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August 2014: During a one-to-one lesson in my garden in August, all of the existing wire was removed from the branches. The tree was then prepared for rewiring by thoroughly pruning and thinning out the foliage mass. Whirls of branches and shoots were pruned so that at every branch-junction, the branch only divided into two. Each shoot was then left with a flat spray of foliage ready for rewiring and placement. (For information on these techniques please read Styling Juniper Bonsai Branches : Thinning Out) (opens in new window)

October 2014: In October, during a bonsai course I was conducting, I decided to spend two sessions styling the Juniper bonsai to completion.

Our first job was to begin to refine the deadwood and life-lines on the trunk of the tree. On Junipers, and the majority of coniferous tree species, there is a very direct connection between each shoot and its foliage, down along the trunk to the specific root(s) that is supporting it.

If the foliage is removed, the branch that supports it dies. This dieback then travels back down the live-veins (or life-lines) to the roots that had supported and fed the foliage.

The reverse is also true, if a heavy root dies or is removed, it is then noticeable that the life-line it supports will die all the way up the trunk and out to its connected branch at which point the foliage dies.

A consequence of the die-back of a life-line is then that as the dead bark falls away, it creates a shari; the familiar line of deadwood that one often sees on old coniferous trees.

October 2014: During my pruning session on this Juniper in August, I had removed all of the foliage from a heavy branch (top right of the image). As the branch no longer had any foliage, it was natural for it to die-back all the way down the trunk to its supporting roots. Rather than wait for the shari to appear naturally, I decided we would find and remove the now-redundant lifeline and turn it into a shari ourselves.

Finding the exact, precise edge to a lifeline is not easy however, but with some experience, the grain of the bark can be followed and the approximate edges of the lifeline marked out. (Over the following years, the tree then indicates where the precise edge of the lifeline belongs as it callouses along its edge).

October 2014: After I had marked and then cut the edge of the lifeline to be removed, my student Alistair began removing the bark and fleshy wood immediately below it with a knife.

October 2014: Alistair continued down the trunk, following my marks and removing the lifeline.

October 2014: The newly removed lifeline as seen from another angle. The newly created deadwood is still resinuous and much lighter in colour than the existing, aged deadwood.

October 2014: Before and after removing the lifeline.

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