Blaauw Juniper Restyle

Hello all... I had the good fortune to acquire this juniper recently


This tree had been a semi-cascade bonsai for many years. A couple years ago it was placed back in a nursery container to restore some vigor and attempt to change the planting angle.
For me it has some nice features including good curves, nice deadwood, most of the foliage is on very pliable branches... This tree presented so many options and I was very tempted to make some drastic reductions, but in the end opted to keep most everything for now. Several branched needed significant shaping to bring the foliage back into the trunk. Experience has taught me not to be surprised if the tree loses a branch or two. In the future I look forward to refining this tree significantly.

Here it is after several hours of wiring...


I knew from the beginning that repotting was probably going to be an issue due to the established roots. After realizing that I was not going to be able to achieve a natural looking root base with the existing structure I decided I see if I could use some stones to help solve the problem.

Here are the results...




Believe it or not but you can actually see more including before and after video on
my blog.

John

I like what you did. The rocks and planting certainly add to the overall presentation.

Nice work. I thin the pot and rock really compiment this tree.

Hallo John

This is good work and a nice tree! But in my eyes the crown is too big....maybe not at the moment, but what if the greens starts growing. What about a more literati-style?

Best regards
Martin

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I like the literati-style, but definitely keep the rocks and ground cover. Otherwise, the trunk just loses something.

Thanks all for your thoughts and virtuals. I certainly strongly considered an option with less foliage and I am sure the future holds something like that for this tree. The one thing that I would to continue to emphasis is the deadwood and some of the dead branches.
Thanks,
John