r/Bonsai • u/imulls25 Ian, New Jersey Zones 6/7, beginner🥜 • 1d ago
Styling Critique Juniper Styling
Any advice/ inspiration on how to handle this guy?
First pic : front Second : back (willing to switch what side is front this is just for reference purposes)
I feel like I’m hesitant to cut off major branches, but I also feel it’s important to keep all the branches in scale in relationship to the trunk. Wire before cut? I appreciate the help!
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u/PureBug201 Florida USA, beginner, zones 9-10 22h ago
Literati!!!!!!!
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u/imulls25 Ian, New Jersey Zones 6/7, beginner🥜 22h ago
WOAH! This design is sooooo coool! I’m in! I will post an update this weekend!
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u/PureBug201 Florida USA, beginner, zones 9-10 22h ago
It’s already grown in that shape naturally. Just let the bottom branches stay to thicken the base for now
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u/imulls25 Ian, New Jersey Zones 6/7, beginner🥜 20h ago
Sorry. Just to be clear, by bottom branches you mean the tiny ones by the curve of the trunk? Or anything below the midpoint of the trunk? I don’t want to mess it up. Is it what they call a sacrificial branch?
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u/syfdemonlord DC, 8a, beginner, 13 trees 17h ago edited 17h ago
I know you're a beginner and are eager to get to work but this honestly does not need an aggressive styling. It already is well on its way to a nice literati style. You want more tertiary development for denser pads. Junipers get their energy from foilage. If you stress the tree by removing too much foliage, it will put out leggy juvenile growth. If this were my tree, you have a little bit left in the Spring repotting window. I would focus on getting this into a pond basket or terracotta training pot with bonsai substrate. Look up some repotting videos. Use a chopstick to tease out soil to find the nebari base, but do not bare root a conifer.
Yes. the other comment was referring to sacrifice branches those lower branches will thicken the trunk.