AusBonsai

Hey all,

well don't know if this is a complete failure or not

Relatively new to bonsai and this is my first attempt to do something for myself so any feedback positive or negative would be great as I'm on a steep learning curve



The lowest branch I haven't touched yet as it might be easier once its in a bonsai pot...
Hard to tell from photo but there is a branch half way up pointing directly at the viewer, should that go or is it high enough that I can get away with it ?

Cheers Ross

First off and most important in my book, congrats on getting your feet wet! First project is always the hardest.

The trunk movement is not bad, but lacks a bit of taper, which seems pretty common for junipers. I think the bottom branch is too low to match the current styling - informal uprights typically have the first branch with the first bend - but following the last comment, I would probably leave it as a sacrifice branch to help with the taper.

Re the branch coming straight out - I don't think it works there, branches coming straight out almost never do. It's hard to tell from this photo if it's coming off close to the branch below it, or more halfway between the one below and the one above. You might be able to keep it just by rotating the tree a bit if it's not too close to the other branch. Also, are there any branches on back? Make sure you put some nice movement into the branches now, it just gets harder as they thicken up.

I think if it were my tree I might try increasing the bends on the trunk. Not that there's anything wrong with the standard subtle S curve if that's what you want, but I think the overall tree would benefit from tightening some of the bends up. Plus, the heavier bending is kind of fun. Get somebody from your local club to help you with it and you'll learn a lot.

I'm still close to a newbie myself, so take that into consideration especially as more experienced members start to weigh in. Overall, great job for a first try!

thats a great variety of tree for a beginner to work on. You are off to a great start.

Finished


Thanks for your reply's there is a branch at the back as you can see in these photos.
I'm pretty happy for a first go, ill cut that branch off the front now

Cheers Ross

Looking good! Just remember..left right back and repeated. You will need some more branches behind. Will it be possible to make the back a front, then remove the lowest back branch...and keep the one you wanted to chop?
Remember bonsai apex is supposed to lean forward. And you might like to give more movement to the branches. Ones You take the wire they somewhat bounce back.