Quiet Crow Bonsai

Project

Cascade Juniper

Juniperus procumbens nana Full sun. Spine like needles. Low-growing shrubby juniper native to the southern Japan. A popular ornamental plant in Japan, most widely grown being 'Nana', a slow-growing procumbent plant.

I acquired it in 1990 as 8 year old nursery stock as part of a workshop with Mas Isumi who originally styled it into large cascade. We used very large wire and raffia to bend and shape the trunk. Three years later in 1993 it took first place at State Fair. Where Kelly Adkins was the judge and his comment was not to trim with scissors. I must have just trimmed it like a hedge and the tips were brown.

By 1996, the tree was beginning to show stress of not getting enough sun to the lowest branches. Where I began to performed heavy trimming to allow the sun to reach inner and lower branches. In 1996 I also worked Dave DeGroot on this tree. Dave demonstrated wiring techniques for refinement. It took him 45 minutes or longer for one branch. I worked for the next couple weeks trying to emulate on each branch. Each branch is heavily trimmed of foliage. Reduced length of each branch then wired all secondary branches as if this branch was a separate cascade tree. I was striving to add layers and was sure to wire the tips upward for vigor.

In September of 1999, I had an opportunity to have Mas Isumi revisit this tree. We restyled and refined and Mas believes that branches should be trained on a horizontal plane not cascade down. So I set out wiring each branch out.

State Fair judged by Carl Betke in 2001 is the second First Place ribbon for this tree. His comments: Beautiful trunk, so you should show movement of it, especially near the top. For a show it should be pinched back and tidied up. Remove tiny low looping branches and needles.

But then the tree started to decline. It did not seem healthy had lost vigor. In 2006 to improve health, I changed to a more porous soil. Re-wired main trunk line out a bit to capture more sunlight, kept a pie pan with water to reflect light and humidity to lower branches. I also began turning it on its side. Later that year I was very concerned for its health and had decided it must need a wider pot as the current pot was very slim and tall. However I was not able to get a pot in time for Spring repot in 2007.

As Ted Matson was our sensei, he had much to offer when we reviewed this tree in 2007. Being on its side has given the middle front more light and opportunity to be the apex and gain strength. Now, he suggested turn on its other side to allow sun to reach another high point. It seemed to be gaining strength!

Onto it's next design in May of 2008 with Marty Schmalenberg. He suggested removing the lower half of the tree completely. Created a new front of the tree to show off the natural twist in the trunk. And we set that in motion. He also verified it should have a wider pot for the health of the tree. So I found a wider black glazed pot, not ideal but it did act as an interim pot while I searched for another. When Marty returned in August, we checked the tree which seems to be holding its own in the wider pot. We then refined styling, removed several of the back branches as we did not need to keep the optional branches.

In early Spring of 2009 I repotted into new Sarah Raynor pot, which was a copy of a custom pot she did for another customer. Roots were fine, not sure if the akadama was the only reason. I kept up with removing old needles, trimming and wiring for shape. By the next repotting in 2012 the tree seemed in decline. At this time I believe I should report every second year and spray for mites more frequently.

I have the good fortune of working with Suthin at a Private Workshop at my house in late June 2013. We restyled this tree by changing the apex to the left as the right of the tree is the weak side. Closed the gap on the left between lowest point and branch. Shortened the branch that blocked the sun from reaching the lowest branch. Suthin also suggested a smaller pot would give it a more elegant refined appearance.