Urban yamadori

[Benny w]

This is the first of 2 attenpts of digging up an old juniper and not killing the tree but In the central valley its not easy to do because of our hot dry climate. I was dabbling in growing " indoor tomatoes" but when power sky rocketed I decided to quit using this side of my ( then sticky) green thumb and I put this juniper i dug up in my indoor tent (last spring) after i dug it out of the ground. I could control the temperature and humidity and had fresh air being replaced in the tent on a timer every 3 minutes. Anyhow it survived and I made a box for it and now its outside in ny front yard where it gets sun from sun up to around 1:00 pm.
The reverse taper makes me think why did i ever embark on this journey but here we are and im not afraid to fail since that's how we learn ..... although i'd be appreciative to get some of the community's advice on what could be done or attempted whether its grafting ( I was thinking of cleftgraphting over to shimpaku low on the trunk before the trunk starts to reverse taper).
2nd thought I had was this juniper would make an interesting cascade although what to do with reverse taper....?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think its a wonderful specimen and the inverse taper is nothing to worry about.
You did good.

Now let it rip for a year, and then maybe see what you can do with the branch clusters and deadwood after that year.
Considering all foliage is on top, all sap towards the foliage would need to go through that trunk, so I think the trunk will gain as much mass as the rest would.

 

[Shibui]

Inverse taper on junipers can sometimes be disguised with shari.
You tree already has some dead wood features so it would be natural to enlarge some up and down the trunk.
The secret to disguising inverse taper on trunks is that only the section with bark has weight in viewers eye. By making a shari along one side of the swelling it appears to disappear even though the trunk is still the same width in reality.

Hard to tell in photos but it appears that swelling is only really visible from one angle.
You may be able to get away with designing the tree from the side where reverse taper is not visible?

It also appears to be where the 2 major trunks fork.
You may be able to solve the problem by removing one of those main trunks?

I was thinking of cleftgraphting over to shimpaku low on the trunk before the trunk starts to reverse taper

Maybe your definition of cleft graft is different to mine but juniper is not usually cleft grafted. More usually side wedge grafts because we need to maintain sap flow past the graft site for it to heal. Only after the new scion is growing strong can we slowly reduce the top of the root stock.
I find it difficult to side wedge raft on older juniper trunks - different curve of stock and scion and different bark thickness. The experts appear to be able to do it but I get much better results with approach grafting where the scion is till alive on its own roots until the graft heals.

 

[rockm]

This is the first of 2 attenpts of digging up an old juniper and not killing the tree but In the central valley its not easy to do because of our hot dry climate. I was dabbling in growing " indoor tomatoes" but when power sky rocketed I decided to quit using this side of my ( then sticky) green thumb and I put this juniper i dug up in my indoor tent (last spring) after i dug it out of the ground. I could control the temperature and humidity and had fresh air being replaced in the tent on a timer every 3 minutes. Anyhow it survived and I made a box for it and now its outside in ny front yard where it gets sun from sun up to around 1:00 pm.
The reverse taper makes me think why did i ever embark on this journey but here we are and im not afraid to fail since that's how we learn ..... although i'd be appreciative to get some of the community's advice on what could be done or attempted whether its grafting ( I was thinking of cleftgraphting over to shimpaku low on the trunk before the trunk starts to reverse taper).
2nd thought I had was this juniper would make an interesting cascade although what to do with reverse taper....?

If you collected this last spring, doing much more than watering and making sure that huge grow box doesn't stay too wet might be your objectives now. Grafting, designing, and other activities that might stress the tree should probably wait another year or two, IMO.

Collecting landscape junipers is not easy. They can take a while to get their feet under them, at least from what I've experienced. They are famous for limping along. There are some subtle signs this one is kind of doing that. Browning foliage on the bottom part of the foliage mass, for instance.

Not saying it's not healthy, just that it might have some issues that might make further work at this time a little iffy.

 

[Dabbler]

I agree landscape junipers is pretty tricky - I collected a few a few year ago and they just petered along for a while then just gave up the gas. There the only tree I've collected that I've lost. I would wait 3 or so year or for it to show signs of strong growth to do any type of work

 

[Benny w]

I will definitely wait 1-3 more years before doing anything more than watering and I understand that to big of a pot can hinder growth to a tree because of root rot. Although, I built the box after I collected the tree and possibly could have been smaller but not by much. Also juvenile foliage is starting to grow which makes me happy that there is some new growth.

Shibui- Yes there is only one angle where the reverse taper is obvious and your advice as well the others that have commented give me inspiration. Stoked this juniper can still be a worthy bonsai in the future by disguising it with a shari and in the next year i will finally be able to purchase a home with a backyard. Reason i mention this is all my trees are in the front yard snd ive tsken a long break from this hobby becsuse of theft. The front yard is the only place where i live that my trees dont get scorched becsuse of the morning sun vs the afternoon sun that plagues the backyard.... where nothing survives the summer.

Dabbler, rockm and Wires_Guy_wires I appreciate your words and I cant wait to have an area to really take this hobby to the next level. My prize tree is being taken care of by a friend and all the other trees are either to big ti lift becsuse of the boxes tbey are in but before I had some cool material which ive posted on here and each has been taken. Thanks and will take the advice which everyone has stated to wait before doing anything, the tree needs to get stronger which sounds good to me. If i make tbe tree awesome even though the grow box weighs a ton it seems it will still grow legs but hey what do i expect when I have my material in the front freakin yard!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

1. Get the tree healthy. Take this time to determine where vigor and energy is and plan a design around that. I would shift the tree slowly into as much full sun as possible, adding an hour or two of extra sun every couple weeks. Fertilixe like mad this summer once in full sun and the tree is kicking.

Long term, I see two options: 1. A feminine literati / bunjin style. 2. Air layer the top off and ditch the bottom trunk. it is a little risky and youd have to check into cultivar info to determine how to maximize results.