AusBonsai

This is my first large juniper. It was second on my wish list for the AusBonsai Community Market 2015.

Sorry I know the photos aren't as clear as they can be. My good camera is still at work.
As I bought it After a bit of a trim to show trunk line. I took probably more than half the foliage off and although I wanted to trim more I thought best to stop as I was aware that Junipers don't like too much foliage off at once.

So some questions.

1. Will it buck bud closer to the trunk?
2. Are the little brown nodules along the trunk and branches buds that may form new branches?
3 Can I wire it now or should I let it recover awhile before hand?
4. How long before I can repot?

Thanks in adance

Junipers often produce buds on older wood, particularly at the base of branches and where you have pruned branches.
I would normally wire after pruning so I'd say go ahead.
I normally repot in spring which would give it a bit of time to recover from your pruning.

I know the little bumps you are talking about but not sure what they do. Will certainly grow roots if they are in contact with moisture but not sure about buds??

So hold off on pruning more?

was this from the ute?? if so I also bought one but haven't styled it or even picked my ideal branches

No. This one was from another seller. I Rick I think(?)

He had a few and they were older and had more girth to the trunks. There wasn't much of a choice with the branches. I only removed dead branches and a few thin ones from the trunk and cut back to the the other branches. Wasn't expecting so few branches but I have a few options for styling.

You might be surprised Allen as to what choices you have when you get under the foliage. Give it a bit of a trim and see what you have. I basically followed the branches out from the trunk. They tended to have a line of the branch that went out to a point with side branches along the length and I cut back to a pair of side branches. I tried to not cut too much off as Junipers don't like too much foliage removed in one go as the foliage drives the energy of the plant. So I either cut back to the foliage mass closest to the trunk/major branch or about half of the branch.

dansai wrote:No. This one was from another seller. I Rick I think(?)

He had a few and they were older and had more girth to the trunks. There wasn't much of a choice with the branches. I only removed dead branches and a few thin ones from the trunk and cut back to the the other branches. Wasn't expecting so few branches but I have a few options for styling.

You might be surprised Allen as to what choices you have when you get under the foliage. Give it a bit of a trim and see what you have. I basically followed the branches out from the trunk. They tended to have a line of the branch that went out to a point with side branches along the length and I cut back to a pair of side branches. I tried to not cut too much off as Junipers don't like too much foliage removed in one go as the foliage drives the energy of the plant. So I either cut back to the foliage mass closest to the trunk/major branch or about half of the branch.

I know which seller it was. He had 2 procumbens that were for sale
The one from the ute had 6+ Squamata, JBP and some cedars.
Right now I'm just googling on what to do with a semi spiral trunk , trying to create a unique style but not up to a point where it looks copied.

The little bumps might be areas where it will back bud, my Squamata from the Market has something similar but individual brown 'needle' at every 3-5cm on the trunk/branch line

Any thoughts on styling

Heres 2 very quick sketches (I'm not a drawing artist!)

I like first design! The second seems run of the mill. The first looks more interesting.

1 design seems ok, maybe have jin poping out of the foliage as well?

So more like this?

dansai wrote:So more like this?

Sketch 3.jpg

Yes

xIIRevoEvoS wrote:

dansai wrote:So more like this?

Sketch 3.jpg

Yes

I concurr Classy

Ken

Sketch 3 looks awesome, I would probably backbud too

Well work is done to start it on its way to sketch 3.

A few branches separated a little at the junctions when manipulating but hopefully not too severe I was trying to be very careful.

Anyway its time for it to rest. I'll remove the wire from the jins in a few weeks and apply lime sulphur. Then repot in spring to reduce the rootball some so I can get it into a Bonsai pot in a few years.

Hey Dansai,

Great job on getting this tree to here and getting the guts to rip into it, with regards to the seperation this should be fine if it's not too severe, if you are worried apply some cut paste and wrap the area in grafting tape and it will be fine.

I like sketch 3 and think this is a great direction for the tree to head in, I hope you don't mind if I offer some ideas based on where it's at.

One thing I have come to learn is that the first styling is where all major decisions should be made, this is the best chance to correct everything that needs correcting, and tell the tree what you are asking from it. Doing this gives you a genuine square 1 and you can only go forward from there.

The reason I say this is that I notice nothing has been done as far as the lower branches wiring wise. I recommend getting some wire onto all the branches you wish to use in the design of the tree and get them exactly you want then. Move them in closer to the trunk if you want and get some movement into them, and work to develop your foliage pads. I have read from many different sources that at least once in it's life a juniper will need to be completely wired to the tips in order to set out a clear design, as above, best to do it when you first style it rather than give yourself more of an uphill battle later on, and you may also find that things don't quite go where you want them to, which will impact your design, again, better for this to happen at the first styling than years down the track.

A point on wiring,

With the exception of where you have the raffia and the jins, it doesn't seem like you have done to much with the aid of the wire, I would be making it work much harder to get you some drama and movement in the tree and branching. I am not saying that what you have done isn't right, just that I would like to have seen you do more with it, nothing worse than seeing a tree with wire on it for no reason (again, not the case here, I just scratch my head when I see pictures of trees with wire on them that look like the branches are in exactly the same place as they were before wiring).

I hope you don't mind my input, and I hope it helps

Regards,

Kerrin