Help with a big juniper

Hey Everyone,
I'm hoping you all can help me out with this tree. I've had the tree for about 4 years and I cant seem to find any suitable direction to go with this tree. The species is a Canardi (sp?) Juniper and the foliage looks like a shimpaku. Ive had the tree in this pot for the last 2 years hoping to find the tree in it but I'm really struggling. A friend of mine had suggested grafting shimpaku whips to the lower base and making a nice shohin tree but I'm just not 100% sold on that idea. Here are the pics from pretty much every angle.










Cheers,
~Jay

I like the 6th picture best. The tree has a nice trunk and a base that has promise. But it seems a bit leggy. Have you pruned it to any extent?

I think I'd suggest cutting in back to the first or second green branch all around, then feed heavily and see if you can promote some growth in close to the trunk.

Another option is to find a good line for a bunjin style and get rid of most of the top.

You really need someone with you who can truly see it in the round and can physically move the branches around. Are you a member of a club, or is there one near you?

I think if you remove a number of branches and a lot of foliage, you would have the makings of a great bunjin/literati style tree.

There have been a couple of posts under the Bonsai section that might inspire you.

Take a look at this thread.



Juniperus Formosanum.

Hey Jim,
That was my initial thought for the tree, my only problem was deciding on the front & which branches to keep. The tree is very leggy and has been since I got it. I think my biggest fear was removing something that could be usable in the overall design. The pruning I have done has been minimal as the tree was in pretty poor health when I got it. It spent its first season in a much larger 5 gallon nursery pot and once it showed good signs of growth I repotted it into the pot it is in now.

Billy,
I have seen some of those trees you're talking about. Being that I haven't posted much on the forum I thought I would throw it out and see if anyone had any suggestions.

Thanks again for the input.

Cheers,
~Jay

Hi,
Please do not shohin this. Bunjin!
I prefer picture 5.
Sunip

Please pardon my VERY CRUDE attempts at virtuals but any thoughts on these?


Cheers,
~ Jay

I think the name you're looking for is J. canaerti. Don't know if that's actually it, I haven't seen one in years (that I know of).

Tons of potential there. Don't do anything until Pavel and Cram see it!

Heres my humble effort on picture six. From what I can make of the pictures, I have used the third branch on the right(small wired branch) to form the top of the tree.

Man, Will thank you, that's a great picture! I really appreciate the time it must have taken to put that together. I am a little worried that the 3rd branch you suggest as the apex may be a little too short and with a very backwards "C" shape to it to pull off realistically but its finally got me excited to work this tree again!

Cheers,
~Jay

thats a lovely pic that could fit the tree -

problem junipers with shrubby long branches (and pines) are always easier to style once you reduce the available branches to the minimum number to fit the style that appeals to you the most -

if you like the modern japanese appearance of a domed head made of layered clouds of foliage hanging below the trunk line you only need one branch to create this design - the branch becomes an extension of the trunk in this design so you dont need 2 or 3 trunks. I would always use the branch with the best foliage and little tertiary branches as the position will be drastically wired anyway to form the tree.

if you want a classic literati tree it only needs 2 branches - one long one to form the drop and one other to make the light, delicate layered crown. to go even simpler a bunjin style would only keep one of these branches so the tree is either a 'dropping' bunjin, or a tall delicate one.

the third style you may choose would preserve more branches and make a mature full tree image - like the drawing - this design critically depends on where the main branches come from on the trunk - are they in convincing positions ? if they are you create the tree from the bottom up - select the main first brank, back branch, and so on, up to the crown. the tree will look older with the branches sweeping down which is handy as they all start at the top anyway. nice thing about this style is if you dont like it the branches remain to try one of the other styles.

if you want to be out of the box a simple design for this material is a flat topped tree..keep all branches and clean the foliage from the lower parts, wire them into a common crown and style all the foliage into the flattish top.

prime consideration is always that you will enjoy the tree and be proud of it when its done

have fun, Marcus

this tree is not simple...
or you can make a classical litterati with all the lenght of the main trunk line
or try to increase the light movement after the trunk
in the two cases it is to break the straight effect of the tree
(inverse way of will's nice project)

the squetch is from the second solution of course
[img][/img]

Jay, how about something like this ? Use of the the right branch with dramatic bend to the left...

hello
my idea..

moooaarr...herve ..trop fort
i use your idea for another one
[img][/img]

Those are beautiful guys!

Jay, now do you feel inspired?

Russell, yes! I feel like I have more options than I know what to do with. To everyone that posted, I want to thank you for your design ideas and the time you all put into them. I'm still weighing the options right now and looking at the tree constantly to see what I can viably do. I'll be sure to post updated pictures as I begin the work. Again, thank you all for your help & ideas!

Cheers,
~Jay

Yep, now all you have to do is figure out how to get "there", and then do it! Looking forward to seeing that process.

Chris

Wow...I'm feeling inspired to try and find a tree that could pull off one of those virtuals. Beautiful work guys.