Hi friends,
i have made an embarrassing mistake 4 years ago when i started with bonsai. I bought a simple juniperus from a nursery and slammed right into pruning, cutting, repotting. Simply everything at once. I don’t even know yet how this tree survived.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, i completely ruined the apex. I just cutted it and styled it like a normal branch as you can see here:
Now that i have a tiny little more knowledge than that day i am wondering what the most intelligent solution would be. Should i just leave it and wait till it gets more foliage and hope for more backbudding? Should i prune it back to the first or second secondary branch and start new? Shall i just bend it horizontal (which i now know is the more natural apex form for this styling) and try to fix with reorienting?
I just can’t decide what is the best choice. I am really happy about every option and personal opinion.
You can chop it back to shorten, you can wire out movement and compact it…to make a fuller apex. You could let it and the secondary branch’s grow. This will help with taper in the apex and lateral branches. Its all dependent on what you want to do. None are wrong in this case, just think on it a bit.
I would also like to say… The apex IS just another branch. I’ve heard this so many times and for the longest amount of time I just didn’t believe/comprehend that notion. It wasn’t until I’ve heard @ryan say this in several streams and watched how he approached the apex that I realized… THE APEX IS JUST ANOTHER BRANCH. Maybe requires more frequent pruning and attention to keep the ramification and internode spacing compact. Just keep doing what your doing and I’m sure inspiration with strike.
All you need to do to make that tree look badass is to lay the apex down horizontally toward the front. Arrange all the secondary branches on the same level. Make this move and you’ll totall get a better look.
@ryan.marin You were right. I laid down the apex horizontally and now it really looks great. I will make a pic these days and put it online. Thanks for your help
