AusBonsai

Hi,

Took a trip to Ray Nesci's on Saturday to check it out and was not disappointed!

Anyway bought this little Juniper to try my hand at some more shaping and also my first foray into wiring, I realise it might not be the ideal time to wire it but being new and very eager it's too hard to resist.

At the time I was actually looking for a Blaauw Juniper to make a formal upright but they didn't seem to have any? This Sargents Juniper seemed a nice enough alternative, I thought I could see an interesting trunk line and a couple of branches in the right spots so it came home with me.



After an hour or three this was the result:



I'm not 100% on the finished product and unsure if it has enough balance for my inexperienced opinion?

I could not decide if I should lose one of the lower branches both on the right hand side so kept them until I have a better idea.

All input, thoughts, criticism and advice welcome.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting some experience wiring too.

Chris.

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately I cannot see your images - for some reason the links come up dead?

Cheers,
Mo

This better?

Thanks Jarad.

Not sure what went wrong but they appear on my screen?

No worries mate.

They show up on mine too, sometimes it just doesn't work for some people. Using the "Upload Attachment" tab below the reply screen usually works as long as your attachments are less than 1 meg.

I would get some thick wire on the lower section of trunk and get some movement in that section too.

Ken

Probably no need to take off any more at this stage. Branches are currently spaced a bit so no real short term problems. Time to let it grow a bit and recover from the assault.

You need to decide on a theme for the tree. Currently the trunk has smooth curves but all branches are dead straight. Branches look better when they follow the theme of the trunk so maybe put some gentle bends into the branches.
A bit hard to tell from the photo but it looks like the trunk comes toward the front then curves back to the first branch? Not the most attractive look. Try turning the pot a little toward the right until that first curve moves right then back to the first branch. Finding the best front is the first step to deciding where the branches should go and deciding a theme for the trunk and branches.
Otherwise take Ken's advice and wire the lower trunk so you can change the bends there to something more interesting and attractive.

I like what you have.

Like Ken said maybe wire the bottom.

I like the tree minus the first two branches and shortening the top.

Thanks for all the input, much appreciated!

I will get some more pics from the sides as there is a curve backward on the first part of the trunk up to the first bend, once I trimmed back some foliage I could not decide on an exact front.

I deliberated on those first two branches for some time and decided to keep them both at this stage and as they were on the outside of the bend I thought at least one of them would be beneficial to its balance.

I do like that pic Daluke.

Here is a pic from the left



Pic from the right



And here is my new candidate for best front



Shibui, when you say turn to the right, is that clockwise?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also now want to remove that bottom branch and shorten the other one, a little worried it may sprout the spiked foliage if it stresses it too much?

Sorry mate I meant anti clockwise about 30 degrees or so. Should have said left but from your new pics looks like the trunk angle won't look right that way either. Your new front looks ok - reasonable trunk angle and curves - but I would keep the bottom branch and consider removing the 2nd one but plenty of time to work that out. This one will not be ready for showing for quite a few years. Needs plenty of growing and pruning yet. Trunk is very long and thin. It will probably be better if you shorten it and use a new leader somewhere. Maybe the remains of the trunk could be used as a jin when you do that?

Don't forget! Shimpaku should be wired clockwise. (especially if you're twisting) Thats the way the sap lines run.

treeman wrote:Don't forget! Shimpaku should be wired clockwise. (especially if you're twisting) Thats the way the sap lines run.

Wow, i never knew that. Thanks Treeman!

Interesting, should I change it or is it not worth upsetting the tree again over it?