Jin and Shari Question

soonami

I recently collected some juniperus virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar) from underneath an oak grove. They were next to a field that was cleared 30 years ago, so my guess is that when the forest of hundred year old oaks was cleared for the field, this allowed light to pass through the understory and allowed light for the juniper to grow. But now that the oaks are growing back, I saw a lot of dead junipers next to the field, but some were almost dead from lack of light, but not quite.

My question is when is the best time to jin and shari these trees?
Should I wait for a growth spurt in the spring or until after I get the green to look how I want?
Most of the top of the tree is dead, with only a little green on the bottom, I'll post pictures in the morning when there is light out.

I know a lot about the botany, but not so much about more advanced techniques in bonsai

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Joanie

With collected trees, the most important thing is to give them time to recuperate. Junipers can look tough until all of a sudden they are brown.... Give them a year, watch the root developement, etc. Then according to what I have been told (NO firsthand experience here) you do the deadwood first, then the styling. Which makes sense, because you will be working up and down the branchs and the top when cleaning and carving the jin and shari, and you wouldn't want to try and avoid the areas you have just wired....

Maybe with this bump up to the top someone who actually knows can tell you... and they love pictures! (hint, hint)

Joanie

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soonami

Yeah, I definitely wasn't planning on doing anything with them anywhere in the near future. I wanted to wait to see what trees would survive and where the growth is before I started messing with it. Even if one dies, I can use it to practice my carving.

I was intending on taking those pictures this morning, but I was too busy packing to move into my new house that it slipped my mind.

Ashbarns9999

Next spring will let you know the survival rate. Jin and shari is best done then when the sap is rising as the bark peels off so well. Now is the best time to wire future jinned branches into the shape you want. Now is also a good time to sketch your future tree. I wish you luck. Ash

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soonami

Ash, so if you are in Australia, then you must mean spring is the best time to wire and strip branches right? Or am I delusional to think that seasons are reversed between our two continents