Exposing Juniper Veins Question?

Chadster

I recently aquired some quality juniper material (in my opinion anyway)... my question is this. What is the best way to clean off the top layers of bark to expose or at least the flaky stuff to see the veins so that one might try to find where to doing some dead wood work and stuff? Some of the junipers are Californias and another is a prostrata. I have tried using a soft/medium bristle brush... but that didn't work to well. It brushed off all the dirt and some of the flaky stuff but still I don't see any viens...

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K.A. Rutledge

Hi "Chadster" (?)

I'm assuming that you're talking about live veins that contrast with the deadwood veins/cavities. One way is to cut off a couple of significant branches(leave good long stubs) and wait for the living wood to distinguish itself with growth swelling as the veins leading to the now dead branches "sinks" into the profile of the trunk. It takes 3 to 8 years or to depending on the health and vigor of the junper, but in time those veins will become more apparent.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
http://www.bonsai365.com/ :: living bonsai every day
zone 8, Texas

Bonsainut

Chadmeister,
Good advice from K.A. ? above as usual. I think that you might be seeing fantastic contrasting bark on masterpieces in bonsai magazines and think they come standard issue on all juniperus, right?
Well if you have used your brush with vigor then you should have exposed the live/dead areas. None seem to be there because your trees are young and healthy and growing on all sides.
A fun thing to do is to create these type of effects yourself. You might try this after the tree has overcome any styling you have recently done, and make sure it is in good health.

1. On the front of the tree make a horizontal cut just above the soil lineabout a third of the trunk wide and centered.

2. Start pulling the bark(easier in spring) up the tree. Keep the shari in the center and as you go up let it get smaller and smaller. End where the branchs get so dense that the front of the trunk isn't easily seen or just under a small forward branch.

3. Periodically( over the years) clean out, and widen, and lime sulfur your precious little shari. Good luck.

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Lethal Use of Farce

TreeBay

It would need to be a pretty old juniper to have any natural lifelines. That may be your problem.

Regards,

Matt

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Bonsainut

Yeah, or natural deadlines.

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Keep growing,---'Nut



Lethal Use of Farce

RonMartin(deceased)

Just take your time. It will be rewarded.
I use a soft bristle brush. (made of brass) This will only remove the dead stuff unless you get carried away.
Patience is the key word.
Get aggressive and you will have firewood. There are no shortcuts. No matter what anyone says.
Junipers older than about four years have well established lifelines if one is willing to look for them.

bonsaial1

Hi Chad, see ya next week at the meeting. I have some photo's of a old Ca. Juniper that I dug two years ago. It is not hard ti find the live veins on this one. They stick out like a sore thumb. When the juniper ages, it starts to lose strength under branches if the branch is somewhat weak. If the branch is weak enough the shari will form, but look like bark, but be very thin and dry,. It is sometimes very difficult to get this layer off. It seems to hold like glue

This vein has a nice twist going up the larger branch.

Attached Images

chad1.jpg (53.3 KB, 71 views)

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bonsaial1

Once again this vein goes straight up the larger branch giving life to a branch further up. You can see the dead area under the dead branch. The live veins split and go around the dead area.

Attached Images

chad2.jpg (59.9 KB, 66 views)

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I been kidding the last seven years.
no.... really!

bonsaial1

Can you see the live veins in this photo?



Ahh..yes. There are about 5 showing in this photo, snaking like a serpents tongue, or a dragons tail. When this tree gets all cleaned up, and the dead wood peeled and the live veins polished, this will be a great tree to see.

Attached Images

chad3.jpg (66.9 KB, 62 views)

__________________
I been kidding the last seven years.
no.... really!