Hey Scott. Nice little juniper with a lot of potential. I have the same feeling about Maples and Elms. I can appreciate the beauty of them but just not the type of trees that interest me to grow. At 9:08 into the video, I like that view the best as the front. I know you don't want to get rid of the front branch. I'd cut it and wire the main branch curved back over the top of the main trunk. This is just my opinion and I am also very new to bonsai. Here in the states I have a couple of Shimpaku Juniper and a couple of Procumbens Nana Juniper. As we always say "It's your tree, make it the way you see it". 👍
Edit: I deleted my first comment because I was a stoned fool when I wrote it. It made no sense. Sorry you had to decipher that. I basically said around 9:01 was the best front. I gave the video a second watch and gave a better comment below.
Lovely little juniper! To be honest, I find all conifers, particularly junipers, a bit overwhelming with all the pinching and pruning, wiring, deadwooding and lime sulfuring etc... plus the fact that you can kill them and it won't show any signs of being dead for weeks... so I went and got myself 2 Itoigawa junipers just to experiment with 😆 You'll have a lot of fun with your blaauws next year when it'll need pinching every ~6 weeks to keep it in shape and direct the growth, junipers make a nice change from most deciduous trees in the sense that a lot if deciduous trees need work maybe 3 or 4 times a year, junipers like 1 'insult' a year and then little bits of maintenance every ~6 weeks.
How much were the itoigowa? Reading your message fills me with dread haha working every 6 weeks I feel like I will easily overcare for it! My preferred approach is one of neglect for the most part 🤣
@@ScottMatthewsBonsai I got 1 for £62.99 and some delivery guy somehow knocked it off its little stand and smashed the pot, so I did an emergency repot... and then strong winds uprooted it, so another emergency repot (+ I learned my lesson and wired it in this time) but I didn't think it would survive, so I bought another for £69.99 - both are doing well! They can come back from a lot of neglect; I'd imagine the care is pretty similar to a cypress - all junipers are cypresses afterall!
WELL I WAS'NT EXPECTING YOU TO COME HOME WITH A JUNIPER LOL , I THINK YOUR OFF TO A GOOD START WITH THAT MOVEMENT IN THE TRUNK THO , I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE A QUICK LOOK AT THE ROOTS IN CASE IT WANTS POTTING UP AND IM SURE YOU COULD GET A BIT OF A BEND IN THE HINOKI TRUNK WHILE ITS STILL SMALL ENOUGH . 👍
You're probably right, it won't hurt to take it out and confirm the roots are fine, same with the sekka. I quite like the straight hinoki trunk, it's different to my others. Plus I'd only end up with a bit of an S haha
Hey Scott. Nice little juniper with a lot of potential. I have the same feeling about Maples and Elms. I can appreciate the beauty of them but just not the type of trees that interest me to grow. At 9:08 into the video, I like that view the best as the front. I know you don't want to get rid of the front branch. I'd cut it and wire the main branch curved back over the top of the main trunk. This is just my opinion and I am also very new to bonsai. Here in the states I have a couple of Shimpaku Juniper and a couple of Procumbens Nana Juniper. As we always say "It's your tree, make it the way you see it". 👍
It's certainly open for consideration as a front, I do prefer the trunk movement that side tbh. I suppose its good to have options!
Edit: I deleted my first comment because I was a stoned fool when I wrote it. It made no sense. Sorry you had to decipher that. I basically said around 9:01 was the best front. I gave the video a second watch and gave a better comment below.
@@andrewflesher4968 correctly at the 8.11 point in the video?
Lovely little juniper!
To be honest, I find all conifers, particularly junipers, a bit overwhelming with all the pinching and pruning, wiring, deadwooding and lime sulfuring etc... plus the fact that you can kill them and it won't show any signs of being dead for weeks... so I went and got myself 2 Itoigawa junipers just to experiment with 😆
You'll have a lot of fun with your blaauws next year when it'll need pinching every ~6 weeks to keep it in shape and direct the growth, junipers make a nice change from most deciduous trees in the sense that a lot if deciduous trees need work maybe 3 or 4 times a year, junipers like 1 'insult' a year and then little bits of maintenance every ~6 weeks.
How much were the itoigowa? Reading your message fills me with dread haha working every 6 weeks I feel like I will easily overcare for it! My preferred approach is one of neglect for the most part 🤣
@@ScottMatthewsBonsai I got 1 for £62.99 and some delivery guy somehow knocked it off its little stand and smashed the pot, so I did an emergency repot... and then strong winds uprooted it, so another emergency repot (+ I learned my lesson and wired it in this time) but I didn't think it would survive, so I bought another for £69.99 - both are doing well!
They can come back from a lot of neglect; I'd imagine the care is pretty similar to a cypress - all junipers are cypresses afterall!
@antiduckable I find my best repotting work have been via emergencies, not ideal though given the money spent. Here's to two good healthy trees 🍻
WELL I WAS'NT EXPECTING YOU TO COME HOME WITH A JUNIPER LOL , I THINK YOUR OFF TO A GOOD START WITH THAT MOVEMENT IN THE TRUNK THO , I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE A QUICK LOOK AT THE ROOTS IN CASE IT WANTS POTTING UP AND IM SURE YOU COULD GET A BIT OF A BEND IN THE HINOKI TRUNK WHILE ITS STILL SMALL ENOUGH . 👍
You're probably right, it won't hurt to take it out and confirm the roots are fine, same with the sekka.
I quite like the straight hinoki trunk, it's different to my others. Plus I'd only end up with a bit of an S haha