Hi all,
I've been styling, over the last few days, a Juniper belonging to a friend of mine, which had been a little neglected.

So I've cleaned it, reapplied the wire on some branches (overall wiring is not so good...), pruned some unnecessary branches and pinched buds that were growing out of shape.

1st picture shows the tree as it was (the pic is from spring 2020, before last year's vigorous growth).
2nd picture shows the tree now, after the "cleaning".

The first question is: what do you think of it?

The last 2 pictures show a further, aggressive improvement I'd like to apply, creating a jin out of the taller branch and possibly, another one on the tip of the shorter, remaining branch.
What's your view on this?

Thanks!

i think its a good start but i would personally offset some branches, the first and second row of pads look a little odd how they all line up at the same elevation.

I second crent and add......let the tree rest and recover and continue styling in authum.

crent89 wrote:

i think its a good start but i would personally offset some branches, the first and second row of pads look a little odd how they all line up at the same elevation.

So, if I understand correctly, you suggest to arrange the pads so they are at alternate levels?

I also have a juniper myself (the one in the profile image) that I have arranged the same way as this - see my post of a few days ago...

Thanks!

It is called handlebar branches and normally not concidered a good feature for bonsai. However I have a tree with it 20 years old that I would not cut. In the end: if the owner is happy, leave it as is.

One thing I would have done with the apical Jin is making it a bit contorted, like that part of the plant died struggling.
Would have added drama to the picture.

Agree on others’ comments about the bottom branches being at the same level, but you may be able to offset that by tilting the entire tree in one direction or the other.
Would also “fix” the fact that the first part of the trunk is a bit too straight (IMO, ofc)

Thanks all for your feedback.

On the apical Jin I agree with Bofhskull, it would be nice to have it more contorted... but that is still a project and I am afraid the owner of the plant will not allow me to do that!

Regarding the handlebar branches... so, the solutions are:
1 - prune some branches off to have alternate pads along the trunk
2 - tilt the trunk and bend the branches

My own juniper (see picture) has pads arranged the same way, at even levels... do you think it would be better to arrange alternate pads on it as well?
I have see many junipers with a round canopy with foliage pads like this so I've been following this pattern.
Thank you!

Thanks all for your feedback.

On the apical Jin I agree with Bofhskull, it would be nice to have it more contorted... but that is still a project and I am afraid the owner of the plant will not allow me to do that!

Regarding the handlebar branches... so, the solutions are:
1 - prune some branches off to have alternate pads along the trunk
2 - tilt the trunk and bend the branches

My own juniper (see picture) has pads arranged the same way, at even levels... do you think it would be better to arrange alternate pads on it as well?
I have see many junipers with a round canopy with foliage pads like this so I've been following this pattern.
Thank you!