How to make a bonsai from Squamata Juniper

It's been quite a while since I did a video about creating trees, so I thought I'd start doing these. In the earlier clips we showed how we were harvesting these trees from the field. These by the way, although they are about four or five foot tall, we have trees larger than this with thicker trunks as well. So that's one which we're going to work on and this is another one. So these are tiny. This is about three foot tall. So this is how it comes in from the field, complete with the weeds and the grass, but they're all growing very, very strongly. So have a look at it. This is the material. I'm going to stand next to it in a moment and you can see how large they are. Thought process. The thought process as with anything when you're solving problems is the key to understanding what you are about to achieve. So what goes through my mind is how can I get a nice shape and by now you will all realize that the triangular shape is the most basic shape in bonsai. So that's what we're trying to achieve and the rest should fall into shape as we go along. Matthew, my volunteer here, will take it out of this pot and we're going to put it in a shallow pot so you can see the surface of the tree. I don't like cutting flower pots. Many bonsai artists have this habit of cutting the pot so that it is exposed. I'm a great believer in saving material. Once you cut it, the pot becomes useless and the pot has to be thrown away. So we'll just take it out of the pot and put it in a temporary micro-pot. So what we've done so far, at least I've got Matthew to tidy the base up. We scraped away the surface soil. This is a very important stage of creating any bonsai because you want to see how the nebari or the surface roots go into the soil because the way the roots go into the soil has a very important bearing on the front or the back of the tree. A couple of things to note. Now this tree has got what we call a natural shari or driftwood. We tried to create this by carving but left to their own devices. Trees do rot like this. So we can improve on that because it's already started. So we'll make a feature of that and because it's on this side, this can be a possible front. So that helps. Now the way the tree is leaning, you can see a lot of these roots are in the wrong place. Now this one is coming this way. What we need is roots that come radially from the tree like this one. This thick root is coming back on itself. So we've got to deal with all these ugly roots. So if I can get Matthew to hold the camera for me. So we're going to look at the surface roots here. Now this root as I said is going the wrong direction. So let's get rid of that. Ideally the surface roots should be radial. They should radiate from the center of the trunk outwards. This I think is a dandelion root because we have weeds growing. This also, this root is growing the wrong place. But because there's so many roots on this tree, if I take the odd root out, I don't think it will hurt the tree. So I'm not too worried about that. You see how the roots are flaring. Now the more I dig, you see there's another root which is going in that direction which is the wrong direction. I need it to go this way. But there's more surface roots there. You see how wide it is at the base. So because it's wide, it makes the tree look even broader at the base there. So that's all very positive, positive points, plus points for this tree. Now there's a root going there I can see. That's not bad. That's radial going this way. Now this root is a bit high. Probably don't need this. And this root is going back on itself. It could fuse to make an interesting feature. But it's going to take so long. Now this protruding root I don't need. This popping up. That's also popping up. Mind you there's so many roots that I'm not worried cutting these odd bits of root off. This is still an ugly feature. But we might make something of that ugly bit. So not everything is simple. So if you take a view from this side, you come this way. Now I'm more or less stuck with this beautiful shari and the broad spread of the base there. So this has more or less dictated the front for me. If you look at the tree from all different sides, you see that doesn't make a nice front because that's not wide there. And it doesn't have the beauty of the shari. You see this side possible. But also I don't have the benefit of the shari. So you see you're constrained in so many different ways. So although you think that you've got a lovely front there. Why I can't use that or reluctant to use this as the front is because the apex is going that way. Ideally I want the apex to be like this. Looking at the tree from this side. But I might well still do it that way. See if I use this as the front. If you come and watch from here. If I use this as the front. If I use this as the front. This becomes very narrow. It's not broad. Which is a disadvantage. I ideally want it to be wide like this. But this is not my preferred front as far as the apex is concerned. The apex is very nice over there. But let's see. We can still deal with it. So straight away I can see that there's quite a lot that we may not need. This very thick branch. I've always told people or remind people that when you make bonsai it's the thin branches you want. You don't want thick branches as far as possible. So this one here. I think this is not going to be much use as it is. So we can possibly end up making gin with this. So if we rip this. I'll show you what we do. We're making a sloping cut and we walk on that side. I'm going to rip this and I'm going to tear it back. There's lots of ways