up to a point!
No compliments to the owner of this juniper, who asked, as too many people do, for opinions on the basis of a single aspect of his tree, a supposed frontal, not even that. WHEN are we going to get front, back and sides photos that show us what the tree is really like, so we can give a better informed opinion??
And WHY do members keep posting suggestions without knowing what the tree is like, 3-dimensionally? I guess it's all for the fun of it. Well, OK, bonsai should be fun,
we all agree on that. But this fun was no fun.

Lisa

[Rod]

Maybe Lisa we have to trust Gavins judgement, that he has selected what he considers is the best front. When I look at this tree in the photos I think it is limited to two fronts anyway, you can only work with what you are given. Why do members keep posting without knowing what the tree is like three dimensionally - easy to give the person asking some ideas and for fun. I think most people understand that these virts are just our opinions, no one has to start choping their tree down without considering all options. Sorry to read that this fun was no fun for you.
Cheers Rod....

[Dumper]

lol

[GavinG]

Many thanks for all the input, its been a very useful exercise for me. I forgot to say that the roots are strongly horizontal both sides, so a tilt isn't likely. I'll probably go for the left hand branch, with the right branch and the top jinned.

Or maybe just the right branch...

Damn, I nearly had it.....

And thanks for the virts and the drawing. Sometimes you just end up seeing the problem, not the possibilities. They were helpful to get me out of the rut.

Sorry to rattle your cage Lisa, the other three sides weren't ever going to be possible fronts.

Gavin

[GavinG]

Hmmm. Yes, it's been three years. things happen slowly round here.

I wanted to make the left branch the main body of the tree, jinning the top and the right. I took it gradually, as I didn't want the right side of the trunk to die off. The tree was pruned back hard each year, with increasingly less on the top and the right.

The result was this - one thick blob. The left branch has thickened quite well, and obviously everything's got complicated. How do you approach a formless mass of foliage? The left side is too big to make just one cloud of foliage.

P1010017.jpg

You can see some structure from underneath. I'd usually repot first and shape the tree in its place, but I'll have to throw this one around to see anything at all.

P1010018.jpg

To separate the blob into segments, I decided to jinn some of the branches out to the left, starting with one that appeared to poke out forwards.Being cautious/lazy/indecisive, I took off most of the foliage, not all - and found I quite liked the look of very sparse foliage on these branches. I hope I've left enough on the first one I attacked.

P1010024.jpg

How to proceed? Take off stuff that gets in the way of seeing the branches, and if two branches cover the same territory, get rid of one. CHECK FIRST, by bending it out of the way - you don't want to lose something that may be useful.

P1010025.jpg

There's a framework emerging. The branches are more interesting in 3D than they look here.

P1010027.jpg

The top is being jinned, right? But check first - take off all the fuzz to have a look at the branches.

P1010032.jpg

I'll keep them for now...

P1010033.jpg

I'd like to pot it up into something funky like this:

P1010036.jpg

But for now, something with a bit more room. I like the idea of very little foliage sitting on a strong frame of branches - I may even wire them one day, Bodhi!

P1010039.jpg

Thanks for reading,

Gavin