Juniper design questions

Design
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Picked up this Juniper a couple of years ago, was more of a bush when I picked it up.

I’m about 5 years into my bonsai journey, this is the first proper restyle of a tree of this size that I have done. As a new user I can only post one image but for context a small beer can would just about fit in the gap between pot and first branch. Would love some opinions on a few bits:

  1. I’ve set the pads out as four pads below the apex. Would you break these up into smaller “sub pads” or leave as is? Anything other changes you would make to size/position of pads
  2. The trunk moves over to the left as you look at the tree at the top and have shifted the apex in this direction, has it gone too far/far enough?
  3. Pot recommendations? Have limited experience in matching pots to trees (other than the obvious i.e. will be unglazed in this instance.)

Worth saying, the tree had a mite infestation not long after I purchased it. I think it’s back in decent health 12 months later (lots of growth, lots of back budding), however, I am loathe to do anything too drastic that might stress the tree further. I would probably have reduced the foliage quite a bit further to get a bit more refinement in the design and deadwood and trunk definitely need a clean up but for the moment am happy to get it in a “good enough” design, give it some time to make sure it’s still happy then refine again next year.

Thanks very much for thoughts in advance!

3 Likes
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I really like your tree, I’m curious what others will say as I am still learning. What kind of soil is it?

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Thanks! It’s in some pretty compact, broken down akadama. Would have repotted it last year but didn’t want to stress further given mites, will get repotted next year.

1 Like
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Really like your tree!
I would humbly suggest thinning out the apex a little, seems denser than the bottom part. I think the pad sizes are good for now, would not break them yet. I find that the trunk comes out perpendicular to the ground, I would try to see if changing the angle a little could bring dynamism/asymmetry. As for the pot, I find the size good, but would try something darker, simpler with rounded corners (since the tree is balanced, neither feminine nor masculin).

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It looks like the tree is actually 2 trees intertwined, what do you think?