Juniper progression - feedback please

[Manbris]

Hi!

New to bonsai especially to juniper in the UK. I had this for 2 years - put in a pond basket last Spring. It is vigorous but not sure how to take this further. It does not seem to have a lot surface roots and the flakey bark seems not pursued with junipers unlike pines. Please advice.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

My suggestion is that you start wiring branches.
Make sure you wire them nicely and carefully, the woody branches first. Wire all of them and position them in the end.
That should give you a good feel for the bones, it would set a structure to go forward from. It would also show you which branches can go and which ones are needed for your future design.

I'm starting to believe this is the way of the juniper. Some people clip first and regret later. I wire first and then decide if it needs more time on the bench or if I can continue moving it forward by doing a whole styling with pruning included. You got it up to health and vigor to do just that.

 

[Manbris]

My suggestion is that you start wiring branches.
Make sure you wire them nicely and carefully, the woody branches first. Wire all of them and position them in the end.
That should give you a good feel for the bones, it would set a structure to go forward from. It would also show you which branches can go and which ones are needed for your future design.

I'm starting to believe this is the way of the juniper. Some people clip first and regret later. I wire first and then decide if it needs more time on the bench or if I can continue moving it forward by doing a whole styling with pruning included. You got it up to health and vigor to do just that.

Thanks so much! I echo your sentiment. I totally lost when I looked at it just clipped some new shoots from last year. Also cannot seem to find a front/ forgot where it was… no apparent surface roots.

Can I wire it now? Do I still have time? Any wiring resources?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You can wire junipers basically at any point in time, but the bark can get soft in the active growing season and slip off of the branches under the pressure of wire.
So don't do heavy bends at this time and if you use copper make sure it's very well annealed.

I have no resources to share right now but there are useful diagrams on the forum somewhere. In my guy_wires collection thread there should be some examples of functional but not aestheticly pretty wiring.

 

[Manbris]

You can wire junipers basically at any point in time, but the bark can get soft in the active growing season and slip off of the branches under the pressure of wire.
So don't do heavy bends at this time and if you use copper make sure it's very well annealed.

I have no resources to share right now but there are useful diagrams on the forum somewhere. In my guy_wires collection thread there should be some examples of functional but not aestheticly pretty wiring.

Thanks a lot! I will have a go.