Page 44 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2016Q2

1–3
After harvest the plant is repotted in crushed granite
and lava rock to retain moisture, and as mentioned,
the plant is treated as a large cutting (frequent mists
and under shade) until it shows signs of recovery. At
that point it can be moved into the light and watered
normally.
The foliage of the California juniper is very dense
and coarse. This allows the plant to absorb the little
moisture available during the morning dew point that
results from the cycle of hot, dry days and cold nights.
I can say from experience, and the pictures that fol-
low are proof, that if fertilized, these junipers grow
like crazy considering the environment in which they
are accustomed. Water and fertilizer for them is like a
party at the Playboy mansion for me!
But back to our serious subject…
Just after just six months at my friend Hank’s house,
1 with constant watering and fertilizing, the juniper had
rooted and grown abundantly. It was already time for
the first styling, otherwise the new sprouts would be-
come too thick to bend.
4
Everything is ready to start the day!

5–6
Obviously it is a thick trunk with plenty of dead-
wood. A large living vein runs through the trunk,
splitting into two parts in the apical area. Other
stumps with veins cut at harvest should be cleaned
and carved. The live vein should be cleaned to better
reveal the motion of the trunk, and to choose the best
angle for the front of the tree.

7–8
2
Equipped with chisels and knives, Hank Fawcett
and Ben Griffin, my excellent assistants, begin to
clean the live vein, removing the old bark, which on
the California juniper is very thick to protect the vein
in the event of a fire.

9–10
The dead and dry parts of the bark are scraped away
to expose the wood grain in anticipation of carving the
dead branches. Thus it begins, breaking the dead parts
to create jin and shari, reducing them in size thanks
to big branch splitters. I’m not a lover of drills if they
are not absolutely necessary; for this work everything
was done manually with a lot of elbow grease from
Ben, Hank, and me.

3
The tree was nurtured by Hank Fawcett prior
to styling.

42 | BCI | April/May/June 2016