of doing it. I'm going to get the gin pliers now to rip it back. This may need carving to make it more curly and give it movement. So we've eliminated that. These thin branches are going to be very useful. We can use these. Use that one. Use this one. This one is a bit straight but we can probably deal with that. And this is going to be the apex. Although that's going up I think we can do something with that. So the rest is just wiring. So when we've done wiring we assure it to you again. So you can see the major decisions have been taken already. So we're going to try and use the front like this but when we finished with it we'll probably end up with a much nicer looking tree. How we deal with this that remains to be seen. We will see what we can do with that. I'm not going to cut it off in case I foreclose my options. I don't want to foreclose the options too soon. So the next stage is simply going to be wiring these various branches and we see what the effect is like. So we haven't pruned much off. Look at it. That's all I've pruned off. That's all I've pruned off. I've used most of the tree. So I'm now in a further quandary as to what to do. This tree is coming on quite nicely. Just maybe four pairs of wires we've put on and the tree is looking quite interesting. This we decided could be a possible front. It's nice and broad and it's got a showery there. So this is a possible front. But if I use this as the front and if I want to use the full height of the tree it's not quite nice. So we need to look at the tree like this to see the full front. But I just spotted something else. The reason why I kept this upward going branch was for a very very good logical choice. Because that could be a possible leader for the tree should I not want the tree to be so big. So let me use the famous Peter Chan bag trick and the bag trick as many of you would know by now is simply putting a white bag and then seeing the option what would happen if we use that. So you can see the choice there. It's a very credible tree like that with that as the leader and the branches coming down like that. But if I wanted to use the full height of the tree I may have to switch it more like this and then use that as the apex. I'm going to wire some of these to see what it looks like. I wouldn't be in a rush to cut it off and then deal with this somehow. So we're going to do a little more wiring and the other option of course I haven't considered yet because this reminds me of these great big sequoia trees where you have a formal upright tree absolutely dead straight. If I can get Matthew to tilt the tree up so that this is vertical we'll see what it looks like. So if I can get you just to pop it up maybe with blocks of wood Matthew rather than tilt it. So with these just shove it just to get it vertical. Maybe even shove it into the pot maybe even more. You see because it reminds me of a great big sequoia tree. When you think it looks like these giant sequoias with the branches hanging down and you could have this as the front rather than a leaning tree. Just because it grew in the pot at that angle it doesn't mean it's got to be at that angle. So we'll wire the rest of the tree and see what happens to it. So look at it. Really stately looking tree. In fact sequoias do grow like this. So we'll proceed to wire the top as well. So let me take you through what I've done so far. After considering whether it is good slanting or straight I've come to the conclusion that having a formal upright tree is the best solution. Because this tree although it's a juniper resembles in character some of these giant redwoods of sequoia. So this is the sort of image that I want to create. A straight tall sequoia. Really stately tree with drooping branches. So there are a few more very critical decisions to make. The first one which is not such a major one is this protruding branch here. If you look at it here. If this is the front it's poking me straight in the eye and I don't think that's a good look. So I think we will make this into a short gin. Long gins don't often work well because unless they're curvy or with some movement they tend to look rather awkward. So let's make this into a much shorter gin. Gin nevertheless because many of these redwoods do lose branches and they do have gin effects. So I can always refine this at the later stage. But for the time being I'll leave it like that. For me the basic design and structure is all important. I'm not so worried about the detail. That I will take my time to execute and to do. So that has got rid of a problem. You see in the past we have removed some branches and done something there. This as I say is natural rotting. Because such an old tree has been growing for over 30 years on the nursery. It has rotted where I cut the lead off. Bits died and I ripped it off. So over the years we have ripped branches off this tree. So while it was growing I did do something to it. The other problem now is if I keep that as the apex. This is a problem branch here coming straight out at me. And if I removed it all together or removed it completely it wouldn't look quite right. So if I were to do the bag trick. I know I will get an apex on the tree. But somehow I think it won't look right if I removed it completely. See I want the top there to remain. I think I could remove some of it. So rather than remove it completely. This whole branch if you see it's jutting out from here. It's like another apex. At one point I did consider this to be a possible apex for the future. Probably not. Let me take a little bit of it off and see where we go. If I take this one which is jutting right out and then