I’ve had this tree for about 10 years and have never done much with it. I pruned back now and again, I think I even wired it at one point a few years back. I toyed with the idea of layering off the top at one point last year but opted against it. I brought it into the garage on Friday night past for a look and after some tilting and thinking I decided that it was time for a little work and a repot.
This was it just off the bench. A big lump of wood.
Some nice movement in the trunk line, not a lot of taper but I still like the image.
I changed the front slightly to show the movement off better and tilted the tree into a slightly more upright position.
The root at the right hand side was possibly dead. I wouldn’t know until I repot.
I did some basic wiring and removed some of the unnecessary branches.
Transferred over to the repotting table.
Tools at the ready.
Mix at the ready too.
During the repotting I was able to get a good look at that root and although it was partially alive, it was extremely weak and I was able to remove and do a little basic carving. This can be refined at a later date.
This was the problem root. I needed to twist the tree about 20 degrees to a new front. This root would not allow me to fitr the tree into the pot at the new position.
I was able to remove the fine root from the last few inches without impacting to much on the health of the tree.
This allowed me to remove this portion to facilitate the new position.
About 2 years ago I remember nicking the underside of the baby trunk in an attempt to get it to root. Not a great success but it did root.
Outside for a watering. I had to get my eldest son to assist with the repot as it would have been impossible to do this on my own. He snapped a few shots while I was watering it in.
This is the new position. Pot is not ideal but the only one I had that worked. I now have a basic structure to work with and must admit that I rather like the mother and child image that is created by leaving the small secondary trunk. Not for everyone but I like it. I looks as if Mum is protecting the child. I wouldn’t mess with her, she bites like Suarez 🙂
Now tucked away in the tunnel to keep it out of the wind for a few weeks until it settles down. I see a few flower buds on the tree as well.
A combination of jet lag and excitment led to this first photo taken at 4 a.m. The workshop was filled with tress with many others on-deck.
A massive California Juniper (right) and Sierra Juniper (left) dominated the workshop. The Sierra Juniper became my main project tree for the week. 
The dead wood on the Ca Juniper was unreal.
Before we started working on our…
Bonsai Eejit 