Juniper help for Beginner #1

grifoninc

Hi all I am from Chile S.America and need help.
I am new to this site and a newbie to bonsais in general.
I have a few questions about Junipers that I hope you guys could help me in turning into bonsais.
I started one but am not sure if I didi it right , i'll talk about that experiment later first I would like to get your opinion on this Juniper which I found growing about 4 years ago on the side of the road , I put it into the plastic pot that you see it in now and haven't touched it at all , now I want to make it into a bonsai but am very scared to touch it as most of my attempts have resulted in tears ........so I have posted some links with photos from different angles so that you guys can get an idea of what it looks like.

sorry about the image quality but you get the idea...

Let me know what you guys think please

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b...a/DSCF0004a.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b.../DSCF0006-1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b...a/DSCF0006a.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b...na/DSCF0008.jpg

Advertisement

gregb

You have succeeded in keeping your tree healthy, this is good. It looks like a very young tree, so a style that requires a thick trunk will be a long way off. One idea I had was to find a rock that resembles a mountain range and bend the trunk down over the rock and use the branches to look like individual trees growing along the ridge-line. You could pot it in a long shallow oval pot and conceal the area where the trunk emerges from the soil on the right end of the rock.

A little tip for your photography--point your lens so that eye-level is just slightly above the rim of the pot. This will give a much better image of your tree for us to work with. As it is now, your camera angle is too high, as though you are looking down on the tree. One can't get a very good idea of the trunk base or the branching structure this way. Hope this has been helpful for you

Bonsai Barry

I agree with Greg's advice. If you want to style this tree now rather then letting it grow a thicker trunk (by letting it grow in the ground), then you need to do something to disguise the long and untapered trunk. If it's thin enough then I'd wire it to create a few bends in the trunk to add interest.

__________________
Bonsai Barry

"Our talent lies in our choices."