blue juniper styling

just found a few of these at my local nursery on sale

big ball of branches etc.

i have cut back to see the potential and now left with this,.


any suggestions on the lower branch junction and if should lose one etc and further styling?

thanks guys

this is what i came up with in end



needs some tweaks when bushes out a bit in the future

Those branches all need a LOT more movement bent into them. Some need to be bent as back branches, as you seem to have eliminated the ones you might have had. Bonsai is a 3-D art form and you need the depth that back branches will give.

the pic is not great for showing the 3d elements, some are back more than shown but yes i need to work on a little more. it looks very flat when is not.

i also could have done with thicker wire

and i ran out of time, some branches need to be shortened slight i think also


update next week, good points


thanks

about as best movement i could get.

found a spot in garden that may do well, give it some time to fatten up and bush out

about as best movement i could get.

Nah. You can get a lot more. Maybe you need bigger wire, or more wires wrapped aroud the branches -- and maybe some raffia. You can bend juniper branches until you hear a faint "crack" or "creak" -- THEN stop immediately.

Your bends are much too gradual and long. Cut at the purple lines, bend as shown on read -- at least that much.

ok thanks, thats more a compact idea

thought to let grow out a bit to thicken up

Wire before it thickens

so you would expect to cut back and get more dense pads and maybe back budding

lik ethe idea just wasnt sure if should let grow some long to thicken.

next weekend ill try an additional bit of wire and trim back. then ive got a good spot in garden to leave in for a couple of years

so you would expect to cut back and get more dense pads and maybe back budding

That would be the idea.

this and another didn't survive last year, lasted most winter then died off

i now have some more cheap as we are in autumn they get cheaper.
one i have styled and pruned a tiny bit and put in a bigger pot.

any tips for this year?  shall i wait until april to repot and style etc

i should be able to wire now but not sure on the pruning.  
one below worked on, another 2 left as is for now



ty

one basic "rule" is to have no branches on the inside of a curve...
one of the rules that makes sense pretty much across the board.

another is to not do 2 major actions in one growing season...
i.e. dont cut back hard and re-pot in the same growing season...

that one is a little less hard and fast depending on the species...
(some simple research can help with that)

and you didnt say how or why you lost the other ones over winter...
some specifics might allow someone to help you avoid that happening again.

thanks but i have no idea why lost last year

i can only presume i removed to much roots and branches


they will definitely need a repot asap as in small pots with not much soil, maybe best if i leave all roots as are and up pot.

shall i wait till spring to do all this, potting and styling?