Juniperus Squamata Meyeri pt 6 - building pads

So it's 3 months since the major rework and I've taken some shots to show how the pad development is coming along.

As with everything Squamata, it's messy and never wants to stick to your plan, but the pads are coming along and thickening up nicely

Fairly balanced growth here, after taking out leading shoots which have 2 buds behind. These in turn have produced a central shoot with 2 buds further back which have just been removed.....you get the idea..

and again.....you can see here where i've just removed the 2nd gen central bud and am awaiting these to extend. Note that the pad begins to fill out but some shoots look leggy inside. These may be subject to removal at a later date when  need to redirect some energy to other branches, but they stay for the meantime

Here's a typical overview of a pad below- one half(the right from from the primary branch) is filling nicely, but the left is a little slower. However, look closely and you'll see that every shoot on the left is jam packed with backbudding. I expect some serious progress on the left over the next month or so as it grows quite fast now. I'll just prune back shoots on the right to a pair of back buds lower down to balance the energy if growth continues at this rate,

An idea of how the pads are beginning to form below.....some gaps but this is only 3 months in, so I'm delighted with progress so far....

IT's a bit of a mess design wise but it's no longer as leggy and bare as it was, and this continual cycle of feeding and waiting for the right shoot to throw two side buds is working well.... I can rewire as and when I need to and remove unneccessary shoots. I've been leaving them as much as possible to retain vigour while I pinch out leaders in key areas

The top is still relatively under developed in comparison, as I over estimated how much will need removing off the top when I tackled it firs time around, but I'm going to prune back the heavier areas on the sides in the next week or so to push growth to weaker areas such as the top and the far left lower extension.

More in a  few weeks, but on it's current trajectory I couldnt' ask for more really....