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 – One to One – Chris’s Junipers August 2013
This session was arranged at short notice and I was really pleased we were able to fit it in.
Chris fetched several Junipers from his collection, generally for advice and discussion. The first Juniper under the spotlight was a Chinensis of the Aurea variety but on this occasion it looked really pale and sad.
We had to remove it from the pot to examine the roots but unfortunately with this pot having an inward curving design it could not be done without some disturbance. Because the tree was basically unhappy we had to keep this disturbance to a minimum.
Dead/decaying roots were removed but the rootball was left largely intact. It was repotted into a slightly larger/deeper training pot with a larger size soil particle in a mixture of bims and akadama. It will now be mist sprayed regularly and watered only as required to promote a sound recovery.
This variegated Juniper has an amazing base and shari but the top has become far too leggy and overpowering.
As much of the foliage as possible was removed to promote growth in the areas where it is required and to enable a more compact design to be achieved in sympathy with the trunk. It will soon be possible to remove more of the bark on the trunk and make the shari even more dramatic.
This Juniper Parsonii just required a little thinning out and tweaking of the branches. It continues to make really good progress.
I go back a long way with the massive San Jose Juniper having followed it’s progress through several changes of ownership. In the past several possible trunk lines have been removed and converted to deadwood. One of the problems now is not just about designing a canopy of foliage but designing one that works with the tree but also relates to and incorporates the deadwood.
After arranging the branches and much discussion a new front is finally selected that really suits the tree and works with the deadwood. In the spring it will be repotted into a slightly smaller pot in it’s new position.
I am delighted to at last see an excellent bonsai emerging from this impressive piece of material…..I always knew it was there!!!…….and I am also happy that after more than 15 years of trials and tribulations (and a near bonfire experience!) this fine old tree has found the caring enthusiastic owner (shame he is a Liverpool fan!) he so richly deserves…….
If you have a tree or trees that deserve a one to one or one to two contact John for further information.