Juniper - Procumbens Nana

Shifty

Hey BT'ers -

Well I went to my Bonsai course and selected a 5 year old Juniper Procumbens Nana. It was $35. Leigh the guy who own the nursery took me through everything I needed to do to get this thing looking good and to give it the potential to one day become a good bonsai. there were 6 of us in the class - it was meant to run for 2 hours but I was there for at least another 2 hours after everyone else had gone. We worked on my tree some more and just talked about bonsai and fiddled around with trees. It was an amazing experience and I certainly feel more confident in my own abilities and in the fact that im doing things the correct way. Leigh's style is very traditional Japanese in the way he structures all of his trees. He has some beautiful beautiful trees on display.

Anyway heres some pics of what I created (with a little guidance). Unfortunately the pics were taken on my mobile phone as our digital is now cactus so the pics arent the best - sorry.

As you can see there is still some work to do here. The second and third branches still need to be grown on a bit to get them the length I want to give the tree the desired shape and of course it will require some time of pinching to get the padding i want. I remembered the advice i recieved here and made sure i had some depth at the back so i have 2 branches at the back of the tree. basically i went right, left, back - right, left, back, apex with the branching.




I had a crack at some jins aswell. The bottom jin i probably wont keep but i wanted to see how it would look considering i wasnt keeping the branch anyway.




Lastly the pot is just your standard oval unglazed brown pot - however I loved it when i saw it. It was $30. Leigh had no moss available so Iput little pebbles on instead. And before you ask - No, they arent glued on!! LOL. This tree didnt have the best nebari which i was a little disapointed with, but oh well - live and learn



So please feel free to comment - good or bad. I welcome everyones opinion.

Thanks

Shift

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"Nothing just happens - you have to make it happen".

- My dad

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Shifty

Nobody?

__________________
"Nothing just happens - you have to make it happen".

- My dad

RedPine

Hey Shift,


Glad you had fun at the class this time!! I think you will have little problem working this into a nice bonsai,its already over halfway there.

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Ashbarns9999

Well done Shiftus you must feel on top of the world having got to this stage and I remember the feeling so well of elation walking away with my first real bonsai. Incidentally I feel the price you paid was a fair one considering the time spent, good size training pot and not a bad little junie.

So now I suspect you want to go to the next level and prepare your own stock. As I originally advised you, get a few more procumbens nana to play with ie. style over winter. Pot a few into bonsai pots in spring and put the balance into a grow-on environment. Look around for other species to expand your repertoire. It is all trial and error at this stage but I know you have the will to learn and the ability to listen.

Kindest Regards Ash

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Victrinia_Ensor

Ok I'm bad... I couldn't resist the header, but you know how dear a friend you are and a little ribbin' will do you well...

This lil guy just shows leaps and bounds of progress. I'm glad you had someone to help you through the process, and given all the comments and thoughts you recieved with your first effort, obviously it did not fall on deaf ears. The tree has so much going for it, it'll be exceedingly nice in short order.

I look forward to seeing what you will do once you get your hands on some bigger stock. Put away your pennies, and buy the investment trees which will make you proud. Don't settle for what gives the instant fix of wanting to make a bonsai. You and your trees only deserve the best.

There are many things I have gotten in the fervor to have bonsai that I now scratch my head over, but it's like a pet. You have to be in it for the long haul or until you find it a safe permenent home. lol I am more choosey now, and don't regret that at all.

Not that everything I pick now is big stock, it isn't. But there is a clear and definant purpose to each purchase, each commitment.

I love watching you learn and grow, even as I do myself. Ash put it well when he said you are possesed of the ability to learn, and a willingness to listen. So much the better for us all, to be sharing in this with you.

I'm so pleased you shared, and look forward to seeing the leaps and bounds I know will surely be present in even your next effort.

All my best as ever,

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Ms. Vic

Le belle cose prendono tempo...

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