Bending Junipers

David Chauvin

I wanted to post this just to show how far procumbens branches can be bent without harm. Notice how far the longest branches extend past the edge of the pot in the pruned photo. Then look at the last photo. These little junipers are fantastic for learning wiring and bending. They don't cost a fortune and are tough as nails. The key is to let the tree dry out for at least a day before bending.

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deadwood tangle before.jpg (45.7 KB, 152 views)

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David Chauvin

pruned

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deadwood tangle pruned.jpg (30.8 KB, 145 views)

David Chauvin

Wired

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deadwood tangle.jpg (44.0 KB, 153 views)

David Chauvin

By the way, brutal criticism is welcome.

David Chauvin

Another inexpensive Home Depot juniper. 5" tall. One year in training.

Attached Images

shohin twisted.jpg (47.2 KB, 142 views)

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"With the death of the Shamen, artists are the last interpreters of the Divine." Joseph Campbell

Jay

David, in my less than expert opinion, the tree is going in too many directions at once. I think there is a lot of crossing of branches that take your eyes in too many directions. For my taste, I would prefer less jin and much less crossing of branches... The second tree is far more to my likeing!

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A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing

David Chauvin

Jay, I agree. It's too confusing. I wanted to try something different and missed the mark of what I envisioned, but live and learn. The good thing is I have a deal going with my teacher. I buy a juniper, work it over and if I don't want to keep it, return it for nursery credit with an increase for the labor. This way, I can get experience and build up a running tab to get a better piece of material down the road. I can only care for so many trees so this way I can continually get new material and keep only the trees I really like. My teacher gets a styled tree for a small labor cost. The tangled tree sold the next day. It's a win-win situation.

__________________
"With the death of the Shamen, artists are the last interpreters of the Divine." Joseph Campbell

Carl_Bergstrom

David,

Great deal you've got going there. I did something similar for a number of years with the nursery across the street from my house ('cept I didn't get paid for my labor). I'd go over there and work on material - and if I really really liked it, I'd buy it, otherwise onto their bonsai benches. A great way to style a tree a day without having an enormous collection.

I actually like the first tree quite a bit. Without getting into the whole "octopus is not a style" business, I think it looks really great for what it is, and that it has a great deal of potential as it fills out. I'd go with relatively simple masses of foliage formed out of several branch terminals, and I think these foliage masses will nicely ground the motion of the rest of the tree.

With the second tree, a question about procumbens: will you be able to get those foliage pads to fill in so that you have less of the

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look?


All the best,
Old Mister

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In love with trees

David Chauvin

Crow, With procumbens, the challenge is keeping the pads small. They really want to balloon out of control. This photo was taken right after a hard pinching to reduce the pads. I'm still trying to figure out how and when to pinch to get the desired effect.

__________________
"With the death of the Shamen, artists are the last interpreters of the Divine." Joseph Campbell