UPDATE!
I couldnt stand the look of my deep fryer mesh pot so I partially slip potted it into a 12 inch bowl clay pot from home depot, raked some of the root ball a bit, and chopsticked some sifted Viagro coarse perlite around the edges and at the base, adjusted the potting angle a bit as well. It still has a nursery mix core ball, my emphasis has been to keep this tree alive and not overdo the styling since it is my first attempt at a juniper. Top dressed with the coarsest sand that I could sift out of a few bags that I had laying around, rinsed thoroughly before adding it to keep the powder content to a minimum in the mix. It helps keep the perlite from floating when i water, later on I'll try some lava rock as top dressing, but for now I'm keeping it cheapo.
Removed some branches, damaged the bark in a few places due to using guy wires and aluminum wire without protection, decided to fold some duct tape and double wrap the contact points and opted for bungee cords again.
I know, it's a cliche S shape, but it's my first styled juniper lol, I'll get more sophisticated as time goes on! I wired some branches last summer, but they thickened so fast that I got bite before the branches could set which is a blessing and a curse. I'm going to try using a pair of heavy aluminum wires in clear vinyl tubing to give the upper half of the trunk (that straight section is boring!!!)a twist towards the end of summer, I dont want to kill it.
I cut a branch that was in the bottom center of the front and grinded the knob down with a dremel, and used an exacto knife to introduce some shari. Been watching some Jonas Dupuich vids to get informed on shari work and figured I should do it as the tree is growing quickly so I can create the impression of more movement and eliminate the boring cylindrical look of young juniper.
I'm debating removing that big root in the middle but I dont want to accidentally kill branches.
