Have been reading this forum for only a month now and just recently purchased a juniper that is about 8 yrs old. I have been collecting data from all of you (thank you) but when it comes down to it...im aftraid to touch this tree for fear of maiming/killing/whatever it. I have not purchased any tools yet either so it has been growing wild (plenty of new growth in the foliage!). My biggest question is "what is pinching exactly?" how much can you pinch off at a time etc.
i was stationed in Japan for years (thats where i was first exposed to Bonsai) and used to watch a lot fo the monks at a temple across the street from my guard post work on them. We weren't allowed to talk to them as they had taken a vow of silence and all......they have some of the greatest trees i have ever seen!!! It seemed like they never used pesticides or anything else non-organic on them; only water taken from a rice patty field and a tiny pair of snips. I don't think i ever saw them "pinch" anything but maybe they had a routine that didnt fall under my watch. They also only stripped bark off but never sanded the wood down or applied anything else to it after that...as that branch grew they continued to strip and maintain it and eventually it became a scarred limb that looked really nice.
One of the trees was 'destroyed' i thought when i drunken sailor decided to step on and crush the tree on night, snapping the main trunk and several large branches in the process. the next morning when the first monk awoke and came to tend to the trees he didnt even blink.....he knelt, lit some form of incense and 'prayed' i think. they never used any wire or anythign to repair this tree....they stripped all the areas that had broken/snapped and let t grow. eventually they propped several of the branches up on large pots for support. I left shortly after all that so i never got to see what became of these trees..hopefully i will get back over there someday and see them again.
Along these lines, is there a 'school' of thought in Bonsai that doesnt believe in treating the tree with anything except time, pinching, pruning and de-barking
