Hello all,
this morning I'd like to share the development of my Juniper over 3 years and a half.
I bought it in a nursery at the end of 2016 and I have been training it ever since.
I believe I still have to pinch the new buds a bit further.
What do you think of it?
Thanks!

Nice, looks healthy.

Assuming the last picture is what it looks like now.. Time to give it a good trim and wire the branches and do some styling.
Good material. Good to see you let this get strong before the final styling.

Ricky73 wrote:

I believe I still have to pinch the new buds a bit further.

Read this first:
crataegus.com/2012/08/26/how-to-pinch-junipers/
and a reaction on it:
bonsaibark.com/2012/09/01/pinch-dont-pinch/

Many thanks LB and Auk for your feedback.
Yes the last picture was indeed taken yesterday afternoon.
About pinching... now I'm scared! As I've already been pinching some tips... yes certainly not all of them but not just 3 or 4... so I still hope I've not damaged my juniper too much..
Interesting article though..

Ricky73 wrote:

Interesting article though..

There were two articles.If you haven't read it yet, you should read the second one as well.

Hi Auk sure I had read them both...
Yet the doubt is... have I overpinched my juniper? Hopefully not...

Ricky73 wrote:

Yet the doubt is... have I overpinched my juniper? Hopefully not...

Absolutely not. Your tree looks like it still needs to get his spring pruning.

I am not sure whether you got the message in my original post. But this tree it ready for a good trim and wiring. Else you will have bush by the end of summer.

Hi LB, sure I got your original message... but as I'm still a newbie, I have some doubts.
1 - Auk's first article mentioned the danger of pinching tips on junipers, as tips are where junipers get energy from. Though the second one stated there is no real risk of killing the tree as long as it is not being "over-pinched".
2 - You suggest to trim and wire the tree not to get a bushy mess by the end of summer, and I agree with you... I presume you mean using scissors.
3 - If I understood well when I first attended my bonsai course, as well as on books I read, the use of scissors is recommended to prune branches, using instead fingers on needles to prevent them from becoming brown.
Having said that...
I believe you suggest I should significantly reduce the pads... but do you think the overall current "pyramid" structure is fine?
Or would you aim for a much more "sparse" foliage?
Thanks and apologies for what may be stupid questions... but I really appreciate your help on this!

Ricky73 wrote:

Hi LB, sure I got your original message... but as I'm still a newbie, I have some doubts.
1 - Auk's first article mentioned the danger of pinching tips on junipers, as tips are where junipers get energy from. Though the second one stated there is no real risk of killing the tree as long as it is not being "over-pinched".
2 - You suggest to trim and wire the tree not to get a bushy mess by the end of summer, and I agree with you... I presume you mean using scissors.
3 - If I understood well when I first attended my bonsai course, as well as on books I read, the use of scissors is recommended to prune branches, using instead fingers on needles to prevent them from becoming brown.
Having said that...
I believe you suggest I should significantly reduce the pads... but do you think the overall current "pyramid" structure is fine?
Or would you aim for a much more "sparse" foliage?
Thanks and apologies for what may be stupid questions... but I really appreciate your help on this!

TBH, I've never "pinched" my junipers at all, always used scissors, and so I've always been suggested in all the courses I followed.
The point about scissors -the way I understand it- is that you shouldn't use the to "trim" the juniper the way you'd do with a hedge, but rather cut the the single, elongating tip.

Going back to the styling, it's a bit hard to give suggestions based on those pictures, as one can't evaluate the real shape of the tree. The point is, however, it's already "too green", and if you leave it grow even more you'll have a shapeless green shrub.
What you should do is identify what you want to show in the tree, and reduce the foliage (reducing the size and density of the pads, or taking away entire branches where needed and opportune) to frame those parts...

The focus of the tree could be a particularly nice bend in the trunk, or an interesting jin or shari; in general whatever gives your tree a distinctive characteristic...

I for one like the more sparse look.

With this species of juniper, there is no need for tip-trmming ('pinching') as it will create dense foliage on its own. So letting the plant grow, and trimming runners back to the older wood (Browned branch) should work well.

What I am however referring to is development pruning: The way to start I would say is by removing all green that is growing downward. I think you will find the individual branches that you have created wil be much clearer. And then removing all green emerging from branch crotches. Once you have done that, you can consider trimming the rest of the foliage. With this you create air and space in the plant, ensuring foliage remains on the insde and does not shade out the inner workings.

The trimming would consist of plucking old foliage, and then wiring tufts of foliage in place. But it is a bit dificult to explain. It works best if someone actually shows you. The bonsai Empire intermediate course has a nice movie explaining this step by step.