I need some help with stlying this tree

i joined the local bonsai club in green bay Wi .. i also took the class for new members ,, were we learn to create a bonsai tree ... i did just that however im having trouble with the styling of the tree ... the more i look at this juniper i think it needs to loose somthing or just needs somthing ,,, after all that thinking im just lost ... any advice would be great ...

this is the 1st rough styling of the tree ,, when i started it was a bush .. you can see the tree has some real nice curves to it ... i just cant seem to find a directon for this tree ... i wont be doing anything to this tree for a year ,, i want it to have some time to get it self together ... but i would like to start making a plan of where this tree needs to go ... if you see anything please let me know ...

does anyone see anything in this tree ... i know a few branches have to be removed ,,, just not sure where to start and dont wanna remove the wrong ones ...

Hi, just for a starter, could you post some pictures from more angles? Allthough it looks the best from this side, it might be that with some modifications, it would look alott better from a different side I dont know much about bonsai, but then I could maybe just give you my opinion.

here is the other side view

The top picture looks like a lady playing lawn-bowls. I'd chop her head off.
Actually, although it's hard to tell from the 2 pics here, I probably would look at whether it might be better with the main trunk shortened, maybe as far as that branch [her 'bowls arm']

so far i am thinking myself that that head does need to come back ,, i didn even think of taking it all the way off tho ... ill have to think about that for a min ... thanks for the suggestion ...

Here is something that you can do that will help you---and us as well if you take more pictures. Place the tree on a turn table or a lazy Suzann and rotate it. Examine it from every conceivable view point, just let it spin and you watch. Now take some more pictures. First set up your camera so that as you are looking through the view finder you do not see so much of the soil surface, you want to photograph it so that all you see is just the far side of the pot peeking over the near side in the photo. This is the ideal viewing angle if the three is to remain planted as it is. Take some pictures from all sides in the rotation, at least four would be the minimum and twelve the ideal. Then post them.

will do Vance ...
my question is ,, that one lower branch doesnt seem to flow with the rest of the tree ... im thinking that may be my problem ... you can tell the branch im talking about because it just doesnt sem to fit the rest of the tree ...

here are 4 more views ... sorry for my poor picture taking ... im not good with the cam at all ...
view 1

view 2

view 3

and the last pic

what do you think ??? i did do a little pinching on this tree since the first pics ... so you may see some differences ...

nothing ?? i was hoping i could get a lil help here ... maybe just a different view from new eyes ... please help me out ...

As the tree is now you have a couple of major problems that will preclude you making a decent bonsai of it the way it is. The most glaring is the reverse taper at the base of the tree where the trunk looks as though a beaver has tried to chew it off at the ground. The abrupt bend is another issue that poses a problem with the tree planted in an upright position. The only remedy I see now is to change the planting angle so that the trunk is at about 30 degrees instead of the 90 degrees it has now. This will add some credibility to the bend and open up some options for the rest of the tree. That still does not resolve the trunk. Junipers are difficult to selectively fatten in a pot. I would find the angle that makes the bend pleasing and put it in a larger pot and allow the trunk to thicken for a number of years.

I know this is not what you want to hear but this is all I can see going on without actually having the physical presence of the tree.

View 3 has possibilities...

What Vance says is true... it has more issues than not... however since I suspect this tree is your first real attempt, so let's not worry about what it will not be, and just enjoy what it is. I don't think you are concerned so much with making it look credible as you are with "hey, it didn't die, and it looks like a bonsai, even if it isn't a fancy one"...

So how to accomplish that? Well mostly you need to let it grow. Allowing something to flush out gives you more possibilities than what you have now. If you can lift the top, so it's not crowding the branchlets below it, that would help. And wiring more movement to the branches will compact the image because every curve shortens the visual length of it. However.. aside from lifting the top, I would just leave well enough alone, so you can get more energy pumping out to the foliage.

Having to leave it alone is one reason why I always feel newer learners need several trees to care for. Otherwise it's like waiting for a pot of water to come to a boil... you are just standing there and staring... fiddling with the pot to make sure it's got the best contact... and largely bored out of your mind. If you have the space get a few other trees... nothing expensive, just things to learn on. You'll kill a few... in bonsai it is a fact of life. But hopefully you'll find people to connect with locally, and that can be mitigated to a degree.

I have a grape I've been working on... and by working... mostly I've been working at making it happy. I got it in a very weakened state... kept it alive through winter... nurtured it for a year and let it get very healthy... put it into a better pot this spring... and am being careful to really make sure it's happy in it's new enviornment (had to take it down to bare roots to get it in the pot and out of the dirt it was in)... and NEXT year I'll be able to finally work on the carving of the deadwood on it, and it's true styling. I tell you this story because it'll take 3 years for me to begin to truly make it look the way *I* want it to. I have to go through all this trouble because keeping the tree in optimal health is more important than anything. I don't mind that it takes 3 years... I've got more than enough trees to keep me busy.

Good luck,

Victrinia

if you figure out how to keep it alive... you will have your whole life to style it.

i have trees that i hope to some day style... and some day they and i will be ready.

i'm sure anyone that just starting out was told to buy a few would think they were getting taken, but i really am glade to have more than a few trees in case of accidents( i've had a few...). GET EXTRAS but nothing too pricey, maybe at your local home improvement center.