Itoigawa Juniper

A while back I acquired this imported Itoigawa Shimpaku Juniper. It wasn't the best of trees but I saw a cool tree in there, one that would require some good bending and hallowing out of a main branch or sub trunk. So for a year or so this has been sitting on bench waiting to be worked on, but first I had a ton of other trees to get to....
At first glance the subtrunk, main branch on the left needed to be bent, it is just to straight and will always be a huge flaw. Problem is it is about 3" tall and is over an inch in diameter. A little to short and thick to bend. I hallowed it out with my dremel and put some heavy gauge copper wire inside. Now we were able to bend it and add a bit of movement that mimicked the main trunk a bit
Before photo


After sub trunk on left is wired and bent


Now there is a major void that needs to be filled in the top to the left of the shari in the apex. This will require bending another short and fat branch. This branch will need rafia and lots of copper. It is right on the edge of the shari so I need to make sure it doesn't split from the trunk.
Starting to come around....



Now it is pretty much inplace. I started to thin and remove branches on the lower right and left.... lots of foliage removed!!!

Lower branches wired and starting to get put in place

Now I find that there is a more dynamic front that I prefer better and is better suited for the tree....

With the new front all I have left to do now is thin, wire and set the apex.
Here are 2 photos of the new front with the re-style almost done.


While this tree has seen a pretty good re-styling, I am not finished yet. I will update this when I am finished tweaking. This coming spring we will get a better suited pot for this little juniper.

The Pot Parade!

Here are some Erin Pots that I recently got from brother inlaw Rich over at obpots. Check the link to the right....

Enjoy!
First Pot By Charels Gluskoter. Next year we will have more of his pots available. The glazing is second to none....looks like was dug out of the ground after hundereds of years. Excellent!!

Eris Pots Below

This little Crescent is a killer pot, one of my favorites! Can't wait to get a little collected pine or juniper in it!

Below, 10" round. Looks small in the picture.

Below....Big semi-cascade pot, 12" opening! One of my favorites!

Killer accent pot!!!

Cool pot for some rare grass' that I have!

These Erin Pots are excellent pots and the pricing is really good for imported custom pots. I am a fan of Erin Pottery, the accent pots are killer, and his bigger pots are very natural and rustic making a nice fit for old yamadori.... I thank OregonBonsaiPots.com for going out on a limb and bringing killer pots to the NW area. I expect that once people find out about obpots Rich will have a hard time keeping pots on the shelves. Oh, they ship too!!!! Tell him Jason sent ya!