Sabina Juniper yamadori first styling

[LeoMame]

Hello everyone,

I'm writing to seek some advice (or opinions) on how would you style this Sabina. It's a yamadori, collected roughly 2 years ago, with a very nice deadwood and movement of the trunk. The foliage looks ready for some styling too, but before deciding an angle and start working on it I'd love to ask what do you see here.

Let me know if you need more/different pictures!

Thank you as usual,

Leo

 

[Eckhoffw]

Nice tree! This tree has soo much character already! I wouldn’t imagine too much besides refining needs to b done. Very cool.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Further inspection, I would say branch selection and development will steer you.

 

[LeoMame]

A little update, I worked on the wood of this Sabina -also applied lime sulfur on the deadwood at a 1:1 ratio for a strong whitening- and this is a preliminary result (posting a photo of when I acquired the tree and a recent one, after the makeover). It's my very first attempt and I went on solely based on hours of reading, tutorials and by studying some masterpieces in person.

Still unsure about what to do with that stump that comes out from the base of the tree which has been cut I think in order to fit the plant in the pot. Might be turned into a Jin, but it's at the base, in contact with the soil and that is not ideal as it will rot over time for sure.

Also still not sure whether working on the foliage now or let it go for another growing season.

I had fun in the process. Thanks for any precious advice!

 

[sorce]

This is dope! Sorry it got missed back in Sept.

I'd let the base rot then scrape down to something natural looking, the live veins look good.

I think some larger gauge structural wiring is in order, to keep stuff alive.

Sorce

 

[LeoMame]

This is dope! Sorry it got missed back in Sept.

I'd let the base rot then scrape down to something natural looking, the live veins look good.

I think some larger gauge structural wiring is in order, to keep stuff alive.

Sorce

How much of the branches/foliage can you prune in a Sabina? I read online that 30% should be your 'limit' so to say, but what happens when, for example, you prune down 50/60% of it?

 

[leatherback]

Pruning more than 30-40% in one go will weaken the tree to a point that needle foliage may develop. I regularly trim 50%+ of junipers that are well-established, and accept any needle foliage than may occur.

This tree has the same problem that most Sabina yamadori from southern europe seem to have. Odd roots (They crawl more than grow upright) and foliage in mostly clumps.. I think you will have to thin them out a bit. In the end, find the best nebari, the least odd inverted taper and an angle where you can make the foliage work.

Yours is similar to mine. Same challenges, except that I have the foliage more distributed...

 

[LeoMame]

Pruning more than 30-40% in one go will weaken the tree to a point that needle foliage may develop. I regularly trim 50%+ of junipers that are well-established, and accept any needle foliage than may occur.

This tree has the same problem that most Sabina yamadori from southern europe seem to have. Odd roots (They crawl more than grow upright) and foliage in mostly clumps.. I think you will have to thin them out a bit. In the end, find the best nebari, the least odd inverted taper and an angle where you can make the foliage work.

Yours is similar to mine. Same challenges, except that I have the foliage more distributed...

View attachment 336782

Yeah, pros and cons of working with yamadori trees I suppose... some natural features are unique and almost impossible to create artificially, some others are just somehow problematic in the styling, choice of the front and such..
Thanks for your contribution @leatherback

 

[sorce]

How much of the branches/foliage can you prune in a Sabina? I read online that 30% should be your 'limit' so to say, but what happens when, for example, you prune down 50/60% of it?

At first I thought, it depends on what/when you do to it next.

Then I realized that is, not a stupid question of course, just a question that shouldn't exist. A better question may be...

How much can you remove off of your juniper within a space of it's existence in your yard?

How do you find that?

Read the Future, begin to define what it's existence in your yard is.

Sorce

 

[LeoMame]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread with a little update from today's work.

Major pruning/wiring and change of front, tilting the pot... I hope it won't be too much stress for this little guy.

 

[thomas22]

Nice job. I like it. I could envision a drop branch to the left in its future.

 

[Edrahyl]

I would love to see an update on this tree if you still have it!