Juniperus Squamata styling

I am fairly new to bonsai with only three at the moment (planning on a few more but I would appreciate some help with this blue star juniper. I don't know a whole lot about them as bonsai and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them, also I would be greatly appreciative of any advice/ideas on styling it. It has been wired but only to open it up a bit

For juniper styling, look thru the pictures in this forum, compare them to the general shape of your tree, and let that hep you.

For us to help, we'll need to see several eye-level pictures of your tree from several sides.

And welcome to the IBC and to bonsai.

Pictures of blue star juniper posted for Gabe_mcabe

I think the first thing to do with this tree will be to get it out of that mucky soil. Bonsai soil is granular and often has no (or very little) organic material in it. In the UK many use some brand of kitty litter as the main ingredient. I don't know the brand, but I'm sure someone from the UK will chime in.

Once you get the soil straightened out and it is repotted -- that same pot will be fine, so you won't have to cut any roots (I hope) -- you might start thinning out the foliage. It's pretty dense. Try to get it so we can see the branching, but alsop try not to end up with a long branch with a pom-pom of foliage way out on the end. The closer to the trunk you can have greenery at this point, the better off you will be in the long run.

Once you've done that, give us another picture or two. Note: The pictures of the tree from above aren't very useful.

thanks i will get right on it. the pictures arent great but i will see if i can make a diagram (or something) is there any way to promote back budding on a tree like this? (other than some t.l.c. and time) should i wash all of the soil out or just get as much out without messing with the roots too much?

once again thank you

Hi Gabe_Mcabe,

Welcome to bonsai. What a cracking avatar you've got there Gabe_Mcabe

Cheers!

I'd take it out of the pot and let the soil dry up a bit, then brush most of it off without damaging the roots. The foliage on this is quite heavy which makes it harder to see the main structure of the tree as well. As stated above, keep it close to the main trunk. Check the roots if they need/will survive some pruning.

ok after a mission to the local tesco and a bit of work, this is what i have. i hope the pictues are a little clearer this time

Comments and criticisms please



https://i.servimg.com/u/f74/18/18/32/95/img_2411.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f74/18/18/32/95/img_2416.jpg

That's a pretty good start.  And a nice job of wiring.  

I certainly hope you can get this to backbud because I think you removed a bit too much foliage and have those long bare branches ending in pom-poms of foliage.

As for the styling, you'll get all sorts of suggestions here, but you seem to be leaning toward a windswept/semi-cascade  tree.  If this is so, you might want to take some of theose branches that are moving in the opposite direction and bend them to more closely match the flow of the tree.

My plan is to leave it to grow for a while and try to train the tips into something that resembles pads, i may remove a branch or two but haven't looked much into to that yet, however i am not that interested in cascades, i may think about the windswept idea though, thank you for your opinion Jim