Shimpaku Juniper

newt1

I started this tree 2 or 3 years ago at a Marco I. workshop. The current pot is oversized and used as a training pot. I plan on re-potting this weekend onto a slab. Any other pot suggestions?

Newt

Attached Images

shimpaku windswept 1-08 web.JPG (21.8 KB, 206 views)

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nedz

I am by no means qualified, but I would be tempted to lose the mall branch on the lower left.

It would magnify the windswept style.

Even if you don't. excellent work!!!

waltr

I think a shallow oval or round pot would work.

Interesting clump form. Its coming along and has some promise.
Keep us posted.

Vance Wood

From a stylistic view point I would start by eliminating all growth from the bottom of all branches. I think you will be surprised at how much of an improvement this will make in the appearance of the tree. Other than that I think the tree needs only time and pinching to become a really nice bonsai. But, according to the way some people look at things because this is not a collected tree it will never be a good bonsai. I don't believe that but you might as well know there are those that believe so.

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JGamby713

Hi Eric,

In this picture it is kinda hard to see what is going on with the bottom 2 branches on the right....is the lowest a jin or wrapped in rafia? Hard to tell. To me the 2 are very similar and one needs to go, or if a jin needs to be shortened a bunch. Have you thought about thinning out the foliage pads? They are getting pretty full and looking "poofy". But again, this is all from a picture and probably looks different in person.




Nice of you to take a jab here, next time pm me or somthing instead of posting it in Erics post where it adds nothing. But for the record....good bonsai can and do come from other material than collected material.

Jason

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Vance Wood

Sorry Jason you are not the only one who has taken that tak about nursery material, as to what I post-- that is my business, I need no permission from you.

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Vonsgardens

Crappy nursery material=crappy bonsai
Crappy collected material=crappy Bonsai

Odds of getting a good bonsai from good nursery material is fairly low;
Odds of getting good bonsai from good collected material is fairly high.

odds of getting a grumpy response from someone who believes that their material source is superior to the other_ 100%.

I like this shimpaku multitrunk a lot. Do like Vance says, clean up the bottom of branches and control foliage growth and this tree should advance from an "immature" to a mature state fairly quickly. Nice work.

John

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newt1

Thank you all for your thoughts. Never did get the thing re-potted. Right now including the jins there are 5 trunks, was planning on keeping them but maybe the two jin should go? The bottoms are cleaned up pretty well, I think it is the angle of the picture which was taken up a ways to get the root base (would have been hidden by the edge of the pot). I will take another look when I re-pot.


Guy's there is no magic to collected material or nursery stock. If you have a good eye and some skills good bonsai can be made from either. You remind me of some people I know who have been to Japan. Evidently the stuff they saw was large as the only thing I hear now is: "I only work with large material" or "I am getting rid of my small stuff now that I have been to Japan". This is pure rubbish in my eyes. Mame is a Japanese term, thus they do grow small trees as well. I like to remind them that a good bonsai has nothing to do with it's size, it also has nothing to do with where you got the material. What does matter is if the tree moves you or makes a lasting impression on you. If collected material is the only way to go then what happens when we exhaust all of the trees in nature like Japan? What then? We just give up because nursery stock is no good Have none of you seen the stock that some like Julian Adams are creating? There is no need to argue, if you have thousands of dollars to throw at trees go right ahead, if money is more tight (like most of us) then use what you can get your hands on. It is more about the process, creating something from basically nothing, learning to work with what you are given, the peace and calm you get from watering your trees and the great people you meet (at least in person, on the internet it is hit and miss).

Newt

__________________
We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!

Check out my blog: http://knowledgeofbonsai.org/eric_newton/

Connection with gardens, even small ones, even potted plants, can become windows to the inner life. The simple act of stopping and looking at the beauty around us can be prayer. -Patricia R. Barrett

bonsaikc

Eric,
I like your tree. And removing the foliage that grows beneath the branch is a nice first step.

But don't pinch your tree. Pinching junipers does not advance them. Check what Brent has to say about training junipers, starting here.

Brent has expounded on this at length in other forums as well. I point you to his writing because he does justice to the process in a way that I'd need to spend a good deal of time writing and re-writing.

Your tree has its beginning "scaffolding" of branching. Good luck to you with it.

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