California Juniper Transformation

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By Al Keppler

This follow up essay about the transformation of a collected California juniper is the culmination of three years work towards the beginning of this juniper bush as a bonsai. Make no mistake, there are many decades left in the training of this tree, and I can hardly wait for the next 5 years of growth to see my vision come to life.

The collection of this juniper began in the spring of 2002.
The first follow up story can be found here

(Note: hover cursor over thumbnails for fig. Nos.)

Fig. 1 shows juniper as it was today.
Fig. 2 shows juniper with left trunk blocked.
Fig. 3 shows juniper with right side blocked.
Each of these views has been viewed from different angles and blocks placed under the grow box for slight variations.
Fig. 4 shows same as previous but seen from a little different angle.
Fig. 5 shows us a different angle for review.
Fig. 6 shows the proposed back of the tree. From this angle it is evident that the trunk shows too much of a right angle in the way the secondary trunk moves from the primary. My initial instinct is to preserve some of the secondary trunk for the one live branch that may be used in the final tree. This of course may be removed at a later date.

Attached Images

	fig 1.JPG (52.2 KB, 652 views)
	fig 2.JPG (51.4 KB, 337 views)
	fig 3.JPG (50.9 KB, 334 views)
	fig 6.JPG (62.9 KB, 316 views)
	fig 5.JPG (61.9 KB, 255 views)
	fig 4.JPG (47.8 KB, 317 views)

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I decided that fig. 3 showed the most promising aspect of attaining something looking like a tree. I liked fig. 2 a few months ago and thought that I may be able to achieve a nice slanting tree, but the branch structure for a slanting tree was wrong, and I did not think it made the best use of the trunk. There is also some Shari considerations that make the more traditional upright tree more promising.

Fig. 9 shows the slanting branch removed from the tree. It cut fairly easily due to borer and army ant infestation and damage. The damage is shown in fig. 10.
Fig. 11 shows a very nice natural twisting stub of a branch that I wanted to work into the front of the tree. I will preserve as much of this as possible. Fig. 12 shows the natural Shari under a dead branch that runs all the way down the face of my chosen front. This will be hollowed and carved out to accentuate the dead trunk. Fig. 13 shows the back of the trunk and the way the living portions of the trunk twists and turns while moving up the trunk line. Fig. 14 is some dead natural Jins that will have to be cut and carved back to integrate into the design. While during this stage they look fine long, on the finished first styling they will be much too long and interfere with the flow of the design.

Attached Images

	fig 9.JPG (65.3 KB, 327 views)
	fig 10.JPG (71.7 KB, 287 views)
	fig 11.JPG (71.6 KB, 197 views)
	fig 14.JPG (68.0 KB, 188 views)
	fig 13.JPG (68.9 KB, 135 views)
	fig 12.JPG (72.7 KB, 173 views)

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Fig. 15 shows most of the initial carving on the trunk finished. The large stub left from the removal of the large secondary trunk was reduced and blended into the remaining trunk line. Thinning of the stub will be carried out on future carving projects as the branches fill in and I make decisions on future removal of the upper part of this projection. For now, I just blend it into the trunk. All of the dead portions have been painted with lime sulpher. I have done this at this time to make the job easier for myself. If I wire the tree before painting on the lime sulpher, I would have to work around painting behind all the wires and risk the fluid running down a wire and contaminating the soil or living portion of the trunk.
Fig. 16 shows the beginning of the tedious wiring portion of my demo. The separate branches are wired and fanned to add as much volume as possible to the almost naked tree. California junipers have very course foliage and it is easily damaged when wiring. Pay extra attention when wiring these junipers and take the extra time.
Fig. 17 shows the extra attention I paid to removing all the dead and stringy bark the builds up on these old junipers. Spritzing the bark with a water bottle and letting it soak in for a few moments make the bark rub off with a brass brush very fast. Once the dead portions are rubbed away, the live veins stand out very easily. Determining the live veins and enhancing those areas will help add some drama to the project. Fig. 18 shows the trunk area carved out, enhanced, and lime sulphered.

(Note the red areas of the trunk have been enhanced with olive oil to help in painting the lime sulpher and the carving.)

Fig. 19 is a picture of me that my wife took while wiring. While it shows me with my mouth open, which I rarely do, it does show the concentration of wiring a fragile juniper with thick copper wire!
Fig. 20 shows the tree wired, enhanced, carved and styled. At this point I am pleased with this portion of my demo. I feel that had this been a state or national convention I would have been very happy with the outcome, which was the basis of this project.

Attached Images

	fig 15.JPG (65.7 KB, 296 views)
	fig 16.JPG (61.6 KB, 159 views)
	fig 17.JPG (66.4 KB, 181 views)
	fig 20.JPG (58.4 KB, 448 views)
	fig 19.JPG (60.4 KB, 451 views)
	fig 18.JPG (69.8 KB, 340 views)

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Figs. 21 and 22 show the enormous growth of roots in this box. This plant was repotted last year, and had grown all these roots in three years. I had made a statement in my last article regarding the growth potential of roots on these remarkable trees and am pleased to show this phenomenon in pictures.

Fig. 21 shows the completed and repotted tree on my bench. I am truly sorry that I did not take a picture with a suitable backdrop, but it was getting late and threatening rain so I moved it to the bench and watered it in. This transformation was a real kick. I covered nearly every aspect of bonsai design in one sitting from start to finish. While it has a long way to go, I feel that the potential for a nice driftwood bonsai is in there to be found. A few more years will really give me more to work with. As always I look forward to any and all comments about my work today, and would appreciate any ideas that I may have missed for the future.

Cheers, Al

Attached Images

	fig 21.JPG (70.9 KB, 250 views)
	fig 22.JPG (71.5 KB, 221 views)
	fig 23.JPG (51.9 KB, 624 views)

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Bonsai Barry

Thanks, Al, for taking the time to document the transformation of this amazing material and then posting it. I found it both interesting and helpful, I've subscribed to this thread.



Bonsai Barry

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cbobgo

excellent step by step demo.

To me, the large, horizontal stub of the main branch you removed is jarring to my eye. It stops the flow up the trunk. In this VERY ROUGH virt I reduced it quite a bit. What do you think?

- bob

edit - on further looking at the pics, I guess the foliage pad above the branch I removed would need to go, as well, since it comes out further along that branch.

Attached Images

1112817265_image.jpg (51.2 KB, 508 views)

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bonsaial1

Way to go Bob, I love virtuals that people do on other peoples trees without actually seeing them and pretending that an improved virtual is somehow possible

On the other hand I agree with you. It is quite possible that the whole stub may be removed in the future. The foliage pad that you left is being supported by what remains of that stub. It could be reduced further, or removed in the branches off the main trunk decide to cooperate. I could take off as much as 2" of wood from that stub with no problem. I will wait and see what happens above and make decisions about that later in 2007.

Thanks, Al

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will*law

Wow Al -

I hadn't been reading bonsaitalk that much lately, but this is exactly the thing that I love to see.

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Will

Adam_MA

Al,
Great work.. This must have been a very fun day for you! Thank you for including the dates. Collected in 2002, left to recover until 2005 then worked when appropriate, and your followup about not making any further decisions until 2007. This truly shows the patience needed in working with bonsai and with working with collected material.. No instant bonsai here!
Thanks again
Adam