Wouldn't let me edit my posts, so I have to double.
1. The garden juniper found probably in someone's yard.
It looks pretty decent at this point, but still like it came from a gas station
2. Marco jin'd all but the two main branches you see in the first pic. He then asked us to pick between the branch to the right that follows the flow of the trunk and the branch to the right that leans back over the root base. We picked the one that arched back over the roots, but he ended up picking the one that moved to the left for several reasons:
a. The live vein had more movement and was more interesting.
b. The live vein for the branch had a single root where the deadwood was rotted away under it.
c. There was a branch behind the branch he picked that could be wired as a back branch
d. There were already jin on the right side and have foliage there would unbalance the tree and cross over the jin.
3. At this point most of us where thinking, "omg, he ruined the tree."
4. And this is why he is a master and we are students. While he wired the tree, we watched in amazement. Also he dictated his almost 30 rules of wiring he learned from working with Kimura that can be found here:
http://pabonsai.org/pbsnewsletter.html
I have them here too incase the site gets updated and the rules are lost
Code:
Size of the wire is 1/3 the size of the branch for copper wire. Aluminum wire is slightly larger.
Apply wire at a 45 degree angle to the branch. 50 degrees is better.
Spiral gap between wire loops should be equal.
Spiral should be closer to the way the branch bends. Never leave gaps between wire and branch.
Change the thickness of the wire as the branch thickness changes.
Wire heaviest wire first to the thinnest wire.
Wire 2 branches with one piece of wire, not far apart or too close.
End of the wire always faces backward and upward. End of the wire faces upward to support the tip (bud) of the branch.
Positioning of your hands and body is fundamental to wiring because it is important to achieve the 45 degree angle of wire placement.
Hold branches underneath when wiring.
Hold wire from the end to keep wiring hand free of the tree and not to disturb buds. Hand tension holds the branch bottom while the other hand holds the wire.
The left hand is stiff while the right hands are loose when wiring (Right handed people).
Never move both hands at the same time. Move inside to outside when wiring.
Over-wire thick branches and under-wire thin branches.
Wire on the outside of the branch where pressure is to be applied.
Always support the weakest part of the branch when bending.
Wire from the thickest branch to the thinnest branch.
Wire from the bottom of the tree to the top of the tree.
Start wiring from the inside to the outside of the branch.
Always bend the branch first, not the wire.
Wire the branch to bend it in the direction of your intended movement, i.e. wire on top to bend the branch downward, wire on the bottom to bend the branch upward,
Wire the back to bend the branch forward, and wire the front to bend the branch backward.
Wiring at the branch junction is very important.
Crossing wires should be avoided. This causes gaps between wire and the branch and it could result in damaging parts of the tree when underneath wires are removed.
5. That is the tree that is finished its initial styling and with a suggested front. Notice it was not repot even though the tree was in good condition.
I heard this weekend from our club president who won the raffle for this tree that the Juniper is doing well and is healthy about 2 months later.