Juniper Suggestions And Help?

jloeschner

Hello all, my name is John. I am new to this forum, as well as Bonsai. I have been lurking here for awhile now, and have read everything that I can get my eyes on about this wonderful subject. I thought that I had a decent grasp on what I should do, so I went and bought a juniper from a local nursery a couple of days ago. I have studied it and studied it, and honestly am not sure where to begin. I wish there was a local club or something I could attend in order to glean more info, but I think I am the only one in this small, depressed community who is even interseted in bonsai. Even the man at the nursery looked at me strangly when I told him why I wanted the juniper. Anyway, I have ordered a book, "Bonsai," by Harry Tomlinson, and am waiting on it to arrive. Meanwhile, I was hoping someone might have some suggestions for this guy. BTW, some of the pics were taken indoors, but the tree DOES stay outside. I am in zone 7b in eastern Arkansas, near the Mississippi river (VERY high humidity and HOT summers!) I am not planning to do any root work for a while, since I want to get the basic form first. Plus it is SOOO hot here right now! Anyway, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and I take negative criticism just as well as positive...so, please, please, be honest. I simply want to learn...

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jloeschner

Next view...

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jloeschner

Closeup of trunk, branches, etc...

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jloeschner

Another closeup....

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Will_Heath

John, the first thing I usually do when I buy a tree is to very carefully (with a chopstick) scrape away some soil around the trunk to see what is there. Sometimes you'll get a couple more inches of thicker trunk, sometimes, better rootage, sometimes both.

The branches that appear too low now, may not be.

jloeschner

This is the last pic. I can take more if needed, please let me know. I know that the tree needs to be cleaned up, but everything I have read says not to prune during this time of year, sooo...I haven't. Does anyone disagree? Would it hurt to cut off the small, unwanted branches and foliage on the underside of the branches? Man, this is more indepth than I first thought. I am even more impressed than I was with bonsai in general!

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jloeschner

That was fast! Thanks, BadByte, for the quick reply. I don't really have much of a selection here in the backwoods, so I just took what I could get for the practice. I will go check now, and see what I have.

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Adam_MA

Well,
I think you would do well to start some basic cleaning out of this tree. By cleaning out you will be getting rid of some of the growth to allow us to get a better look at the tree. It's kind of hard to make out any branches right now. For instance, in your last picture there is a ton of new growth close to the trunk and soil line. This would be a good place to start. Also if you have any "Crotch" growth (new growth that starts where the branches meet the trunk) you would do well to thin this out as well. I would warn you against making any branch cuts at this time. Until you have the tree cleaned out and you can see the structure it is hard to tell what stays and what goes.
Once you have the tree cleaned up, place it near a plain uncluttered background, and take a picture straight on. You are sure to get some good suggestions once the tree is cleaned out.

I hope this helps get you started.
Adam

chrisavo

My first post too!

I always clear away as much as I can from the base of the tree to see what the nebari (exposed roots) and trunk base may be hiding below (I actually do this at the nursery most times!).

Then what I do is gently pull the entire tree and rootball out of the pot and sit is on top of my table get a better feel for the trunk base. I find it much easier to get a feel for the tree because sometimes the pot can hide things or make it appear slightly different. (keep a spray gun handy and keep all of the exposed roots damp, especially in the heat!)

Very deliberately, I then begin to trim the smaller, useless shoots from the trunk working from the bottom up, pausing every minute or two to see what the tree is telling me. Quite often a shape will leap out at me, and other times I may remove only a few shoots and leave it for a day or two, studying it from all angles each time I walk past it.

If it is your first tree I would suggest that you aim for an informal upright style.