AusBonsai

Hi, just a query as we were talking about scissoring or pinching junipers, this one is a needle juniper obviously. I bought it from Bunnings about one month ago. It had a label this time! It has a very short trunk as I can't see it, but can feel it. I will re-pot it in a bonsai pot, which one I am not sure yet, I only have one large round one, and smaller ones right now.
It is presently in a deep plastic pot. Ironically I saw it last summer, or a very similiar one, and decided not to buy it at the time because of the shortish trunk. $19.90. They didn't look too pleased when I mentioned this, I think Bunnings Armidale are rethinking there bonsai collection. As when I asked for any more ficus, they told me they didn't sell so had any, I must have bought the lot then?

The pics are not too clear, as I am recharging my digital, but the camera will give you some idea of its shape. Once it has recharged I'll take better pics. It lives outside in part sun and shade. It's grown though since I bought it. Rather a bit untidy.

Any advice? ... yeah, take some photography lessons

Ozzy, LOL! I will when the digital recharges.

Ok Ozzie,are these are clearer.

I would say at present it is in a ten inch plastic pot.

I will re-pot in a bonsai pot, but I have only one rectangular and one round large one. The others are small. I would think too small and shallow for this.

Cheers

G'day BB, Looks like a fine healthy specimen but it is very hard to see what to do from these pictures. You will need to do some thinning out to see what you have, look at branch structure. Decide on a style, just because it grows prostrate naturally doesn't mean that you have to stick to that. Some wiring does wonders for direction! Look at height of finished tree and decide on a pot then, I guarantee you wont have one that suits the finished style,(its called murphys law). So prune and wire, I would suggest an informal upright or slanting style but as I said before it is impossible to see the tree for the foliage. Don't be in too much of a hurry to pot it into a bonsai pot once you have styled it, that will slow the growth rate right down and you will need to re establish the tree a bit more before that. Good luck with the project and keep us posted, at least you do manage to load pictures on to the site which is something I still have not mastered, just call me dinosaur. Have fun. Michael.

I agreee, Thin it out and see what you have to work with, then style it to suit.

The real rule is do not work a pine or Juniper toip and bottom in the same year.
If you style and work on the top. Do nothing to the roots until the next year or vice versa.

Ken

Hi all, lovely day, Progress. I took it out of its pot, there was really only less than 1 inch of trunk exposed, so I just cut more roots off it, and made the trunk longer. These did not include any thicker roots, that I left alone. Anyway there was few of these anyway. Most of these were at the bottom of the trunk. In other words submerged.
I re-potted it. Just cut off a few of the longer roots, Surprisingly there was not much die back on the plant. As it was so dense I thought there would be more? I've left it in a horizontal growing shape. The tips are moving around to one side rather than straight. But when I find my wire I will straighten them. I noted there were dry parts in the resident soil? And a few wood lice? There were a few branches that were higher than I would like on top. But I will leave them for now. What do you think?

I put it in the rectangular pot, as I couldn't see it in a round one. It's untidy right now. But I will let it settle a bit before any trimming. I think it has promise anyway.

Hi bush bunny,

Forgive me if this is a little blunt, but I can see no other way

This juniper is still exactly the same tree as it was in it's plastic pot, and is no more a bonsai now than when it was before it was potted up. Merely potting tree's up does not make them bonsai, I know the definition of the word is plant in a tray (or something to that effect), but putting this tree in a pot does as much to make it a bonsai as calling it a bonsai just because it's a juniper, just because they are a species used for bonsai, if you get my meaning

I don't know why you have potted it up, this should be the last step, and not the first. You are going to wire it, when? All putting wire on this tree will do is move it around in it's pot as you apply it, and this will damage any new root growth you have managed to get since potting up. You will need to wait until the tree is firm in the pot, this may take 6 months or more, what will you do with it in the meantime?

You say you see potential, where? I can't see anything beyond the thick foliage, who knows what's going on under there. I'm not saying the tree doesn't have potential, but you have done nothing thus far to uncover anything that is there, again in reference to the above, you have done the last step first.

