This plant is a Juniper, it is about 20 years old.
It’s got a nice big trunk and has been in this small container for many years already.
As you can see there is a lot of long shoots, so the tree is healthy and ready to be styled today.
Ready to be pruned and wired.
We might end up putting this in a Bonsai container,
but since it is fall right now, I don’t want to touch the roots too much.
So the rootmass will remain intact and that also means we will choose
a relatively large Bonsai pot.
Maybe in two or three years from now, on the next repotting,
we can start to reduce the rootmass a little bit and take a smaller Bonsai pot.
The first step now is pruning and then once we’re done with pruning, some branches will be wired.
This is what the tree looked like before it was styled.
After pruning, wiring and repotting, this was the result.
Before we prune anything, we carefully study the tree and its branches.
This branch has grown too thick and will be removed.
We will use younger branches instead, because these can still be bend and shaped.
To make the tree appear a bit older, we are removing the bark off these pruned branches.
On some places on the trunk there are too many branches, so we will remove a few of these.
We also remove dangling growth, to prepare the tree for wiring.
Deciding on the design of a Bonsai isn't always easy,
especially when a tree is as full and overgrown as this plant.
Try to apply the pruning guidelines we just mentioned, to your own trees.
If you are interested to learn more about these techniques,
consider enrolling in one of our online Bonsai courses.
Here, expert teachers explain the relevant techniques, and you can ask them questions.
For a free lesson, go to bonsaiempire.com/courses
Before we start wiring, we also remove the long shoots using a twig shears.
Alright we have almost finished pruning the tree.
As you can see it is much more open now, and you can see the trunkline - which is quite elegant.
The apex will be formed with these branches.
And there is only one or two branches left to be pruned.
That was the last branch that I wanted to prune.
This is what we took off in total, which is quite a lot, but the tree is very healthy when we
started with it and it is definitely able to cope with around 30% to 40% of the foliage removed.
The next step is wiring.
Before we apply the wire, we remove dangling growth
and small branches that are growing downwards.
This basic cleaning of the branches will make it much easier to wire the tree.
Try to select pairs of branches that are more or less the same thickness,
and wire these with one piece of wire.
Start with wiring the main branches, and slowly work your way up the tree.
Smaller, thinner branches, need a thinner wire as well.
Ok, we are about halfway the wiring, working our way up the tree.
And by now we’ve come to realize this branch is rather thick,
and can be replaced with bringing this branch down a little bit, and using this one.
So we will remove this branch and continue wiring.
We’ve finished pruning and wiring the tree.
And like I mentioned in the introduction, we’ll do a mild repotting now.
That means we won’t touch the roots too much, the rootmass will remain intact.
That also means we need a relatively large pot.
So the next step is to work the roots a little bit, not too much,
prepare the pot, and then put the tree in the container.
Now we prepare the pot, by covering the drainage holes with a mesh.
We also attach two long wires, which will be used to anchor the tree to the pot firmly.
This tree was growing in a partly organic soil mixture,
in the future we'll slowly replace the old soil with a new, inorganic soil mixture.
We also prune some of the old roots, which can be distinguished by the dark, almost black color.
The soil mixture we use is a blend of Akadama, Lava rock and Pumice.
You can read more about Bonsai soil on our website: bonsaiempire.com
We add a layer of soil before placing the tree into the pot.
Place the tree slightly off center in the pot, and make sure to plant it at the right angle.
Using the two long wires we firmly attach the tree to the pot.
Alright, we have finished styling this tree.
We pruned and wired it, and just repotted it.
As I already mentioned, we didn’t want to touch
the base of the rootmass, so we only added some new soil around it.
Maybe in two or three years from now, on the next repotting,
we’ll also work a little bit more into the old soil.
The only thing we have to do now, is watering.
Learn how to create your own Bonsai trees, by enrolling in one of our online Bonsai courses.
We explain techniques like pruning wiring and repotting,
and you can ask questions to the teachers.
For the curriculums and free lessons, go to: bonsaiempire.com/courses