Juniperus schizophrenicus

On a nursery prowl with my father in law 3 OR 4 years ago I found this bargain juni for £5.  It is not at all a good species for bonsai, I know.  It is described on the pot as "Improved species skyrocket think".  But for a fiver...


Here is what I bought back then:


IMAG1401 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

It was in appalling health, with sparse and weak leaves, and my thought were limited to some sort of alpine design, hence the string pulling things downwards.



IMAG1402 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


I left it like that for a year, and the health did not improve, despite a good feeding regime.  So I assumed the problem lay with the soil.  A repot was needed.



And I really did not like what I saw for the alpine style.

So I did what i always do in situations like these, I brought out the saw.  I also potted it into a training pot.  Frankly I was a bit reckless as i simply did not care about what I now regarded as a waste of £5...



2016-07-06_10-08-33 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

In pure cat litter it limped along for another year.  I kept it reasonably shaded and managed the water, as the repot cost it a lot of roots.  But it was not on my radar at all.

Then one winter's day browsing the internet I found a pic that gave me an idea.  You see, the one problem with this material is the habit of producing the straight, thin upright growth for which it is apparently valued.  Well that makes for lousy bonsai.  Especially in an alpine style.  Impossible, actually.

But if the tree fell over, not flat onto the deck like a raft, but just far over as if it was in a bad storm, like this (sort of):





With that in mind I let it grow until it looked like this:


20160706_102558 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

I then tipped it over and potted it up, and applied some wire to give it a rough shape.  it was left for another year, until a few weeks ago

This is before:


20170804_172605 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


20170804_172617 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr





And after:





20170808_004051 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

20170808_004051 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

20170808_004036 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Yes, it really sucks

But considering the poor quality of the original tree, I think you've done a very good job to try and make the most of it.

it does have a possible future now !