guinea pig juniper

[MiguelMC]

Greetings Nutters!

I'm fairly new to bonsai, and even more so to junipers as such I got this junny of the trash bin in my local nursery and I've been experimenting with it.
I'm not trying to make turn this into a masterpiece, but instead I want to use it as a learning tool, but during that time don't wish to push it to the point of death.
right now its mid summer, but the weather hast been as hot as it usually is, actually it has been quite cold at times (15-20C). Atm the tree is pushing out new growth again which makes me fairly happy.

the goal now its to star the outline of the pads, the problem, I'm not really sure how to do it, I've been searching the web for it and I'm must admit I felt a bit flustered with what I've found so far.
Some sources say to prune to shape in spring following the rule of two and fertilize heavily then let I grow only clearing the runners that go beyond the shape and repeat this every year until you've reached the desired density.
Is this a good guide line to go by?at this time do you thing I should wire the finer branches in order to start establishing the pad structure?

do you have any tips me regarding this tree?

like always thank you for any input, and have a nice day

P.S I know its bushy mess

 

[bonsaichile]

you cannot really shape a juniper by prunning only. You need to wire. It is probably best to do it in the Fall, but you could do it mow. In any case, you need to let that tree rest for a while. you seem to have done some major bending of the trunk. Let it recover. if it grows strongly, work some more next season. if not, it will need more time.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Dude.. 15-20 degrees C? We're dealing with 40 today, and we're supposed to be the cool country!

Is this a pfizer/media juniper? If so, you can cut back those branches by half. Next year around this time, it'll just be bushy again. There's a resource on bonsainut showing us how to make pads. Those instructions are pretty well written.
But the media/pfizer junipers don't take that technique very well because they tend to make flat 2D foliage instead of 3D.
I would look for itoigawa, blaauw, or more locally phoenicea or sabina cultivars that you can use to graft new foliage. Otherwise you'll spend 15 years learning and about as much time being frustrated about why it's not looking right.

Letting it rest for a while is even better, but you said this is a 'learning tree'. So I'm advising you to take some risk even though bonsaichile is right. You're going to learn a lot either way. If you want to play safe, do nothing. If you're up for some up-speed learning and possibly a year of extra waiting, cut those branches further back.

 

[MiguelMC]

Dude.. 15-20 degrees C? We're dealing with 40 today, and we're supposed to be the cool country!

Is this a pfizer/media juniper? If so, you can cut back those branches by half. Next year around this time, it'll just be bushy again. There's a resource on bonsainut showing us how to make pads. Those instructions are pretty well written.
But the media/pfizer junipers don't take that technique very well because they tend to make flat 2D foliage instead of 3D.
I would look for itoigawa, blaauw, or more locally phoenicea or sabina cultivars that you can use to graft new foliage. Otherwise you'll spend 15 years learning and about as much time being frustrated about why it's not looking right.

Letting it rest for a while is even better, but you said this is a 'learning tree'. So I'm advising you to take some risk even though bonsaichile is right. You're going to learn a lot either way. If you want to play safe, do nothing. If you're up for some up-speed learning and possibly a year of extra waiting, cut those branches further back.

I might take the risk, like said its a learning experience im after most of all. I never heard of those types of juniper I cant even find them on google xD