So today I did my first styling on a juniper I got a few days ago. I didn’t do anything drastic, just gave it some shape and what I think is a direction for the future. What do you think? Comments, concerns, etc? Ps- Don’t mind the terrible wiring job, I just did it until my wire comes in.

It's Ok, not great but not terrible for a first timer.
The upper branch is fighting with the trunk, it is almost as thick. This should be addressed in the future.

Would you suggest chopping that top branch off at this point, or letting the plant grow some before I do that?

Wait.
One insult per season. (so the Japanese say)

My rule is you can cut off but you can't cut on, similar to the carpentry rule measure twice, cut once.

Cut something major, wait a while before doing something major to see what you think.

Just a little update. I did some more styling, I know it deff isn't perfect ( I know I crosswired) but I did learn quite a bit just by doing this little bit. As always, I'm open to comments, suggestions, advice, verbal beatdowns, etc.

ajburns1 wrote:

Just a little update. I did some more styling, I know it deff isn't perfect ( I know I crosswired) but I did learn quite a bit just by doing this little bit. As always, I'm open to comments, suggestions, advice, verbal beatdowns, etc.

OK, but:
That's where things go wrong. Remember: one insult per season.
Do not overdo it. The tree needs time to recover from the first styling you did. Doing too much will certainly kill it.

Point taken, this will rest and grow until next year now. Should I shy away from maintenance pruning until next year also? Looking back, I should clarify in the first picture I posted here by 'shaping' I strictly meant pruning, I'm not sure if that's obvious or not.

Auk wrote:

ajburns1 wrote:

Remember: one insult per season.

I was the obnoxious kid who kept asking "Why?" Somethings never change, and here I am still.

It is pretty easy for me to understand why major cutting and root pruning are each major traumas to the tree, and I can see why you don't do them close together. I don't see how wiring is also a major insult. Trees are not mini Einsteins and I don't see how bending a limb causes any physiological change to the tree. Can somebody explain?

Ivan wrote:

I was the obnoxious kid who kept asking "Why?" Somethings never change, and here I am still.

Actually, asking why leads to understanding. Asking why is a sign of understanding there is more to it than you might know. Which is the first step of learning. (You fix the age-old saying: '"I do not know what I do not know" .. and as such, I do not know what to ask' )

Ivan wrote:

It is pretty easy for me to understand why major cutting and root pruning are each major traumas to the tree, and I can see why you don't do them close together. I don't see how wiring is also a major insult. Trees are not mini Einsteins and I don't see how bending a limb causes any physiological change to the tree. Can somebody explain?

A branch is not a solid piece. Rather, it basically a stick with many little tubes in them surrounded by a thin layer of actively multiplying cells, surrounded by another layer of tubes. If you bend a branch you put pressure on these tubes and some of them rupture, collapse etc. Just consider what would happen if you tape a bunch of straws together and then try to bend it (Or even a single straw). The thin layer of growing cells is distorted changing the configuration ever so slightly. And the outer layer of tubes may slightly move compared to the inside.

All these things are thing a plant can deal with. But it does affect the physiology of the plant.

DOes that make sense?