AusBonsai

Amongst a load of plants I received from a fellow freecycler is a juniper that they had at one time attempted to bonsai. It is leggy & in need of a health kick but I can see a bit of fun to be had in getting this to look half decent. The previous owner thought it to be a Juniperus chinensis but I havent got a clue. Help Please
Matt

Its got very open foliage for chinensis. J. chinensis does vary greatly over its range though with each mountain in Japan having subtly different variants so it might still be possible. I'm not an expert on juniper species (far too many species and variants to keep track of) but I'd say some other species but could not offer any suggestions sorry Matt.

Not a juniper . Probably Cupressus sempervirens, or one of the other cypresses. It's a bit too coarse and hard to compact to achieve the look you want in a Bonsai.

I don't think it is Cupressus, I should have posted a pic of the whole tree. It has some prickly juvenile foliage and a few backbuds happening so its not a complete loss

could be Juniperus virginiana Grey Owl , very fine blue grey smooth foliage and spiky juvenile growth

It does have a nice blue grey foliage so its possible. It had been very neglected & is very sparse so I am just hoping it backbuds or its going to take some interesting bending methods or grafts to make anything half decent from it

This is Juniper Grey Owl, the understock for the shimpaku foliage. The foliage can be quite Juvenile. so I dont think its grey owl

Grant