Studio Stories – Roy’s Juniper “pulls in the branches”

Sometimes I work on nursery trees, sometimes I work on client’s trees……and sometimes if I’ve been a really good boy I get to work on my own trees. Hopefully these regular visits will give you an insight into what goes on behind closed doors……….

Studio Stories – Roy’s Juniper “pulls in the branches”

The subject of this blog is a Juniper Parsonii originally supplied by us as a piece of raw material. We had about 25 pieces all looking similar to the one pictured here. 

We now only have 2 raw trees and 3 styled trees left for sale such has been their popularity.

When the Juniper Parsonii in question arrived in our studio it had already been the subject of a styling. The tree had been allowed to grow and become vigorous but the foliage on strong branches was now too far away from the trunk.

The heavy trunk is still impressive but the image as a whole lacks cohesion.

The live veins on the trunk were identified and where possible areas of shari and deadwood were extended. This work is best done a little at a time……follow the tree and let him decide rather than you forcing shari and jin on him in a somewhat carefree haphazard manner.

The areas where the bark was to be stripped were marked with chalk and you will see the result of this in the later pictures.

The problem of the wayward branches then had to be addressed.

The tree was almost totally rewired and then substantial guy wires were fixed to the major branches and pulled back against some of the jins.

It’s now like a construction site!…….Maybe we should have been given a “meccano” toy as kids to get it out of our system!! .. ……. any way it does work!!!

The difference in the final image picture is truly amazing. We still have our substantial trunk with a shari/vein combination that will just get better and better in time. What we now have extra is a very neat triangular canopy that relates to the tree’s overall image giving a much more compact and cohesive design.

As time progresses the final appearance of this Parsonii will be akin to a good Juniper from Japan but at a fraction of the price………and with the priceless satisfaction that ultimately you did it yourself…….but perhaps with more than just a little help from the tree!