Hi, this is my first bonsai ever. I have down lost of research so I’m not completely clueless. I have three issues that are simple that I’m not sure what to do. I have a Japanese red cedar and it is about 8 inches tall. My first issue is that it is not straight. By that I mean the tree goes up 5 inches and then the top suddenly goes to a 45 degree angle to the side. I know I could just fix this with wire but that brings me to the second issue, it’s so very thick at the top that I can’t even see the trunk beyond the angled part. That means it’s so thick and close to the trunk I can’t trim it without cutting off everything and that means I can’t straighten it with wire . This brings me to my last point, thickening the trunk so I can then start to work on getting the branches just how I want them. I know all of this will take time and I know most methods of trunk thickening but I can’t plant it outside and it scares me to chop the tree through the middle. I don’t have any branches for the branch sacrifice method either. What should I do?

got a picture?

if you cannot aee the trunk ther is a clear need for thinning, but first, lets see it

Yes, I do have pictures!


This picture was taken this morning
Here is one from right now

Oh shoot! I just realized this is not a Japanese red cedar. I’m not even sure what it is now! I think it’s a green mound juniper which is fine but I changed my whole idea of how I am going to grow it. I was going to make it look like a pine tree but it’s a juniper so a can grow it in weird directions . I have another question, in those really big juniper bonsai trees, how do they make the trunk all curvy and white and smooth. And then there are nice pretty clumps of leaves. I’ve decided that’s how I want to grow it now that I know it’s not going to grow like a pine tree. I’m not really worried about the trunk being straight anymore now that I know thats how it grows normally. Here is a pic of how I want it to look .

The white sections are usually dead wood... look up the terms jin and shari. There are dozens of videos on producing them. Many larger trees with trunks as you see here were collected from the wild.

TMax wrote: Here is a pic of how I want it to look

That would be awesome. It's possible in a few easy steps:

1. Start learning horticulture
2. Learn Japanese
3. Learn as much as you can about bonsai
4. In your best and most polite Japanese, write a letter to a bonsai master and apply for apprenticeship. Do not expect to receive reply. Here's some info about that: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/25/...ster-japan-ryan-neil
You may probably only water trees, the first period, before you are allowed to do any work on trees - if you get that apprenticeship, of course.
5. After a couple of years, you will have sufficient knowledge to start working on your own tree, but by that time you will want to select a different juniper species.

Shouldn't take more than 30 years to accomplish your goal, assuming you are talented and determined. Make that at least 100, if you really want to start with such a young tree.

Tmax, sorry to burst your bubble but the plant you showed will not look like the big tree posted later in your lifetime. That tree is centuries old. All the white stuff is dead wood. To get something like that you will have to roam garden to find very old distorted shrubs. Like this

If you start now, it can be done in less than 30 years. 25 maybe. If you dedicate yourself to only doing bonsai. Full time.

So, some people are saying it’s possible but I think your right, Leatherback. I think I need to find a bush but we don’t have junipers in our area. Would you mind showing me a picture of a juniper that is older and has a thicker trunk? I want to know what I can make and what is to impossible. Thanks for the reply’s I’m not to sad about knowing that I can’t make it look like that but it would still be really cool if I could. Any ideas or opinions on how the tree should look would help because I don’t know what I want it to end up looking like. And also, what do you think my tree looks like, I was labeled Japanese red cedar but it looks a lot like a juniper. Thanks!

TMax wrote: some people are saying it’s possible

I don't think that, from the replies, you understood what it takes.
It is as possible as you building an airplane. You need the materials and loads of study, but in theory, while highly unlikely, it is possible.

What you have now is not much more than just a young juniper (an eastern red cedar IS a juniper). It's going to take very long before you have something you can work with, and forever if you want to create something like that in your example.