A few months back I spent a day wiring out this Blue Alps Juniper which was both tedious and painful. Even worse was that today I spent the morning removing the wire which was even more tedious and just as painful. Although the results were worth it. The branches showed very little scaring and held their position without the wire. In a word it was a success.

Blue Alps Juniper Bonsai

I have big plans for this tree even though it is not one of my larger bonsai.  This looks to be the tree that is pretty much ready for show, so it will be this year’s entry for the 2010 Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.  In fact, this will probably be the photo I submit.  Over the next few months I’ll work to clean up the branches even more and fill in a few bare spots.  That upper right branch could still use a bit of thinning.

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I have had this tree for about 3 or 4 years now, and I had never styled it.  I’ve just been letting it grow out so that I had some branches to work with.  Well today I decided to take a look at it and get some branch structure devloped.

Neea Buxifolia pre bonsai

This is more than a bush than a tree when I first took a look at it.  It does have a nice trunk, good movement and nice nebari.

Neea Buxifolia Bonsai initial styling

As I started removing branches I found a lot of them were not useable, and much of the foliage had blocked new branches from growing on the upper trunk.    However I was able to define the trunk line, and open the tree up.  The first few branches are now defined so it is a matter of developing th etop of the tree.  Speaking about the top of the tree, it is a bit long.  As new branches start I can see what other options I have for creating a new top.

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I have been looking for a clump style bonsai for a long time, but never have been able to find one that I really liked.  However yesterday when I visited Jim Smith’s nursery I was able to track one down.  This is a pretty large planting, and will take some work to get it right, but it is easy to see that this will be a great bonsai one day.

Raw clump pre-bonsai

 Here it is as I bought it.  It never fails to amaze me when I see the small amount of roots needed to support so much foliage. 

Clump repotted

I wanted to do a few things by repotting this tree.  First I will get a wider root base.  So when I repot in to a more shallow pot in the future I will have more surface roots.  Also I need to get more energy to the top of these trees so I can develop more branching.  Also I want to add another trunk on the far right side to balance the tree.  Right now I have 6 trunks and I need to get to an odd number and 7 is the goal.

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One of the most amazing bonsai nurseries in Florida is the one belonging to Jim Smith. Located in Vero Beach it is the bonsaist dream. Row after row of pre-bonsai material.  Hardest part is deciding which one you want

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