I get Nervous around Junipers but here it is!

[emi93m]

Well here goes this is a Juniper I have had for a bit over 4 months now and purchased it as a pre Bonsai after killing all my previous Junipers due to lack of water or really heavy handed shaping. I brought it inside the other night to take some pics. Any help on styling would be great. I dont want this tree to get much longer at the bottom but i need to work out how to refine the apex more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Andrew F]

Sorry i cant offer any advice on styling it, just wanted to pass along a word of encouragement, love where its going and in time once its been styled its going to be a stunner of a cascade, keep us updated.

Look forward to more senior bonsai'ists tips on refining apex's on Junipers.

[Beano]

Its perfect already!! I'm quite bad at junipers, so I don't usually give them a second look, I'm more of an easy ficus type...

[Andrew Legg]

Well here goes this is a Juniper I have had for a bit over 4 months now and purchased it as a pre Bonsai after killing all my previous Junipers due to lack of water or really heavy handed shaping. I brought it inside the other night to take some pics. Any help on styling would be great. I dont want this tree to get much longer at the bottom but i need to work out how to refine the apex more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Emi,

I think what you need to give consideration to is whether this tree is a cascade or an informal upright. The reason I say that is that at the moment it is trying to be both. If you want a cascade you need to take a fair bit off the top. Without doing this the viewer's eye is drawn both down the cascade and up to the top, and this is distracting. I'd suggest that you should start by taking off the entire top two foliage pads and make your apex out of the first pad going up. The other option would be to get some heavy wire on the top trunk and bent it so that it compacts the three top pads into about half the height. You will then need to lighten each pad considerably to create the definition that will make the apex look good. This may be better than the chop as a starting point as if it does not work, then rest can be removed.

The advantage of taking a lot off the top will be to redirect growth energy to the cascade trunk and improve both its thickness and foliage vigour. The lower pads can be shaped and each pad (particularly the first one on the far right) can be split to have three mini-pads making a single outline. For the next year or two I'd leave the bottom three pads to grow and gain vigour.

I think this tree can make a nice little bonsai in the future, but I think the most important bit is to choose the ballance of the tree and get the feeling of visual flow sorted out. With a cascade this flow should be downwards. If you want to go according to the strict rules , the tip of the cascade branch and the point where the trunk exits the soil and the tip of the apex should all line up in a straight line. You know what they say about rules though!

A final desirable bit that you may want to add is a back branch on the cascade branch. At the moment there does not seem to be one, but if you get a bud growing on the back, cherish it! If you are feeling adventurous, maybe you can try to graft one on. If it does not work, you loose nothing, and the scar is out of sight. Bonus!

Finally, remember that my advice is given as an opinion, and that's the way I see the tree developing. This does not make it the only way or the right way. Others may feel differently.

Cheers,

Andrew

[emi93m]

Thanks Guys appreciate all the feedback.

Andrew thats why I like this site because educated people like yourself know how to talk and suggest things to people your insight is invaluble thanks heaps mate you have given me something to think about.

Regards Mick

[Andrew Legg]

No worries mate,

I had to do a talk on cascades for my club, so I'm fresh on all the amo! Try to get your hands on D. Koreshoff's book. It is a fantastic piece of writing and the section on cascades is excellent. Let me know if you want a copy of my presentation. I'll e-mail it to you.

Cheers,

Andrew

[kcpoole]

No worries mate,

I had to do a talk on cascades for my club, so I'm fresh on all the amo! Try to get your hands on D. Koreshoff's book. It is a fantastic piece of writing and the section on cascades is excellent. Let me know if you want a copy of my presentation. I'll e-mail it to you.

Cheers,

Andrew

Can you Post a copy as a thread here ?
Be awesome

Ken

[Andrew Legg]

No worries mate,

I had to do a talk on cascades for my club, so I'm fresh on all the amo! Try to get your hands on D. Koreshoff's book. It is a fantastic piece of writing and the section on cascades is excellent. Let me know if you want a copy of my presentation. I'll e-mail it to you.

Cheers,

Andrew

Can you Post a copy as a thread here ?
Be awesome

Ken

I can try . . . . . . but I'll need a bit of time to convert to individual jpgs.

[emi93m]

Hi Andrew that would be great. I will PM you my email address.

Cheers mate.

Mick

[Luke308]

Try to get your hands on D. Koreshoff's book. It is a fantastic piece of writing and the section on cascades is excellent. Cheers, Andrew

I second that... it is the best book on bonsai for Australians, I havent managed to finish reading it yet, but it is so detailed, and the art-work is amazing!! A must have for all true bonsai enthusiasts!!
Luke