Every spring I go around the property and check to see which shrubs and small trees need tending to. This year I zoned in on the 30 some year old Juniper growing on the corner of the porch.

Poor Juniper, I betcha it saw me coming with my saws and pruners and said to itself “I wish I could get my feet out of this dirt and get away before she gets here. This is the side of the Juniper that I haven’t tamed yet.

I would love to have a penny for every dead sucker I either broke off or clipped off. What a dirty mess it is. It just shadows out the fragrant lily of the valley that tries to come up all around the base of the shrub.

When I took all the dead stems off of the Juniper, those little lilies of the valley got hit with a blast of sunshine to beat all blasts of sunshine. It’s like “Whoa brother what is that?” Brother says I don’t know but I like it.

This is what it looked like when I started. What a bunch of tinder wood.

This bottom pic is what it looks like after I climbed inside of this Juniper and let it know who has the tools. As you can see I still have some work to do on the other side. Ugh!

I’m thinking about taking the lower branch and the one above it and maybe wire them together. I got nothin to lose. Then again I could just saw them off. Not sure, I’ll have to think about that one.

This is the massive twisted trunk. The wood is beautiful and is shedding the outer layer of its bark. It pulls off in strips leaving the fresh new wood to the wind. Again I’m not sure what to do with this either. Ya gotta remember I’m a real newbie and this is a big bush. 🙂

This view is from the porch. Seems like I created a natural breeze-way here. I came on the porch to see how it looked with the sun shining on the lily of the valley. Nice and clean underneath the juniper bush now. I still have work on the left side.

Just looking at the picture makes me cringe. I haven’t done anything to this side. See all them little tinder twigs in there, they gotta go. And the thicker branches are all twisted around each other, all in the quest to reach the sun. I got to get rid of the ones that didn’t make it.

Well, what do ya think, can I make a Bonsai Tree out of it?