AusBonsai

Hey Everyone,

I ordered the XL Juniper Starter Kit from bonsaishop.com.au yesterday and it arrived early this morning much to my delight.

I gave it a haircut this afternoon to reveal some structure and just left the main branches.

Being new to Bonsai I have no real idea on where to go with thing. The first style that popped into mind was literati. What does everyone else think, any better options?

Thanks
Camo

Anyone?

It's a bit hard to see what's going on, really. Maybe try some photos head on, not looking down, against a plain background.

Once you've taken the photos wire all the branches (look up the wiki if you aren't sure how, buy a book, or join a club and see how other people do it).

When you look at literati trees, you will notice that the branches usually go down fairly sharply from the trunk - start by bending them down at the trunk, and then push the pads around until they "balance" - until the blobs look a bit even, or pleasing, or something. If there are two or three branches coming from the same place, choose one (choose the foliage mass that balances other foliage pads) - if in doubt, cover the blobs/pads with paper or cloth, so they " disappear" - you can more or less see what it will be like when they're gone, before you do anything irreversible.

If in doubt, think about it some more. It doesn't matter at this stage if you take a year to choose where things go - it does matter a lot if you cut something off and later regret it!

It's useful to talk to other growers, and watch what they do, if you can. Also to go to workshops, and see how the experts go about things. It's less important what they do to your tree, than learning how they decide stuff, and what they are looking for. That's invaluable.

Best of luck,

Gavin