Before and after Procumbens Juniper by Todd Schlafer at the Des Moines Botanical Gardens

Continuing with our venerable Before and After tradition…
This is only the second time* we’ve featured bonsai by Todd Schlafer, but there will certainly be more. Todd  is one of a significant (in numbers and skill) crop of young North American bonsai artists . You can enjoy more of Todd’s bonsai on his First Branch Bonsai website, on facebook and in the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album

Before. As you can see, the trunk is already developed and doesn't require too much beyond cleaning up and a few other deft touches. It's top half of the tree that needs more time and skill to bring back to shape

There it is. Great touch! It's hard to know what was under all that foliage in the before photo, but if you've ever tried to bring an overgrown specimen back to (or beyond) it's original beauty, you know that considerable skill and vision is required

*Here’s your link to our first post featuring Todd’s bonsai