Project Juniper
Posted: August 21st, 2011, 8:07 pm
G'day Folks,
I haven't really contributed much since joining so I thought I would start this progression thread.
A little background.
This Juniper (Juniperus San Jose Hollywood) was purchased as advanced nursery stock around 12 years ago. It was originally upright & around 7 feet tall. Over the next few years it's height was gradually reduced & repotted in to smaller & smaller training pots. About 8 years ago I decided the design had little going for it, the trunk lacked character & the design was less than convincing. I decided to plant the tree on an angle, remove the main trunk, then use the lowest left branch as the new leader/apex. Although somewhat better, it was still boring. I added a shari to the trunk from its base to where the main trunk was removed. It looked a little better & I rested it for a couple of years to allow it to recover & redirect sap flow.Here's the tree about 6 years ago. Due to some personal issues, my bonsai have suffered over the last few years so I decided it was time to undertake a major restyling. I searched the net for inspiration & came up with a design to apply to this tree.
Here's the tree as of last weekend. (A bit of photoshopping to clear up the background) First, a new postion. The tree had tilted under its own weight & needed to be raised. Next, some major pruning & beginning to wire & position branches. A bit more wiring & positioning. Jinning the old apex & lower right branch. A bit of carving was carried out on the main shari but still has a lot of refining to be done. All deadwood was treated with lime sulphur.
It was then repotted. A 2" base layer of screened 4 to 6mm diatomite was used, then filled with a 50-50 mix of 2 to 4mm diatomite & quality potting mix, sieved to 2 to 4mm particles.
Here's a final result, still not totally convincing but may develop in to something reasonable. The pot is also inappropriate but will work as a training pot for the next year or two. I will let it rest & fertilize the hell out of it for a year or two, then begin the next phase of restyling. And finally a couple of virts (very poor virts, my PC skills are very limited). I think the second virt will be the way to go in the future.
I haven't really contributed much since joining so I thought I would start this progression thread.
A little background.
This Juniper (Juniperus San Jose Hollywood) was purchased as advanced nursery stock around 12 years ago. It was originally upright & around 7 feet tall. Over the next few years it's height was gradually reduced & repotted in to smaller & smaller training pots. About 8 years ago I decided the design had little going for it, the trunk lacked character & the design was less than convincing. I decided to plant the tree on an angle, remove the main trunk, then use the lowest left branch as the new leader/apex. Although somewhat better, it was still boring. I added a shari to the trunk from its base to where the main trunk was removed. It looked a little better & I rested it for a couple of years to allow it to recover & redirect sap flow.Here's the tree about 6 years ago. Due to some personal issues, my bonsai have suffered over the last few years so I decided it was time to undertake a major restyling. I searched the net for inspiration & came up with a design to apply to this tree.
Here's the tree as of last weekend. (A bit of photoshopping to clear up the background) First, a new postion. The tree had tilted under its own weight & needed to be raised. Next, some major pruning & beginning to wire & position branches. A bit more wiring & positioning. Jinning the old apex & lower right branch. A bit of carving was carried out on the main shari but still has a lot of refining to be done. All deadwood was treated with lime sulphur.
It was then repotted. A 2" base layer of screened 4 to 6mm diatomite was used, then filled with a 50-50 mix of 2 to 4mm diatomite & quality potting mix, sieved to 2 to 4mm particles.
Here's a final result, still not totally convincing but may develop in to something reasonable. The pot is also inappropriate but will work as a training pot for the next year or two. I will let it rest & fertilize the hell out of it for a year or two, then begin the next phase of restyling. And finally a couple of virts (very poor virts, my PC skills are very limited). I think the second virt will be the way to go in the future.
