fused juniper squamata, ispired by anntal :D

[MasonC]

yer. the bonsai will come with maturity.

[Jamie]

righto! im with ya now mate and in theory, and i say in theory, if we could go with more seedlings, along the lines of up to ten or so, one it would allow us those big fat twisted trunks and two give us more options for killing of certain trunks to create the live veins we see in the junipers in nature

i would think the longer the trunks on the seedlings the more twists and turns we could put into the tree aswell. allowing that the seedlings were supple enough to bend and twist without snapping and cracking. and where the bends or twist touch, this would allow for fusing too where we could imitate the 1000 year old trees like kimura's. now i know that sounds like big ambitions, but without those abmitions we wouldnt be where we are with this idea now would we i like to think big and have big dreams
and once fusing and growing stages are complete, to knock off a couple of the trunks to create the dead wood areas we could end up with some of the wicked looking yamadori you see in japan and USA.

the major thing is like you have said time, but if we keep within certain size limits this could work really well i think, but thats the other problem is that we have to start with seedlings as anything much bigger than that is harder to get into close enough proximity to fuse (i feel like your gonna take that as a challenge now antonio )

regards jamie

[anttal63]

righto! im with ya now mate and in theory, and i say in theory, if we could go with more seedlings, along the lines of up to ten or so, one it would allow us those big fat twisted trunks and two give us more options for killing of certain trunks to create the live veins we see in the junipers in nature

till now i have thought that 3 trunks are enough to create the illusion. the prob with 10, that i see, is managing all that foliage clustered together. it would become a sess pit for all sorts of unwanted disease and pests. trapped moisture, along with not enough sun and air getting through all of them. the theory of dead wood on a trunk early and swelling the live veins early to gain girth as well as the look. which is done in japan, i believe for commercial reasons. i personally think the deadwood needs to be done later rather than earlier. the wood to get harder as it gets older and to increase the amount of fibre pulling you can do. then ya deadwood might last a little longer. we are yet to see how long deadwood that was done to early will last.

i would think the longer the trunks on the seedlings the more twists and turns we could put into the tree aswell. allowing that the seedlings were supple enough to bend and twist without snapping and cracking. and where the bends or twist touch, this would allow for fusing too where we could imitate the 1000 year old trees like kimura's. now i know that sounds like big ambitions, but without those abmitions we wouldnt be where we are with this idea now would we i like to think big and have big dreams
and once fusing and growing stages are complete, to knock off a couple of the trunks to create the dead wood areas we could end up with some of the wicked looking yamadori you see in japan and USA.

you fuse what you got to start with, then as the whips on the ends grow enough you keep fusing, always following the pattern you have started with. now its these whips that you are growing on, that become clustered together and could cause a problem if too many. what i would do to create more dead wood, is where branches come together on a bend, fuse them also. junipers are bendable for a long time. once rafferied and wired properly, any creaking and popping noises, no stress the juni is made for this. the more contorted the better. under the raffia and wire, everything tightens and touches. this is where the fusing really takes place. not to mention that wheen you unwrap everything it will relax and spring back a little. like kimuras 1000 yr old ones; yeah maybe in a 1000 yrs nothing wrong with big dreams and ideas as long as you are having a go and not a gonna like some.

the major thing is like you have said time, but if we keep within certain size limits this could work really well i think, but thats the other problem is that we have to start with seedlings as anything much bigger than that is harder to get into close enough proximity to fuse (i feel like your gonna take that as a challenge now antonio )

i think if you find older stock with the right bends in it, there is no reason why you cant wrap younger stock around it. there are many short cuts to commrercial bonsai but the real deal takes time, no matter which way you spin it! thanks for making my brain think this early in the morning.
regards jamie

[Jamie]

welll.... that was a good read! and no worries bout making ya think so early i will have to keep everything in mind mate, and what stuck to me was what you said about older stock getting wrapped with younger seedlings, thats basically what my first attempt has been but i got a couple of even older junipers that i am gonna take out of the pots they are in and back into grow boxes, then the fun begins with wrapping and fusing on them aswell

we will make australia up there with great junipers one day mate

regards jamie

[Jamie]

hey guys!

after having the day off work today i was looking at this one and decided to put some wire on it!.........not for styling, but to get the zip ties off and to get some of the branching out from underneath some upper foliage and out where it can get some good light my theory behind this is if i can keep the branches nice and strong with getting plenty of light into the depths of the tree it will help with the fusing process by thickening the trunk and branches. there are some good little sacrifice branches right down low too they are now getting some good light too which will help with the trunk too:D

pictures to follow, not to much to show with it though

regards jamie:D

[Jamie]

hey guys!

