Another neglected Shimpaku juniper

SiNguyen

Hi everybody, here's a grafted Shimpaku juniper that I purchased from a bonsai club auction in 1996 in Southern California (city of Gardena). It used to be much more compact and had great separation of the foliage pads. It was actually a Pom-Pom style tree, a style that I used to like alot years ago. I had let grow freely in order to thicken up the life lines of the tree. Now it is rather overgrown and had lost a lot of the inside branches. There is also severe termite and rot damage to the deadwood, especially at the base of the trunk. It nearly died a few years ago when I injected it with insecticide. The insecticide seeped into the soil from the termite tracks and killed part of the root ball. I had to do an emergency repotting when I saw that the moss started to die off rather strangely. It is doing ok now, but it is in need of a major repotting and restyling again. It is about 27-28 inches tall (from the top rim of the pot to the tip of the shari). Any comments or critiques will be appreciated. The first picture is the current front.
Good day, Si

Attached Images

	front.jpg (70.2 KB, 66 views)
	left.jpg (71.2 KB, 18 views)
	back.jpg (72.9 KB, 49 views)
	right.jpg (64.5 KB, 17 views)
	close up.jpg (67.1 KB, 16 views)
	close up back.jpg (71.1 KB, 29 views)

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Dav4

Nice tree, Si. Powerful trunk with nice movement. I think you can either keep it as a full foliaged tree, and just refine the outline, or you can really thin it out and find those foliage pads again. Really thinning it out would bring out the best in the trunk and deadwood. As a fully foliaged tree, I like your front. However, please consider #483 as a future front if you opt to redefine the foliage pads. I think it could look real good from this angle. Good luck,Dave