Yamadori Rocky Mountain Juniper

[Dav4]

Tree at the Atlanta Bonsai Society spring show today.

 

[Dav4]

Done...for now.

For the first time, this one has been wired out in copper. It took the better part of 2 months to do it, spending an hour or two whenever I could. There are still a few small branchlets here and there that I missed, but I'll get to them. The tree still looks a bit unkempt, but I deliberately left more foliage then I normally would. This tree is magnet for cedar-apple rust, and I expect a bumper crop this spring (didn't copper spray frequently enough last spring) which will warrant a fair amount of unwanted pruning. In other words, I expect a bit of tweaking this spring and would like to have options. Fwiw, after carrying the "aluminum wire is just as good as copper wire" banner for my entire bonsai career, I've become a convert to copper, at least when working on refined conifers like this. This tree has seen a ton of aluminum wire since I acquired it, and the aluminum wire worked...but not as well as the copper. The foliage on RMJ tends to be either strongly growing up or thin and droopy in spots, and the copper wire really holds it were you want it...the smaller aluminum gauges don't fair as well.

 

[tmmason10]

Looks great dave, definitely a lot to wire! Could just be the picture, but is the foliage at the same level on both sides of the tree? I might raise one side like this:

 

[tmmason10]

By the way, just a thought I still think it's a spectacular tree and you've done a great job with it.

 

[Dav4]

Tom, I nearly went that direction, though not quite as high as where your red line is, before wiring it out. I still may shorten the left side a bit by removing the lowest branch...we'll see. Thanks for your input.

 

[wireme]

Looks great Dave, must have been fun to wire out.
Re: the cedar apple rust, do you take any protective measures in mid summer? Around here the alternate hosts ( mostly Saskatoon berry) are releasing spores heavily around mid august.

 

[Dav4]

Around here, the recommendation is to spray a fungal preventative in Spring, basically March into May, every few weeks. I can't say if it helps or not, because I've never been able to spray on such a regular basis due to work and family commitments...oh well.

 

[JudyB]

Such a beautiful job. And a beautiful image. It doesn't look unkempt to me, but I like a little softness instead of exact precision as long as the lines are good.
I too am finding that copper is the way... with my JWPs, and some stubborn D trees. Don't think I'll use it on the majority of my D's but will stay with it for pines.

 

[MACH5]

Such a great job Dave for such a great RMJ! What a beauty!!


If this tree were mine, I would perhaps try and introduce some negative areas to its silhouette. I made a rough virt to share.

 

[Dav4]

Such a great job Dave for such a great RMJ! What a beauty!!


If this tree were mine, I would perhaps try and introduce some negative areas to its silhouette. I made a rough virt to share.

What a great virt! I was hoping to get more separation between pads with just wire- I still have more branch placement to do- but I believe that some judicious branch thinning will have a greater effect. Again, I'm reluctant to cut away anything significant right now as the rust that shows up in March will dictate what I remove to a fair degree. Thanks again, Mach!

 

[Adair M]

Actually, Dave, I think you can achieve that with wire and only minimal pinching/cutting back downward growing growth on the bottom of pads.

Your pads need to be more horizonsal. Think of the pad as the upturned Palm of your hand. Let your fingers curl up a bit. We should see along the bottom of the pads the "fingers". These are the small branches (woody parts) supporting the foliage. The foliage is the finger tips. Sits on top. There should be no foliage hanging down below the woody base of the pad. The bottom of the pads should be flat.

And herein lies the challenge: obtaining pads like I just described is much easier with Kishu or Itoiwaga than Rocky foliage due to their denser growth habit. (That's why I'm grafting Kishu on my Rocky I have at Boon's.)

 

[Dav4]

Thanks Adair. The tree still needs to be cleaned up and there's a fair amount of downward growing foliage below the pads...just haven't cut them away yet. I think I had convinced myself to leave them as insurance against the rust, but in all honesty, I've moved on to other trees for the moment. I'll probably get to it soon.

