New Green Mound

[Myrki]

Hello again. I purchased another juniper. I am in Wisconsin so not planning on pruning now unless you guys recommend to, but I was wondering, the bottom left branch looks like it could make a nice Jin. Question is, do I wait for the branch to thicken up some then sacrifice?

I don’t know for sure what style I want to go with this one but was thinking literati. But I also like slanting, semicascades, informal uprights, ugh… it’s hard to choose. I guess that’s why I have to keep buying them and have different styles!
It’s decently tall compared to my last one and really has some potential I think.

Thanks for answers and/or tips etc

 

[Esolin]

Little junipers are a tempting buy, aren't they? I cut my teeth on a lot of them, not that I'm not an expert now or anything. Yeah, you could go a lot of ways with this. If you really want to do literati, then you probably don't need the lower branch for thickening. But you might want to hold on to it for now though until you're certain of your design. Regardless of how you go, I'd try to put a little more subtle movement into that long straight trunk now while you can still bend it a little. The upper portion is kinda bland, even for literati. You might even wire a bend in that low first branch in case you decide to keep it for a mother-daughter trunk design. You got lots of time to decide. I'd let it grow for now.

 

[Myrki]

Oh I really like the mother-daughter design idea. I feel this could be a good option given how the bottom branch is coming out. If I do that then I guess I just have to choose a pruning style to match each other. Thanks for tips!!!!
I really like this!! (Photo attached)
Of course it’s not mine I just looked up mother-daughter juniper bonsai

 

[Myrki]

something like this could be a goal too (photo attached). The bottom branch is similar to where this photo seems to have had one. I don’t know if I’ll have luck getting that kind of movement though. I’ll watch some more videos on wiring

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

something like this could be a goal too (photo attached). The bottom branch is similar to where this photo seems to have had one. I don’t know if I’ll have luck getting that kind of movement though. I’ll watch some more videos on wiring

To get something like this, don't watch more videos, just go ahead and do it.
Make tighter coils than they recommend in videos, and all of a sudden you can go waaaay tighter bends. Slap some extra wire on it, nobody cares about the intermediate stages, the result matters. You break some? Tough luck, as long as there's tissue that's intact, it will continue growing.

But keep in mind that jins require a good foundation of wood. That trunk you've pictured in your first post in this thread, is about half it's thickness in woody material. This can be deceiving in younger juniper stock. The point I'm getting at is: grow jins a couple years longer, because dead branches don't gain wood. It's better to have to scrape off more wood later, than to be left with toothpick jins that break as soon as you touch it.

Most garden stores sell juniperus procumbens for cheaps, so if you can buy a couple and go crazy on the wiring, it's money well spent.

 

[Myrki]

To get something like this, don't watch more videos, just go ahead and do it.
Make tighter coils than they recommend in videos, and all of a sudden you can go waaaay tighter bends. Slap some extra wire on it, nobody cares about the intermediate stages, the result matters. You break some? Tough luck, as long as there's tissue that's intact, it will continue growing.

But keep in mind that jins require a good foundation of wood. That trunk you've pictured in your first post in this thread, is about half it's thickness in woody material. This can be deceiving in younger juniper stock. The point I'm getting at is: grow jins a couple years longer, because dead branches don't gain wood. It's better to have to scrape off more wood later, than to be left with toothpick jins that break as soon as you touch it.

Most garden stores sell juniperus procumbens for cheaps, so if you can buy a couple and go crazy on the wiring, it's money well spent.

Awesome advice! Thanks a lot!!!

 

[Myrki]

Tried wiring pads on the bottom branch. Hell I don’t know what I’m doing…. I look at photos then I look at mine I’m like how do I get it there!? Doesn’t go with either of those earlier photos lol but oh well.

 

[Myrki]

Maybe I could go for something like this too.
Have to take the top to make a smaller cap as my top now is so big and bulky across. But this one has less drastic curves like mine

 

[SandSquid]

Make tighter coils than they recommend in videos, and all of a sudden you can go waaaay tighter bends. Slap some extra wire on it...."

For some reason, this is something people seldom, if ever, tell us noobs when we're watching videos trying to learn how to wire. Even the many, many bonsai pros I've met and talked to in person have never actually said this out loud. But then I've never thought to ask. Makes total sense and I have the perfect pro-nana in mind for when I get home today!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

For some reason, this is something people seldom, if ever, tell us noobs when we're watching videos trying to learn how to wire. Even the many, many bonsai pros I've met and talked to in person have never actually said this out loud. But then I've never thought to ask. Makes total sense and I have the perfect pro-nana in mind for when I get home today!

Part of the reason why I love the interviews with Dan Robinson (i believe) is that he's a no-nonsense kind of guy who also has amazing trees to show for it.
Most people wire pretty so that their trees look better while in development. I for one, don't feel the need to hide wire. I use bright colored aluminium sometimes, because its cheaper. Function over form.
I respect everyones decision to do what they think is best, let that be known. But if I can coil a branch "cosmic bonsai style" in one wiring, it saves me three iterations of pretty wiring. All things considered I reduced the time of the tree sitting with wire by a third. Meaning I'm at the end goal for that branch in one year and have it pretty and wireless for the next two.
Biting in will be way much more of an issue though, as tighter wires will scar more visibly and will restrict the sap flow way faster. But with just a few trees wired like that, or just a portion, it's usually easy to keep an eye on it.

Listen to the experts, I'm not one, and take the information and make it your own by experimenting. Those experts lay a good foundation! But you'll be the one doing the work amd you'll be the one looking at it for a long time, so make sure you choose what works for you.

 

[SandSquid]

Part of the reason why I love the interviews with Dan Robinson (i believe) is that he's a no-nonsense kind of guy who also has amazing trees to show for it.
Most people wire pretty so that their trees look better while in development. I for one, don't feel the need to hide wire. I use bright colored aluminium sometimes, because its cheaper. Function over form.
I respect everyones decision to do what they think is best, let that be known. But if I can coil a branch "cosmic bonsai style" in one wiring, it saves me three iterations of pretty wiring. All things considered I reduced the time of the tree sitting with wire by a third. Meaning I'm at the end goal for that branch in one year and have it pretty and wireless for the next two.
Biting in will be way much more of an issue though, as tighter wires will scar more visibly and will restrict the sap flow way faster. But with just a few trees wired like that, or just a portion, it's usually easy to keep an eye on it.

Listen to the experts, I'm not one, and take the information and make it your own by experimenting. Those experts lay a good foundation! But you'll be the one doing the work amd you'll be the one looking at it for a long time, so make sure you choose what works for you.

Which is why I tend to by nana junipers by the half dozen: practice, practice, practice... I've only killed one so far. Having eight or nine cheap nursery trees on hand allows me some room to experiment with different forms, sizes, and techniques.

Thanks!