proceed to wire some of the other bits. It might work. So another bit of gin here. And then I'm going to wire these to make a small secondary apex to the tree. This branch here is doing nothing. So I'll probably cut this off. I think that's a fairly straightforward problem. Don't need that much in the way. Make a bit of gin there. Remember what I said that if you approach the problem one step at a time it will solve itself. So one step at a time we are gradually eliminating all these problem design aspects. Now this one I will now make into a little head there and it will look quite nice. So I probably won't show you what I'm doing there because it might take too much of valuable video time. So I'm going to create that to get that effect. And then you jump the gun a little bit. You see there's a problem here. This branch which I wired at some stage and left the wire on. It's shooting out at the back and there's this branch here. Both these are potential problems. So let me look at it again. If you look at it from the front. So we return to the tree. This is the front. This is my front marker. Straight in here. So I can create this. Now there's a gap here. I could possibly bring this branch around this side and make it hang like that to fill that space. I could also bring this branch around this way and fill the space here. I might well try to see how it looks. It may work. It may not work. But whatever it takes I will give it a go. So let me do a bit of wiring here and I will return again and see what happens next. All right. So let me show you where I've got to. So this is the tree and that's what it looks like. So the image of a tall giant redwood. A bit busy at the bottom if I might say so. Looking at the camera always tells you some of the faults. And you notice that I've put the famous bag at the back. My famous Peter Chan bag trick. So I've hidden two branches. This branch which was wired years ago and the other branch there. So two branches have been hidden and I'm going to almost certainly take it off. I don't need it because the apex is quite complete without those two branches. So I'm going to do a little bit of wiring to tidy up the top but I will certainly remove those two branches. So let me call my assistant or my cameraman to come and then I will show you what I'm doing. Moment of truth. I'm back hiding those two branches. If I can show you those are the two problem branches. So let's get rid of it. I will reduce it in height. These are all very radical important decisions which many people are frightened to take. But take you must. Otherwise you won't get an interesting tree. So I will reduce this gradually to see what the genetics are like. And if you look carefully now. Look at it from this side. If you look at the tree from here. Now this I don't think is necessary. It's hiding that lovely trunk. These small branches however nice they look. Taking years to grow I will take it off. I don't need that. I want to show the trunk as clear as possible. That's too busy. Take that off. Then I'm going to tidy the top and I'll show you what I was doing. I was because this is such a tall tree and I needed a high turntable to work on the lower branches. I've got to climb on top of my workbench. So I'm about four foot above the ground. Look at it. My children always tell me that I'm too old to be climbing and doing these dangerous things. But I can't help it. I love doing it. That's it. I've often told people that when you have a problem. It always helps to look at it from a distance. Distance of perspective gives a completely different image or analysis of the problem or whatever tree you're trying to design. So I'm standing right at the back of the greenhouse which is I would say at least 50 or 60 feet away. Must be at least 60 feet away. So you can see the tree in the distance. Let me walk closer and see. Straight away I can see that there are all sorts of problems with this tree. For my money I don't like the wide spreading branches at the base. The right hand side those branches are much too long. I will try and reduce the width of that to some extent. So as I come closer you see it looks quite nice but I think it could be shortened a little bit. But the apex is quite nice. Forget that CCTV camera at the top. But have a look at it. It's not bad. The spaces are filled but we could improve it just a slight bit. So the next thing would be to put it in its training pot and then we'll see where we go from there. But that would be a matter of refinement. So I reckon I have spent in all maybe not more than two and a half hours on this tree. We brought it from the field on Sunday afternoon. I started working on it on Tuesday, Wednesday an hour each and today about 20 minutes. So there you go. I'm going to get someone to pot it in its training pot and then do some final adjustments to the tree. So let me conclude this video by showing you where we've got to with the squamata. I have yet to clean the bark and polish some of this dead wood but because my videos are mainly to show you the general principles rather than producing a finished tree that takes so long to do. But I will complete it one day and show you this. But for the time being to complete the video let me show you what I've done. We worked on it for about three hours and this is what we've produced. We changed the front. It was a leaning, potential leaning style with this funny leader coming out on the left. But we are not looking at it from this side because this is the side view. The front view is completely different. So it's got like two apexes and that is what the tree looks like. So I hope you've enjoyed this.