Ive been pursuing Bonsai for over 10 years as a hobby and now ive had a baby so I dropped all my other hobbies and im dedicating myself to Bonsai only .
So i finally decided to join the Mirai community as I don’t see anything even remotely as inspiring.
To the point: ive had this juniper for over 10 years now, it was my first tree besides the classic ficus ginseng and other silly trees you buy when starting Bonsai. It has been developing very slowly as you will see and it reflect my journey into bonsai as I also have been advancing slowly.
Recently I joined my local bonsai club and they convinced me to take a big step with this tree. So before
Problem is I cant make sense of the bottom branch that used to be the defining branch anymore, I feel like I need to just jin it all and make a literati. The more I remove the more I want to remove .
I don’t think I can push any more heavy pruning this year but what do you guys think ? Should I eventually just go for a literati or should I find a way to incorporate the lower branch and keep it windswept/semicascade ? And if so how am I going to approach that ?
I share with you what I think could be a possible way to make it look more consistent, another approach I’ll take y would keep the lower branch, and make the tree with it, I like the subtle movement it has.
Are you suggesting an angle change to develop that design or just bending? Because im already having a hard time bending that main lower branch at all.
Ps: I really like the movement on that branch also, that’s why Im finding reasons to keep it.
I’m imaging if it could be pushed together with a clamp or something similar…
Just to get the same vibe of movement, and if the lower branch goes up, change the angle, if the upper goes down, keep the same position., just remember to protect the bark of the juniper on both sides
However, then it will be a cascade, not a windswept design.
I suggest… cut the limb short and leave a 3" jin. Next spring, repot into much smaller container, adjusting the angle counter clockwise about 15 degrees. I DO like the top limb in a semi cascade design.
I too did like where it was before but to get it to that stage I had to cheat a little, there qere alot of crossing branches and the 3 I cut of were literally pencil width with no taper and very long, anyway, no going back on that now . So i do like the bottom branch but I love the top one, so I don’t want the bottom to compromise the tops design. Would the fact that the bottom has subtle movements and the top drastic movement make be a design flaw ?
However I will try to see what I can get away with this season and if im successful good if not literati it is. Do you guys think it could make a believable literati?
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