 

[bdwarner]

What a fantastic tree. Quite large! Thank you for documenting and sharing the progression of this tree. I just read this whole thread in one sitting and there is undoubtedly a lot of great information here. You have done a wonderful job developing this material. I am a bonsai begginer and like flowering varieties, but this tree and thread, and including a few others that are being updated is leaving me wanting a needled variety very badly. And what a priveledge to have worked with the people you have on this beauty.

I can't speak for everyone here at Bnut but I know threads like this are the most valuable for me, taking note of the timeline, techniques, and developement really helps me comprehend the effort that goes into a good tree. Thanks again and looking forward to updates.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I like the direction you're taking this juniper, Dave. Please allow me to share this. I feel like there's a little too much foliage mass on the tree's lower left side. Please let me know your thought's on my virtual, a modified version of Mach's.

Btw, your inbox box is full.

 

[Dav4]

What a fantastic tree. Quite large! Thank you for documenting and sharing the progression of this tree. I just read this whole thread in one sitting and there is undoubtedly a lot of great information here. You have done a wonderful job developing this material. I am a bonsai begginer and like flowering varieties, but this tree and thread, and including a few others that are being updated is leaving me wanting a needled variety very badly. And what a priveledge to have worked with the people you have on this beauty.

I can't speak for everyone here at Bnut but I know threads like this are the most valuable for me, taking note of the timeline, techniques, and developement really helps me comprehend the effort that goes into a good tree. Thanks again and looking forward to updates.

Thank you for the kind words. Every time I post an update in this thread, I ask myself if people are getting tired of the tree, just because I've updated it so many times before. It seems that isn't the case! Thanks again.

 

[Dav4]

I like the direction you're taking this juniper, Dave. Please allow me to share this. I feel like there's a little too much foliage mass on the tree's lower left side. Please let me know your thought's on my virtual, a modified version of Mach's.

Btw, your inbox box is full.

I like your virt a lot and, honestly, this was an idea I had in mind way back when the styling first started for this one. I've chosen to make the right branch the longer vs the left as I think it's more dynamic and it's a better tree like this. Still, the right branch has always been the weakest...if it were to weaken more, there may be a styling change in the future, much like what you've shown in your virt, though I might remove the whole branch, too. Thanks for your input.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I like your virt a lot and, honestly, this was an idea I had in mind way back when the styling first started for this one. I've chosen to make the right branch the longer vs the left as I think it's more dynamic and it's a better tree like this. Still, the right branch has always been the weakest...if it were to weaken more, there may be a styling change in the future, much like what you've shown in your virt, though I might remove the whole branch, too. Thanks for your input.

Thanks for the updates. I don't get tired of it. I actually got rid of the whole branch in my original virtual, but then I stayed on the conservative side and just took off a part of it.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Cool tree and cool thread Dave. Thanks for the reading pleasure.

Your tree looks very familiar to me somehow. Was it posted on Bonsai Talk before? Did I ever draw you a sketch for this tree before? Just for fun, would you mind it if I draw you a quick sketch for this tree?

 

[Dav4]

Cool tree and cool thread Dave. Thanks for the reading pleasure.

Your tree looks very familiar to me somehow. Was it posted on Bonsai Talk before? Did I ever draw you a sketch for this tree before? Just for fun, would you mind it if I draw you a quick sketch for this tree?

Yep, you saw this tree way back when I first posted it on BT...and you drew two or 3 great sketches for me. Of course, I'd love to see your current vision for this tree...with BT extinct, I'm likely to be the only one who remembers what you drew 7-8 years ago. Go for it!

 

[Si Nguyen]

Cool! I don't remember how I sketched it years ago. But there are several good options for this tree now, as I see it today. Here's one sketch. It involves bringing that big branch up for a new apex. I know,..you spent years wiring it down . The best thing about this design option is that you get to keep most of the back branches to form a second dome. This tree could have great depth.

Just for the fun of discussion only. No more work needed on this tree. Keep your own vision as long as you still like it .

Good luck!