You also say you left most of the long roots, these are not the roots you need, they are doing nothing for the feeding of the tree, these should be the roots you remove to encourage fine root growth that will feed the tree

I worry that you are missing a huge amount of what technically needs to be done to make stock into potensai (note not bonsai, before that still), I'm not sure if you have asked yourself at any stage why the tree's you have don't look like the bonsai you want them to, but from what I have seen none of the techniques used to get trees to a point where they would be considered bonsai have been applied at any stage, other than putting them into pots. I am in no way having a go at your attempts thus far, but I am encouraging you to work on developing technique, work on developing some deciduous structure, work in wiring and placement of junipers, work on getting back budding and needle reduction on pines, and above all keep everything alive. Trees that you develop like this will look much more like a bonsai over a number of seasons, regardless of whether they are in a plastic pot, than anything you just whack in a pot without any form of styling.

I do hope this help, like I said this is not in any way meant as a negative,

Kerrin

That's OK Kerrin. I know that it is a potential bonsai, nothing more or less right now. It had no strong roots just fine feeder roots and no trunk to speak of at all. That's all it had. It is a ground cover juniper. If you haven't guessed by now, I am more inclined towards the clip and grow method. Rather than chopping it down to nothing and starting from scratch. I'll leave that methodology to the experts. It was sold to me as a starter bonsai, from Bunnings of course. $19.90. But from here on I will concentrate on keeping it alive! That's what I have done with most of mine so far.

Bush Bunny, what style of bonsai do you see here? Categorise it into one of the five primary styles for me. Upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade and cascade. Which one is it? To make this easier, imagine it with no foliage and just think about the trunk and existing branching structure.

Only once you have done that look at the tree in the link below. That's where I would be taking this tree if I were you. At least from what I can see of it. Do some research on pots for this style of tree. Get an appropriate one and then repot it ASAP. Then, in a year from now once it has settled into its new home, then start styling it.

http://www.artisticbonsaicircle.co.uk/e025td.htm

Clip and grow ony is fine if that's what you like, but this tree is begging for some wire and an initial styling. If you want to learn bonsai, learn it. No point becoming a motor mechanic if you are only willing to buy a screwdriver. This tree does not need a trunk chop. It needs a firm hand with some wire and a jolly good pruning for shape.

Cheerio

Well I will just have to think about that, to be quite honest I haven't a clue. (Little brain cells beginning to jangle ) But I see what you mean, I think I should have planted it so it would become or be trained as a cascade. Oh, well when it takes off, or rather settles, I'll move it further right or left of the pot so most of it is hanging over the edge. But guys, the plant was top heavy, hardly any sturdy root system to work with just feeder roots. So I had to place a rock on it to stop it falling over. No, I didn't think of using wires to hold the tree is place. But I might do that tomorrow, it has not got time to send out more roots any way. Possible I should have used a smaller pot, regards size. I'll think about it tonight.
Thanks

When I said wire, I meant wire the tree into shape, not wire it into the pot! Although you could do that too. This species is often sans thick roots, so don't be surprised if you don't find any, or if you only find one or two. Do the tree and yourself a favour and get an appropriate pot, even if it is plastic for now. The pot it is in now is pointless as the tree will create roots that you'll just have to cut off again when you go to the correct shape pot. If you potted it recently, in the last few days, repot it correctly now. Don't wait.

Hi, oh I can almost hear your Afrikaans accent coming over? I did ask for advice on pots, and I did leave the thicker roots, just removed the fine ones from the 'trunk'. Yep, will re pot and change it's direction. Oh - don't car mechanics have screw drivers in the Cape? They do here

Bush bunny wrote:Hi, oh I can almost hear your Afrikaans accent coming over? I did ask for advice on pots, and I did leave the thicker roots, just removed the fine ones from the 'trunk'. Yep, will re pot and change it's direction. Oh - don't car mechanics have screw drivers in the Cape? They do here

No Afrikaans accent I'm afraid, and yes, they have screwdrivers, but no only screwdrivers.

I remember when I started out, thinking I'd only use the clip and grow method. I had two reasons. 1, I was a tight student. 2, I was just too lazy to wire.

Clip and grow is a lot harder than you think, especially with conifers. Wiring, although it takes longer to wire, it's really shorter in time, and easier to get better results.

You'll thank the above contributors in the future for nudging you toward that direction.


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