Air/ground-layering a tall (but young) Juniper?

[zeejet]

I recently came across a good deal on a Juniper chinensis 'Torulosa' at a small local nursery. It's about 7' tall and 1.2" thick near the base. It's currently in a 5 gallon nursery container with nursery soil mix. Only 40USD.

The movement is subtle toward the base so I think this might make a decent practice run at an informal upright. I would like it to grow a bit thicker, but at it's current height, it's a bit unwieldy when it comes time next season to repot and do root work. However, I feel like it would be a waste of material to chop this down and not salvage some of it through airlayers.

I was initially hoping to take airlayers of the trunk twice - first on the top third section (April-May) and then again for the middle third section (June-July). This of course assumes it will take about 2 months to develop enough roots. I know airlayers are safer to perform on the branches rather than the main trunk but I figured I would ask here and see if there are any insights.

I would be attempting the standard ring method and using either sphagnum moss in a bag tied around the ring or an outfitted nursery pot with a moisture-retentive but still relatively well-draining bonsai mix (equal parts pumice, lava rock, fir bark, and potting mix).

Additionally, the tree was planted well above it's base and there is very little taper towards the base. I'm also considering ground layering this to grow a new nebari.

I would appreciate any feedback regarding this idea or any key tips for airlayering.

 

[Shibui]

I've never had any problem layering juniper trunks so not sure where that info is from. Junipers layer readily. Occasionally we see someone post that one hasn't worked but the majority root in a couple of months given reasonable conditions.
Provided there are enough branches between the 2 layer points you can do both at once. That should save you months in the process.
Layers will work with moss or any other good soil mix provided you keep the areas at good moisture levels. The bonsai mix has the advantage of being a bit easier to extract from the roots when you separate and pot up. Moss gets quite tangled in the new roots.

Additionally, the tree was planted well above it's base

Not sure what this means

No taper is hard to correct in junipers. Sacrifice branches can help. I've also used shari (deadwood carved trunk) to disguise lack of taper in some junipers. Ground layering will give you better roots but won't do much about taper.

A picture might make all this a lot easier to understand or to offer alternative options.

 

[zeejet]

The photo is a bit hard to digest (color of soil is same shade as the trunk). But it's essentially only flared on the sides, not evenly around the trunk. There is even some slight inverse taper due to the trunk being buried so deep (I had to dig about 6" below soil line to reveal the base).

At this point, I'm chalking this up to being overly eager beginner and taking a gamble. Lesson learned. I think with airlayering I can salvage the top section and maybe the mid-section.

Also, in the second photo, there is this thick gnarly section halfway up the trunk - what is this? Can I utilize it at all? or is it more of a nuisance that I should work around?

 

[Shibui]

Unfortunately, it's all too common to find commercial trees planted real deep in pots. Given time they usually grow a whole new set of roots just below the soil. My guess is the visible roots are just a couple that started growing above the main root mass when it was planted deep.
I try to impress on beginners the importance of checking roots first but some are still to embarrassed to dig down in pots at the nursery.
The problem is not ideal but also not insurmountable.

I'd be checking further down to see if there's a better spread of roots down below. There usually is and you can simply remove those few extra roots. The tree won't miss those few if it has better roots down lower.
Some things to watch for when doing this: Trunks swell where roots are attached so inverse taper is common where there are high roots. Check carefully before committing to remove high roots.
Removing upper roots will obviously make the trunk even taller so may not be the best option. Ground layer to get better roots and reduce height might be better.

That swelling on the trunk my just be callus growing over an old wound but I have seen that you guys get cedar apple rust which is a disease that causes swelling on junipers. We don't have it so not sure how to ID. Maybe someone from the states who knows might give an opinion.

 

[zeejet]

I'd be checking further down to see if there's a better spread of roots down below. There usually is and you can simply remove those few extra roots. The tree won't miss those few if it has better roots down lower.
Some things to watch for when doing this: Trunks swell where roots are attached so inverse taper is common where there are high roots. Check carefully before committing to remove high roots.
Removing upper roots will obviously make the trunk even taller so may not be the best option. Ground layer to get better roots and reduce height might be better.

The tree is too tall to be digging too much further down at the moment (it's staked currently but a 7' tree in a 5 gallon pot with top 6" of soil removed is already precarious).

I started the airlayer last night on the top section - waiting for second opinions before attempted a second airlayer further down the trunk.

 

[zeejet]

I'm revisiting the future development of this tree and was reading that conifer strength comes from foliage and cannot handle hard chops to the first branch the way deciduous trees with vigorous back budding might. The lower section of the tree has very little taper and I suspect I will like need to be developed it as a tall formal upright (redwood style) with maybe some jinning/splitting of the main apex to create a sense of taper and interest. Any thought son this plan?

 

[hardtimes]

Junipers look great in an upright style. I think torulosa is hollywood juniper, very common in the landscape around here. You could wire the top branches for practice. Looks like you’re already planning to make a chop, it’s a good opportunity to practice making a jin if you’re into it

 

[bwaynef]

This is one of the times that airlayering sets the tree back. The tree doesn't seem to be remarkable in any way. That is to say, there's a dozen more like it at the nursery. (We don't see a ton of J. torulosa over here, but I don't think they're rare where you are.) And you seem to be pretty pleased with the price. Go ahead and cut the top off and start developing what you see there. Granted, you may have to reduce it in stages to maintain the health of what's below.

Airlayering for propagation of a species/variety that isn't rare isn't time well-spent unless the results will yield a tree better than what you currently have. Airlayer a sweet shohin off the top of a tree and its justified. Delaying development of a tree by 4+ months simply so you'll have additional material that's easily had in your area seems like a waste.

 

[zeejet]

Junipers look great in an upright style. I think torulosa is hollywood juniper, very common in the landscape around here. You could wire the top branches for practice. Looks like you’re already planning to make a chop, it’s a good opportunity to practice making a jin if you’re into it.

Yea, it's hollywood juniper, a landscaping variety of Juniperus chinensis. It's essentially a practice tree at this point since it's not really ideal for bonsai and we've established that it has it's challenges.

This is one of the times that airlayering sets the tree back. The tree doesn't seem to be remarkable in any way. That is to say, there's a dozen more like it at the nursery. (We don't see a ton of J. torulosa over here, but I don't think they're rare where you are.) And you seem to be pretty pleased with the price. Go ahead and cut the top off and start developing what you see there. Granted, you may have to reduce it in stages to maintain the health of what's below.

Airlayering for propagation of a species/variety that isn't rare isn't time well-spent unless the results will yield a tree better than what you currently have. Airlayer a sweet shohin off the top of a tree and its justified. Delaying development of a tree by 4+ months simply so you'll have additional material that's easily had in your area seems like a waste.

Thanks for the insight!

The top airlayer isn't remarkable either - slightly more taper and plenty of branches with a 1" trunk caliper, but otherwise nothing special (some potential for wiring toward the top whip). It's essentially a sunk-cost situation where I don't want to give up the mass available up top but it sounds like the time invested and potential damage to the health of the tree might not be worth it.

I bought it because of a beginner mindset and naivette around pricing and tree potential as I'm starting to learn what constitutes a good investment in terms of money and time. As mentioned, this is essentially an educational tree at this point that may or may not yield something worthwhile. Worst case, it's a $40 learning experience.

Furthermore, my impatience has led me to chase trunk caliper, which is why this is my first conifer. I couldn't bring myself to learn on tiny gallon-sized nursery stock although I could probably learn quite a bit from that too for even less invested.