San Jose Juniper styling help needed

darrellw

I've had this San Jose Juniper for over 15 years, most of them it has been growing wild with the occasional hack back. The tree is now 16" (40 cm) from soil to the top, and the base is 2" (5 cm) just above the roots.

This tree has really nice roots, intersting trunk, but little taper until halfway up (and in fact, a bit of inverse taper at that knot halfway up, though with the curve it looks worse than it is).

It seems to me that the answer is some deadwood, probably everything from about halfway up, and perhaps down the trunk to help with the taper. But I just can't picture what the tree would look like, and what I should "keep".

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, I don't want to remove any foliage until I have a plan, I hope you can get a feeling for the tree from these. Any ideas or virtuals appreciated!

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Carl_Bergstrom

Nice material - this is a styling not to be taken lightly.

Step 1: Find the front of this tree, basing your choice on the nebari and on the curves of the lower trunk, with attention to where you will put the live veins and shari. Remember that you can change the planting angle as well...

Best regards,
Carl

Vonsgardens

I agree with the old Crow,
Be careful where you start, this is really a nice raw tree, many of the bigger san jose junipers have no "verticality" about them- this one does. Also, don't be too quick to throw away any f the oversized branches- will make great deadwood. Best of luck- find the front. John

bonsaial1

But I just can't picture what the tree would look like, and what I should "keep".

This could be the holy grail of bonsai. When you know what to keep and can find that in your head or draw it to paper, you will be well on your way to becoming more of an artist in bonsai design. Wonderful pieces of material should not be worked on till that criteria is etched in your mind. There is no reason that with the proper knowledge one can't build the tree in ones head and see its conclusion.

I have had people ask me why I am cutting off so many branches. I have the plan in my head before I even pay for the stock, or pick up the pruners. The tree is envisioned before I even start.

Spend some time drawing the trunkline of the tree. Add some shapes of canopies that look pleasing on the trunk. See if the branch structure is such that the branches present can support the canopy wanted. After being satisfied on paper, then one might rough style to suit said design. Working with random abandon, to "see what I get" may ruin an otherwise great piece of material for years while waiting for branches to catch up to what was pruned off inadvertantly.

I hope you realize what ever you plan for your tree. Al Keppler

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darrellw

Hi,

Just wanted to post an update of what I did over the weekend. My vision for this tree is now to have the first branch be the branch on the right, the low left branch will remain as a sacrifice/possible jin. The new leader is on the top, the remaining trunk past it will eventually be removed, or possibly jinned. Because the first branch starts pretty high up (about halfway up what I see the complete tree to be), I will have it drop down quite a bit to balance out the space.

Now it just need to grow out for a while!

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IMG_0886.jpg (42.3 KB, 158 views)

Attila

Darrel,

You've just ruined a great material!
(no, just kidding).


One thing that isn't said enough here: when examining your options, almost always look for the smallest possible tree. Except when the material presents some exceptionally great options at its current height. Whenever I talk to visiting masters from Japan, that's the first thing they look for when examining a new tree: how can I make it shorter, in order to add more power to the existing trunk?

Whether or not you've done that, I leave it for you to judge.

Unless you indend to leave that sacrifice branch there for another five to ten years, it will not make a difference when growing the juniper in a pot. It's good to leave it there for now for health reasons, but as soon as the tree starts pushing new growth all over, you can take it off, leaving a couple of inches of dead branch for future jin (with the bark taken off).

If you leave it there to grow for the next few years, it will use up precious energy from other parts of the tree where you so desperately need more branches. So, leaving the branch will cost you many years of waiting for the right branches to grow.

Just a thought.

mike_p

Darrell, I must confess that my first reaction to your latest post was, OUCH!!!
Heres a virtual that I see as possible in a few years. The way I see it, the only thing the lower branches will do is rob energy from where the tree needs it the most.

Regards

Mike

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Vonsgardens

My initial reaction was similar to Mike's. But, you have, as they say, taken it down to the barest of bones- there are no secrets left here. Let it push where you want it, be careful to control all of the buds that burst out in locations that will not require branches in the future. Great little trunk, now it's time to get the foliage thing going. John

agraham

..and i was thinking more on the lines of this.

ain't life grand....so many choices......and perspectives.

andy

P.S...sorry about the poor virtual,but i think it gets the idea across.

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