Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

Bonsai Development Series #24: Twisting young junipers

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The best strategy for creating junipers with interesting deadwood is to add twists to the trunk while the tree is still young.

Some people begin by twisting young whips before they add movement. The alternative is to twist the trunk while setting the initial bends. Here’s what this looks like on a rooted cutting that has been wired but not twisted.

Ready for the first twist

Ready for the first twist

I start by twisting and bending the base of the trunk. Here’s the tree after creating a full revolution in the lower trunk.

One full twist

One full twist

I attached a small wire to make it easy to see how many times I twisted the trunk and added another turn.

Two full twists

Two full twists

At this point, I’d only wired the bottom few inches of the trunk. Next came the middle and upper sections of the trunk.

Three full twists

Three full twists

Four full twists

Four twists

Five full twists

Five twists

By creating so many twists, I’ve given myself the opportunity to create interesting shari down the road that wraps around the bends of the trunk.

If you wire enough trees like this, you might notice that the movement can become repetitive or corkscrew-like. To vary the movement, you can twist the top half of the tree in the opposite direction.

Changing the spiral half-way

Changing the spiral half-way up

Here’s what this looks like on a young juniper.

Changing the spiral

The direction of the spiral changes behind a branch

After bending

After bending

Even these cursory tips on creating twists in the trunk or branches can provide insight into how some of the most dramatic shohin junipers in Japan are created.

Shohin juniper

Shohin juniper displayed at the 2017 World Bonsai Convention in Saitama, Japan

New Episode on the Bonsai Wire Podcast

I recently talked with Andrew Robson about the creation of his bonsai garden, Rakuyo Bonsai. Andrew’s goal for Rakuyo is to create a space for the development and exploration of deciduous species as bonsai.

It was great to catch up with Andrew and learn about his plans for Rakuyo as he lays the foundation for his burgeoning collection. You can listen to the episode at Bonsaiwirepodcast.com.

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Comments

  1. ah ha! changing the direction of the spiral was what i wasn’t thinking of. thanks for the tips.

    • I remove the wire after it cuts in a little. If the bends relax, which they usually do, I rewire, repeating the process until the trunk holds the shape I have in mind for it.

  3. Thanks as always Jonas, your blog is gold for a young enthusiast as myself. How much time goes into the creation of a shohin like that from young material? It looks like A TON of deadwood! Could you explain how to approach a jin like that?

    • Thanks, Alessandro! A tree of that quality could be a 25-30 year project. The basic approach is the same – I plan to fill in more details in future posts. Some tips: if you wire the sacrifice branches, they can become jin; if you create shari early in the process, you can change the shape of the trunk (note the deadwood “fins” near the base of the main trunk).

      • Thanks for your reply! I will embark on such project soon, I also planted some black pines out of inspiration from what you do! I will look forward to future posts as I have some experience with deciduous species but conifers really scare me

  4. Hi Jonas,
    Is this the way Mas Ishi created those mame shimpaku at his place down in LA?

    Thanks
    Vance hanna

  5. Hi Jonas,
    Do you use pliers to stabilize the tree shaft while twisting? BTW, a video will be very helpful for newbies like me 🙂

    • Hi Mert! I occasionally use pliers when bending, but it’s mostly done by hand. I do, however, use pliers while applying the wire. Towards the end of the cutting where the trunk is slender but the wire is heavy, I’ll secure the wire with pliers.

      And thanks for the video encouragement. I have a few things in the works for later this year so I hope to have some video to share before too long.