Asking for O'Piñons on these junipers

[Desert O'Piñon]

I'll start with this one. A $4 rescue from the clearance rack. I don't remember the cultivar, but the new growth gets a nice yellow color. It's been in the ground for about 3 years now. It's healthy and vigorous, and it seems to be ready for work. Is it worth trying? I planted it over a stone before I had a clue, thinking I could do RoR. But it seems a better candidate now for a neagari styling of the roots.
If it could be an actual bonsai, where do I go from here?
1. How do I bring new buds closer to the frame of the tree? (I assume from what I've read here that it would be through my pruning technique?)
2. What is my best bet for developing the roots?
3. What's right with this tree?
4. What's wrong with it?

I know ya'll won't disappoint. Hit me with the good, the bad, and the Uggly. The tree has no name yet, anyway.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

It will be going into a nursery pot in a couple weeks for development as I determine next steps. It will be in a mix of DE and perlite.

 

[Shibui]

To get buds on bare sections of junipers you can graft shoots exactly where you want them. Or you can prune the branches, cross fingers and wait. Most healthy junipers respond to pruning by developing lots of new shoots back along the branches - mostly in crotches where branches grow from the main trunk or from the main branch. Occasionally we can get buds along bare branches. Then it just takes time. Encourage the shoots in desirable places, discourage the longer ones by pruning harder and more often. Just make sure the new shoots don't get left too long or they'll end up just like the old ones.
Both methods seem to take 4-5 years to achieve good results. Maybe a bit quicker if your tree is growing well in the ground? maybe slower if conditions are not quite optimum.

Your assessment of the nebari agrees with mine. It's definitely not classic spreading roots but then, junipers don't grow naturally in lovely fertile soils so wild trees more often have roots wherever they can grow so I'm happy to work with odd roots on juniper. This is a great example of small tangled roots on a potted tree becoming big tangled roots after a few years in the ground. At this stage you either have to work with what you have or start over.

I've tried to make some assessment of the trunk and branches but finding great difficulty as evergreen foliage blocks the view of most branches making it difficult to work out where branches start and go to in which directions. Photos taken from different elevations don't help.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I will try to get some better shots tomorrow. I'm still learning how to get the most helpful pictures.
Thanks for your reply, @Shibui. I appreciate your input. I'm still unfamiliar with backbudding, especially in conifers.

My plan for digging is not to bare-root it, but to work it into an inorganic mix over the next two or three years. Does this sound right?

 

[Shibui]

I routinely shake off as much of the field soil as I can without damaging the roots when I dig so there's no need for a slow transition. Having said that, I lost 2 out of 3 large juniper transplants this year. I suspect they dried out a bit too much before establishing new roots. Maybe I just got a bit too complaisant this year after years of good results

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I hope these are sufficient to show enough branch structure. I can take pretty decent landscapes, but I seem to have some sort of mental block against even fair tree pics.

 

[Shibui]

FWIW, photos of junipers are notoriously difficult because the foliage always blocks the best views of the trunk and branches.
I can see that the main upright trunk is very straight, with almost no taper. I suspect it will be very difficult to incorporate that into any future bonsai. At best it will take many years before some of that can be used.

Try looking at the remaining lower branches, disregard that longer trunk and see if you can find something in those lower branches.

From this angle the branch highlighted in red looks quite attractive.

You still have long, bare branches but should be able to get new growth a little easier than the thicker main trunk.

This branch is also bare and lacks taper but might be possible to work with it. I think I'd be looking at that as the main trunk rather than a branch though.

Jin the upright trunk (marked blue in the first pic). Bend this one upward and use the side branches on it to make the canopy of your Juniper bonsai. The remaining branches become branches on your bonsai.

As with any online advice please confirm everything on the actual tree. Because photos are 2D I may not be able to see movement which may make any of these options non viable.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I was afraid you were going to back me up and support what I've been thinking has to be done. I was right. Removing the "main" trunk is the same thing I was thinking. It will give me some practice with creating deadwood. I was hoping to be able to use all of the main branches, but they just have too much spread. They are just kind of awkward.
I was thinking I shouldn't move this into a pot at the same time as the pruning. Would it be better to leave it in the ground one more year to recover after pruning it this year? We're having near record high temperatures this week, and I'm concerned about my trees coming out of dormancy before a big drop to below freezing again, so I plan to wait until at least the end of the month before pruning and/or transplanting to avoid additional stressors.

 

[Scriv]

I was afraid you were going to back me up and support what I've been thinking has to be done. I was right. Removing the "main" trunk is the same thing I was thinking. It will give me some practice with creating deadwood. I was hoping to be able to use all of the main branches, but they just have too much spread. They are just kind of awkward.
I was thinking I shouldn't move this into a pot at the same time as the pruning. Would it be better to leave it in the ground one more year to recover after pruning it this year? We're having near record high temperatures this week, and I'm concerned about my trees coming out of dormancy before a big drop to below freezing again, so I plan to wait until at least the end of the month before pruning and/or transplanting to avoid additional stressors.

Now would be a good time to harvest the tree and move it into a pot given where you live. Collecting becomes iffy when temps hit the extremes. Too cold or too hot. The tree waking up from dormancy is irrelevant when it comes to juniper if the tree is healthy. The sooner you move the tree into a pot, the sooner you can start working it. I’d just go for it and dial in your aftercare, which is what really matters with collected material. Tom Vuong and Randy Knight are excellent resources for post collection aftercare.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

Now would be a good time to harvest the tree and move it into a pot given where you live. Collecting becomes iffy when temps hit the extremes. Too cold or too hot. The tree waking up from dormancy is irrelevant when it comes to juniper if the tree is healthy.

I imagine you're in a pretty similar summer climate as I am; it's likely our winters are a little colder than yours. Two weeks ago, we hit 9° for a low, highs around 30° for a couple days. Yesterday we started a week+ of 80s. I moved my P. afras outside for the warm spell. I expect it to get cold again, but maybe winter is over. We never know.
i suppose digging it now (this weekend) will give me a better idea for what to do with the roots.
Thanks for the tips on the aftercare resources.

 

[Scriv]

Yeah, that's much colder than I would've thought it was where you are. Maybe wait a few weeks? You just don't want to wait too long as summer in the high desert is brutal as you said... and if the tree hasn't started pushing new roots and stabilizing by the time you hit triple digits consistently you'll be in a tough spot.

Just try to get as many roots as possible and leave the area under the base of the tree untouched. Pure pumice as substrate. Place in a wood box or Anderson Flat if you can find one. Keep out of the wind and in the shade until you see new roots pushing through the bottom of the container. Be very careful not to overwater as the roots won't uptake water at the same rate established trees do and they're easy to drown. I like to park a steak skewer in there at all times -- if it's damp, don't water. Misting is also ideal if you can stomach the burden of doing it multiple times a day, throughout the day. Collected trees reestablishing a root system like humidity and there isn't much in NM or SoCal. That's pretty much it.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

I can keep it in the flowerbed on the north side of the house. Pure pumice makes me nervous, as I've lost a couple healthy trees that I hadn't even pruned. I was thinking of trying something like a pumice or perlite with DE and maybe about 10% or 15% coco coir. I will water sparingly, and I have a couple dozen bamboo chopsticks anxiously waiting for their call to duty. I'll be closely monitoring the soil moisture. I can get my son to sprinkle the foliage through the day, but I think the flowerbed humidity is significantly higher and the temperature lower, though I have no way to measure.