Hi,
This is my Juniper from Spring 2016 to now 2017. Any feedback will help me

April 2016


April 2017

I would not keep it horizontally. It is a bit hard to water this way

Good news. You managed a repot, and a serious reduction in size and the tree is still with you.

I think the trunk is very straight. You will have to tackle that. Probably by bending it. It is a pity that no more lower branches were left, or you could have used a side-branch and reduce the tree even further.

I would probably bend the trunk, and let it grow for 2-4 years, keeping as much low foliage near the trunk as possible. When you wire the trunk, als wire the branches and give them some fluid loops too.

I was thinking upside down but I'll keep you posted
Thanks, I've been recieving some help and advice but I'm glad it's alive.
How do I bend such a thick trunk? I Used 4mm today on something much smaller. What do you mean by fluid loops?

Thanks again. I do have a small zelkova I made into a Mame bonsai with some progress pictures but I don't think it looks that good.

What's the idea behind growing it on a bit? I thought it was pretty much done in terms of growing, Do I still pinch growth extensions if it is growing for the next few years?

How thick is it? It looks like a cm or maybe 2? With two 5mm wires you should be able to bend this easily. Else, you can use guy-wires,

Are you a member of a bonsai club? This is alays a lot easier to explain by having someone there working with you. There are many methods. I have bent 4cm thick trunks that were 30 years old and stiff. Seen 10cm thick larch been bent. People often use raffia to prevent the ranches from breaking, but your tree is still young, and should be bendable. Just try how flexible it is.
Growing on.. Just to get a bit more trunk on it. I find it fairly slim. ut in the end you have to like the result. I would recommendgoing through loads of onsai pictures. Take a few that you really like and look / measure thinngs like tree height, trunk thickness etc. Best would e to see some of these trees for real, to realize the real size of good bonsai.
www.growingbonsai.net/size-matters/

It's 2cm actually, I'll try using two 4mm wires. Or perhaps I can purchase some bigger wire.
I am part of a club but we only meet mainly during the growing season.
It is fairly flexible, I will try to use rafia too.
I have come up with a design for the tree, is it a good design or am I going mad??

Nice tree looking forward how it is progressing. I use rubber to protect the trees I have, since raffia is hard to get in Indo.
I bend with this too, top right; hope you can see it?! If not I make a picture and post it. Its a bending tool self made from stainless, thee circular srew two on the outside cut and bend open to drag and one in the middle half eye to push.

Thanks guys, I'll use a trunk bender for the main bend or rafia and thick wire. This will be done next year I think.