AusBonsai

Hi Guys,
Spent the past couple of nights taking off dead foliage and wiring up this tree for the first time... Unfortunately I dont think I have a before photo but this tree was a real conundrum for me.

Originally the top branch ran out a foot and a half diagonally to the right and was very straight. I gave it a twist to make the tree more compact, wired out all of its branches. As you can see it only has two other "real" branches out to the left. The branch out to the right has no foliage so I stole a little shoot from the back and tacked it to the right hand branch.

As you might imagine, I'll choose some branches at the bottom for Jins.

Plans for the future...Jins, building foliage pads and apex, dealing with bar branches, potting into a rectangular brown pot.

let me know your thoughts

mate......


mate........

what have you done.....

THAT IS ONE WICKED TREE!@!@!@!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love it, that is gonna make a ripper when ya get the jin and shari and it fills out !

who says we dont have good material to work with in australia! mate that is gonna be one sweet tree, do not ever sell it or move it on and dont kill it!
if i could handle trees that size i would be in heaven!!!

great stuff mate. will be a show stopper in a couple of years!


jamie

Thanks a lot Jamie... As you can imagine, it looks better in the flesh. This is another one of the many Junipers I dug from a demolition site a bit over a year ago. Working on this tree helped me realise just how much I learned from the workshop with Robert Steven late in 2009. It was there I worked on another juniper and I applied some of the techniques he taught me to this tree. I very much look forward to seeing it develop into a nice tree in the future. I'll definitely not sell it..I'm in acquiring mode at the moment and think i probably will be for the next 10 or 20 years! I need to get friendly with Developers and Landscapers so that I can dig every day of the week!!

i bet it looks better in the bark mate! and yea to right about getting in with the demolition blokes, they rip trees up like nothing and that is where some of the best stock available is!

cant wait to see it in a year or so

good luck


jamie

Mate, that is a great base to start with. You'll have a lot of fun creating something awesome from it!!

Thanks Nathan...Will keep posting as it progresses

Anyone out there want to do a virt of this tree after carving?

That is such awesome material you've got there

Just look at the scale of the thing next to that stubbie!

I suggest potting it up in something bigger. Feed it, water it, get it thick and fully flush with healthly green foliage. This would be a great peice to take along to a workshop event.

Can't wait to see how you tackle this beast .

How is that other juniper going? (Robert Steven workshop) I remember you uploaded a photo, would love to see how it progressed.

Can't wait to get on the road again so i don't miss events like that in the future

That is a great tree Webos. Robert talks about a stage in development in his book that has a beauty all of it's own I think this is a great example of that. I think we have a few rod builders on here that would understand this well in the primed body stage

Oh can you tell us any hints on collecting juniper?
I think the size pot you have it in would be working real well at the moment. Managing soil content to foliage is important with junipers I understand?

Bretts wrote:Robert talks about a stage in development in his book that has a beauty all of it's own I think this is a great example of that.

Is that in 'Visions of my soul'?

Webos's hints for collecting Juniper in order of importance

#1 Pot the tree up into a very well drained mix. DO NOT pot into 2 dollar potting mix from bunnings. It will compact, stay too wet, rot roots...the tree will die and you wont know it for 6 months since it will take that long to go yellow then brown.

#2 Take off enough foliage to make the tree manageable enough to fit into your car but dont strip the tree of most of its foliage... I've had much more success with trees that I've left most foliage on.

#3 Dont feed the tree for its first 6 months

#4 Obviously get as much of the rootball as possible during the dig.

#5 Place in semi-shade. Morning sun is good...long summer afternoons in the sun are bad. Make sure you find a spot for the tree to sit for it's first 6 months...dont move the pot all over the backyard every week...basically, pot it up and forget about it.

#6 Water often if it's in a free draining mix.

Wouldnt call myself a pro.. but this has worked for me.

Psymo wrote:

Bretts wrote:Robert talks about a stage in development in his book that has a beauty all of it's own I think this is a great example of that.

Is that in 'Visions of my soul'?

I got both books together so it is a bit of a blur what came from which
Thanks Webos

Thanks Webos good tips mate, would time of year come in to play with all of this?

Webos wrote:Anyone out there want to do a virt of this tree after carving?

i will give it a bash! i will get back to ya pal


jamie

edit- are you gonna do the carve work first??? would be better, i could see where you want to go with the tree. i have a few ideas but adding deadwood in isnt exactly easy!


jamie