Larger nursery juniper - seeking advice (wiring, jin/shari)

[zeejet]

I recently chopped a rather tall 7' hollywood juniper (torulosa) from nursery stock and repotted it to a pond basket (partial - no bare rooting or serious root pruning).

I’m not sure how to approach this as this is also my first conifer. I’m thinking I should jin the chop site to create a cleaner transition and taper while wiring out the branches that are still flexible. I'm also not sure which branches to keep (I left a lot of foliage on for it to recover from the chop and repot). Also, if this thing has zero potential, I'd like top know as well so I'm not wasting my time.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[coltranem]

That is a tough one due to the straightness of the trunk a lack of low branches. I'd let it grow out for a while getting those lower buds and branches stronger. This is a long project but maybe a slanted tree with the entire canopy made from on of those lower growths.

 

[Paradox]

Sorry to be the bearer of less than ideal news but as coltranem alluded to, we typically look for trunks with movement, ie curves that give interest.
Ram-rod straight trunks only work for formal upright styles and it is very hard to pull off.
We also dont typically chop conifers without a lot of growth below the chop.

At this point, you need to leave it alone to recover.
I think youll learn over time that this is less than ideal material but you can still learn something from it

 

[Deleted member 47471]

I recently chopped a rather tall 7' hollywood juniper (torulosa) from nursery stock and repotted it to a pond basket (partial - no bare rooting or serious root pruning).

I’m not sure how to approach this as this is also my first conifer. I’m thinking I should jin the chop site to create a cleaner transition and taper while wiring out the branches that are still flexible. I'm also not sure which branches to keep (I left a lot of foliage on for it to recover from the chop and repot). Also, if this thing has zero potential, I'd like top know as well so I'm not wasting my time.

Any advice would be appreciated.

View attachment 543375View attachment 543376

Since it’s your tree now, study it and watch it over time and learn about it. You could still consider wiring down branches and get some meaningful practice styling and creating apexes. You’ve entered a partnership with this juniper now. See where it goes.

 

[Shibui]

Junipers are slow to recover from repot. Leaving plenty of active, growing branch tips helps definitely boosts survival rates so no more chopping until it recovers.
I don't count a successful transplant until middle of summer after digging. If they still look good then I'm confident but not complacent. If they start growing the following spring that's my cue that I've been successful.
Your next work on this tree will be at least 12 months away and only if it is growing well next spring. Some juniper transplants can take 2 years to recover enough for the next phase.
That timeline will give you plenty of time to consider your approach and investigate techniques.

There's no such thing as zero potential while the tree still has life. The real question is how long will it take?

Hard to judge size when there's nothing in the pictures to show scale except foliage. I'm guessing the trunk is around 1/2 inch thick? If so, that's not beyond bending if you want some more interest in the trunk lines. A straight trunk style is also possible.
Jin is definitely a possibility as it is a juniper. The real question here is how extensive you want to make the jin(s)

 

[zeejet]

Thanks for all the feedback!

Since it’s your tree now, study it and watch it over time and learn about it. You could still consider wiring down branches and get some meaningful practice styling and creating apexes. You’ve entered a partnership with this juniper now. See where it goes.

I especially like this suggestion as this is a style I've never really considered.

Your next work on this tree will be at least 12 months away and only if it is growing well next spring. Some juniper transplants can take 2 years to recover enough for the next phase.

There's no such thing as zero potential while the tree still has life. The real question is how long will it take?

Hard to judge size when there's nothing in the pictures to show scale except foliage. I'm guessing the trunk is around 1/2 inch thick? If so, that's not beyond bending if you want some more interest in the trunk lines. A straight trunk style is also possible.

Thanks for the info - I wasn't aware of the slow recovery. I should mention that this was a minimal repot - I only barely trimmed the encircling roots and left 90% of the root mass untouched while filling in the spaces with soil (equal parts pumice, scoria, and bark). It's still almost entirely in what appears to be nursery soil with added sand/grit.

Also, the trunk is actually about 1.1 inches about an inch above the root base. It's not bendable at all. The side branches do have some minor give.

 

[Shibui]

I only barely trimmed the encircling roots and left 90% of the root mass untouched

That will certainly make recovery much faster. Always assess growth before any further work but you may even be able to do some more after middle of summer.

Also, the trunk is actually about 1.1 inches about an inch above the root base. It's not bendable at all.

The basket is much bigger than I estimated but shows how no scale can be misleading. There are some advanced techniques which would help but I agree, much easier to work with what you have.
I know commercial growers and most gardeners like to have trunks vertical but for bonsai that rarely looks good. Only formal upright uses straight, vertical trunk in bonsai and formal upright is actually exceedingly difficult to achieve a good result. I see that @Paradox has also provided this opinion.
When transplanting for bonsai I like to plant trunks at an angle which seem to give a much more dynamic shape, even when the trunk is straight. Note that @Bonsai Forest has drawn the pot at an angle in the supplied virt, (essentially tilting the vertical trunk 20 or 30 degrees right) to get away from the boring vertical.