JWP informal upright styling

[Fishtank307]

I gave this tree an initial styling a couple of weeks ago. It's a grafted JWP I bought from a bonsai nusery.



The curves in the trunk reminded me of 'classical', elegant bonsai and I really wanted to keep that in mind while styling this tree. I had chosen this side as the front because of the nebari and the amount of branches on the other side.
I found it difficult to decide which branch would be the first. I eventually kept the lowest branch, although it's on the inside of a curve.








Best shot I could take with my cellphone camera...




I didn't prune any old needles on the lower branches, only in the apex.
I like the result so far, but feel free to add some critique or give tips!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I would personally lower the branches a little, so they droop more.
On the final picture I see that the branch has some minor bends, but in my mind I would have gave them a bit stronger bends so that the foliage comes closer to the trunk. Let's take the long branch in the last picture: if it would bend stronger to the left at the first secondary branch, it would round the pad nicer. I would go through the entire tree like that and compact it a little more. This will allow you to cut back later with some more freedom if branches get too long.

Other than that, I think it's a nice tree to look at. You sure didn't remove too much, which is always a nice thing to see. In a few years it will look great!

 

[Adair M]

Here are a couple of diagrams of how to wire branches.



This first one is by Kimora. He used different colored wire so you can see each one individually. But also notice the angles the smaller branches make where they are attached to the larger branch: they are V shaped, not L shaped.

More diagrams:

Before:



After:



See how changing the angles from L to V tightens Up the branch?

I have a thread on this site showing how I wired a JBP. It’s called something like “wiring with fishhooks”. Search for threads with my username and “fishhooks” in the title.

 

[Fishtank307]

Thanks @Wires_Guy_wires and @Adair M

This is some very good info. I already tried to tighten the lower branch a bit:

I'm hoping to get some backbudding in the next few years. As @Wires_Guy_wires pointed out, the foliage is rather far from the trunk. Eventually, I'd like to create the pads by overlaying shoots.
I hope this isn't just wishfull thinking, seeing that jwp doesn't backbud readily!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nice, I like what you have done, it will look much better once you finish going through to make the 'V' angles for the branches. I would in the process try to add vertical undulations - up-down wave movement to the branches. You shouldn't have to re-wire to make it happen, the wire you have should be enough. The up down, left right undulations will bring the foliage closer to the trunk since JWP will probably not back bud.

But over all, nice job, glad you kept more foliage. You can always reduce the number of branches in the future. Right now I think you need to keep what you have to thicken the trunk.

 

[Adair M]

JWP will back bud. Usually at old nodes. But it doesn’t happen quickly. Patience!

 

[Fishtank307]

Spring update:




I just started fertilising. Maybe a little early, but I want the tree to regain its vigour so I can do some shoot pruning in late summer and repot it next year.