after having the day off work today i was looking at this one and decided to put some wire on it!.........not for styling, but to get the zip ties off and to get some of the branching out from underneath some upper foliage and out where it can get some good light my theory behind this is if i can keep the branches nice and strong with getting plenty of light into the depths of the tree it will help with the fusing process by thickening the trunk and branches. there are some good little sacrifice branches right down low too they are now getting some good light too which will help with the trunk too:D

pictures to follow, not to much to show with it though

regards jamie:D

[Jamie]

as promised, pics with the minimal wire as i explained before, and a top shot. to show where its at.

now like i said the wiring has only been done to one, allow light in and two, it gives it a bit more open look so i can see what i am doing i did wrap the branching up the trunk a little bit more, went maybe another 2 inches. and now all to bee done is feed, feed, feed, grow, grow, grow!

obviously i will be watching the wire quite close, 90% of it was cage wiring any way as to just get some shape out so it could recieve more light

regards jamie

[Jamie]

ok i have hit a little hiccup in this fella. i have noticed today while watering that one of the branches on this one the foliage is drying out. now its not the main tree, it is one of the seedlings i have attempted to fuse to it, the other one seems to be in great health. now i am unsure as to why this happened. i have been chatting with antonio as to this and instead of doing it privately we have decided to talk about it in the forum for the benefit of others there is no pm chat needed as all that was said was me asking bout it and then deciding to post the pics here that antonio asked for

so here they are. there is one that i have circled in red to show the seedling, as it seems to be the top section that is very dry, the bottom branch on the seedling is still quite vibrant. this is what has me a little puzzled. so im not sure on this either. feeding has been as per my usual plan, nothing out of the ordinary with watering, everything i do with all my other trees. and they are all healthy. any ideas??

regards jamie

[Jamie]

just reading something then too, i forgot how windy it has been. maybe that is a factor ???

[anttal63]

when you root pruned the offendind trunk, maybe you took too much out for the amount of work you are doing on top. working top and bottom hard at the same time is dangerous. sometimes you might get away with it but its just a matter of time.

i should have explained my timing on how i do this sooner and there for appollogise if i gave the wrong impression . ( im good at that )

early spring i bare root and shape the roots in a radial position for where the trunks are goin to be positioned, ready to start a plait. so 1 of them inside the other 2 and tie off. i then plait once more to lock it in and tie off again. if there is stiil enough length in the whips to plait more and comfortably with out forcing too much do so and tie off. now leave it alone till late autumn. then i plait any new growth. followed by raffia well bound, spines and extra wire coiled around. and bend and twist to my hearts delight that everything is secure. so if you are going to brutalise the top let some new growth and settling take place first. when the weather gets warmer you have to be careful when twisting and bending that the cambium does not slip off the wood, which can be easily done on a juni. this does not always result in death depends on severity and alot of the time you cant necessarily see it. less chance of this happening if you are doing the punishing work in autumn winter when the sap slows down. bind it up well and you will get away with murder. hope this helps jamie.

ps. so the answer to replacing it is simple. ok but go easy till next year.

[anttal63]

just reading something then too, i forgot how windy it has been. maybe that is a factor ???

another reason to not go to hard to soon. the natural elements will always challenge you!

[Jamie]

ahhh cool mate thanks for the advice, the one thing that does bother me a bit though about the roots. i only bare rooted them, not pruning, whether bare rooting them can cause alot of stress is another question, the were only otu of soil for maybe a max an hour. misting all the time too.
ohwell, its happened, is there any point leaving this one on as the lower branch is still healthy? and maybe just attach another???

[anttal63]

what ever your imagination likes just go easy. somtimes when bare rooting combing out needs to be careful. breaking them off is the same as cutting them off. i bare root everything in sight

[Jamie]

thats true, i was so cautious about the roots though. didnt take hardly anything. probly due to wrong time of year i think, and windy conditions would help either. so the design changes and i move ahead. thats about it

[Jamie]

just in chat talking with jarrod and elias. we have been talking about broken cambium. this could be an issue to one would think. hopefully being juniper it might be able to divert the flow as the lower part is still vibrant. this would be the optuimum out come but we will have to wait and see for now.