AusBonsai

I have recently purchased a juniper spartan which was about 1.8m tall and a trunk about 5 cm( very cheap) no pics as yet. It has a very staight trunk so it would be a great as formal upright, this is not the direction that I want to head. This tree was cheap so I want to do some major work (experiment on the tree) and end up with a literati styled tree. What I am asking is, has anyone tried to bend a juniper the same way that the pine on Bonsai South videos was done, eg. saw, drill, tape etc. If so did the tree recover and the time frames of this. How long before new growth started. Would you do it again. Looking forward to responses,
Slug

if u want to do major bend. dont root prune

You should be able to use any of the standard methods to bend large material, Drill, Split, then Wrap with Raffia, Tape, then wire etc no worries.
Take lots of Photos when you do so we can all share the experience

As Dumper mentioned, do NOT do it in the same year you do major root work tho

Hi Slugwarrior,
Even if you are able to successfully bend your Spartan Juniper into the trunk shape that you intend for a literati style tree, you will be left with the open and loose foliage of this cultivar, which to be frank is less than appealing and difficult to work with. What can be done is graft Shimpaku foliage onto the Spartan branches, I have seen this done with a larger formal upright Spartan with good results.

Regardless of how it goes, good or bad, let us know how you fare.

Cheers,
Mojo