Show me your J. Communis

[RozendaalArts]

Or just a photo of one you've seen that you like. I've got an idea for a new painting involving a beautiful but lesser refined tree that I want to depict more refined so I'm looking for reference images of what some sligthly more refined foliage pads might look like with the Communis foliage

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think you're asking for a video of a sasquatch. With all due respect, I've tried communis, I've failed at communis. I haven't seen a good bonsai out of it in my entire life.
France has huge ones, comparable to the junipers you would find in the rocky mountains: hundreds of years old. The ardeche region is filled with communis and Phoenician junipers (j. phoenicia var phoenicia) and searching "genevrier ardeche" yields some awesome deadwood - and people using them to scale cliffs.

Genévrier commun : quand la prostration devient un art de vivre - Zoom Nature

Le genévrier commun possède l’une des plus vastes répartitions parmi les conifères à l’échelle de la planète couvrant l’Eurasie depuis l’Arctique jusqu’aux montagnes méditerranéennes et l’Afrique du nord et l’Amérique du nord. Il se montre capable de coloniser des milieux très contrastés aussi...

www.zoom-nature.fr

It's been - visually - the closest to the yamadori I've seen from Japan or the US with twists and turns and real age to them.


In my local area (south-east), there are a couple 100-200 year old communis but they're not photogenic in the sense that there is deadwood, but the trunks are either buried in dunes or overgrown with grass, or skinny as a walking stick. I'm sure that if I was allowed to dig those dune mounts, it would reveal insanely old and weathered wooden structures. But it's all nature reserve.

 

[RozendaalArts]

I think you're asking for a video of a sasquatch. With all due respect, I've tried communis, I've failed at communis. I haven't seen a good bonsai out of it in my entire life.

I did read other posts on here of people talking about their disappointments with the species, which seemed usually due to fungal infections killing the tree or something. What was your downfall with it?
After posting I did find this photo I took at Deshima studio last year:

If a bit neglected at the time of the photo it does show signs of years of bonsai work, so it seems possible to keep them as bonsai, and I was hoping they're just unpopular due to the foliage type.
Thanks for the link, some great photos there. It does seem like in nature they predominantly grow in that blanket style, which could actually also be cool to try and replicate as bonsai. Kind of a foliage-over-rock style, instead of RoR, or it might lend itself to semi-cascade (if it is actually possible to bonsai them)

 

[JesseKane]

The artist of the year at the RMBS show, Steve Varland, had a great communis. I think it represents the crawling habit well while also representing a traditional bonsai form.

 

[Brain Treez]

A couple of mine still very much in the development stage. Trying an air layer on the second.

 

[RozendaalArts]

The artist of the year at the RMBS show, Steve Varland, had a great communis. I think it represents the crawling habit well while also representing a traditional bonsai form.

Beautiful, thank you!

A couple of mine still very much in the development stage. Trying an air layer on the second.

Very nice material, yamadori?

 

[Brain Treez]

Very nice material, yamadori?

$15 nursery stock

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

What was your downfall with it?

I'm not sure. I kept mine alive for 5 years or so, and it just wouldn't put out any strong growth whatsoever.
I grafted some squamata onto it in hopes to get it activated, but that small cut was the final nail in the coffin.

 

[Brain Treez]

Rough initial styling I did this weekend on a communis. This is a different tree from the two I posted a few replies up.

 

[RozendaalArts]

Rough initial styling I did this weekend on a communis. This is a different tree from the two I posted a few replies up.

Very nice, seems perfectly poised for that natural low flat style.
Heads up though, I don't know how much experience you have with the species but I read an article by Mirai that said for the Communis wiring, pruning and repotting are all best done in late spring or summer for least chance of branches dying off. Something to do with the higher evaporation rate from the needle foliage and growth stimulating a draw of moisture through the water column

 

[shohin_branches]

I have this little guy I got from Andy Smith. Just bent a back branch out of the way I haven't really styled it yet.

 

[RozendaalArts]

I have this little guy I got from Andy Smith. Just bent a back branch out of the way I haven't really styled it yet.

Nice, it looks awesome with the berries!

 

[Brain Treez]

Very nice, seems perfectly poised for that natural low flat style.
Heads up though, I don't know how much experience you have with the species but I read an article by Mirai that said for the Communis wiring, pruning and repotting are all best done in late spring or summer for least chance of branches dying off. Something to do with the higher evaporation rate from the needle foliage and growth stimulating a draw of moisture through the water column

Good to know, thanks!