Cutting back raw juniper media (old gold) material

[Jurij]

Hello!
I am fairly new to juniper bonsais and am intrested in creating one from this gold star nursery stock I bought for 12€ (quite a steal).
Couple questions about making a slanting bonsai in the future years...

1. How much can I safely prune back this early spring? The tree looks healthy and did not have much dead/weak foliage near the trunk. The growth on the branches is good from the trunk to the end.

2. I want to cut back 3 big branches at the middle of the trunk (to big/thick for the composition I have in mind), making jin out of them. Should I cut them off this spring leaving no foliage and make a jin at the end of summer/the next season when the tree regains it strength?

3. Does Juniper media backbud willingly? How many years am I looking at to get a branch aprox. 4mm in thicknes from newly form growth/buds?

If it would be possible I would cut back the tree leaving enough foliage on so that the tree regains its strength and produces buds on the trunk. The tree will stay potted in its original soil for now.

Thank you for all the help in advance!

 

[Shibui]

1. How much can I safely prune back this early spring?

Depends what you want. I'd normally cut up to 50% from healthy juniper. You may get some juvenile regrowth but that's transitory.

2. I want to cut back 3 big branches at the middle of the trunk (to big/thick for the composition I have in mind), making jin out of them. Should I cut them off this spring leaving no foliage and make a jin at the end of summer/the next season when the tree regains it strength?

Cut them if you want. Definitely strip the bark as soon as you prune. Bark will pel off a fresh cut but will stick to dead wood. Just be aware that the wood inside the branches will be only 1/3 of the branch. Don't expect solid jins from skinny branches.

3. Does Juniper media backbud willingly? How many years am I looking at to get a branch aprox. 4mm in thicknes from newly form growth/buds?

All junipers back bud. Willingly? maybe , maybe not. Depend on our definitions.
How long? Depends how you grow the tree.
In the ground, maybe 2 years. In a smaller pot, maybe 10 years. Not possible t o be more precise

 

[Jurij]

Depends what you want. I'd normally cut up to 50% from healthy juniper. You may get some juvenile regrowth but that's transitory.

Cut them if you want. Definitely strip the bark as soon as you prune. Bark will pel off a fresh cut but will stick to dead wood. Just be aware that the wood inside the branches will be only 1/3 of the branch. Don't expect solid jins from skinny branches.

All junipers back bud. Willingly? maybe , maybe not. Depend on our definitions.
How long? Depends how you grow the tree.
In the ground, maybe 2 years. In a smaller pot, maybe 10 years. Not possible t o be more precise

Thank You, just the answers I was looking for.
Still, two more things if You could help me... is lime sulfur on deadwood always needed? The juniper is curently sitting in a 4/5L pot of dirt, is that good enough... I may put it in a bigger pot because I might not be able to put it in the ground.

 

[Shibui]

is lime sulfur on deadwood always needed?

Lime sulphur is a preservative. We use it to stop the dead wood rotting away. If you don't care if the wood rots then don't use it but if the dead wood is part of the design you will need to use something to make the wood last. Without any treatment dead juniper wood lasts maybe 5-10 years. Less if the jins are thin.

The juniper is curently sitting in a 4/5L pot of dirt, is that good enough... I may put it in a bigger pot because I might not be able to put it in the ground.

We can still develop good trees in pots. It just takes a few more years to get to the same stage. On the plus side, if you get some problems developing - ugly roots, inverse taper, etc - you'll have a better chance of fixing the problems before they get too bad.
When upsizing pots it is best not to go too big all at once. If the roots can't fill the pot in a few months you can get root problems. A 4 or 5 litre pot should be about right for that juniper this year.

When you say pot of dirt, does that mean you've used garden soil in the pot or does dirt mean some sort of potting mix? Generally we avoid garden soil in pots because it holds too much water and not enough air and can cause root rot unless you are very careful.

 

[Jurij]

Lime sulphur is a preservative. We use it to stop the dead wood rotting away. If you don't care if the wood rots then don't use it but if the dead wood is part of the design you will need to use something to make the wood last. Without any treatment dead juniper wood lasts maybe 5-10 years. Less if the jins are thin.


We can still develop good trees in pots. It just takes a few more years to get to the same stage. On the plus side, if you get some problems developing - ugly roots, inverse taper, etc - you'll have a better chance of fixing the problems before they get too bad.
When upsizing pots it is best not to go too big all at once. If the roots can't fill the pot in a few months you can get root problems. A 4 or 5 litre pot should be about right for that juniper this year.

When you say pot of dirt, does that mean you've used garden soil in the pot or does dirt mean some sort of potting mix? Generally we avoid garden soil in pots because it holds too much water and not enough air and can cause root rot unless you are very careful.

The pot of dirt I was referring to is the soil the tree came in with. If You have any suggestions what soils are good for bonsai/prebonsai I will be happy to take them... I'm not to keen with inorganic soil as I can be away for two weeks at a time during summer and I dont trust others with taking care of my bonsai daily hehe.
Thanks

 

[Shibui]

All good. I'm assuming the original grower used a reasonable potting soil as the tree seems to be healthy and growing well.
You could double the size of the pot with no problems and get increased growth over the next year or 2. Make sure you tease out the roots when you up pot to encourage them out into the new soil.
Any good commercial potting mix will be Ok for the growing and development phase over the next few years. Not sure what's available in Slovenia but I assume your plant shops sell bags of potting mix? Avoid the cheapest options as they are usually not good for long term growth. Paying a bit extra for good potting mix is not a waste of money. It's an investment in the future of your tree. Organic is no problem. My basic mix is 70% pine bark and seems to work quite well for me, under the conditions here. You wilol just have to make sure you don't water too much when you are home. Junipers do not like to be dry but also don't like constantly soggy roots.

Note that juniper media is quite slow growing. It can sometimes take a few years before you notice much change.

 

[Pájaro]

Hi @Jurij
Found a really nice nursery stock Juniper x media for an awesome price, too.
After checking the forum for the references on the species I decided to go first for a repot and only touch the green once I see strong recovering happening, that may be or not during this season.
The pot where it came home it was packed with long and thick roots, so I think that was a good decision. Tried to remove less than 50% of the root mass though and ended up in a bigger container that i first thought. Well, at least now is in a better soil components I hope.
The cultivar looks really good ( perhaps Pfitzeriana, but not sure) it has supper interesting color huge and foliage is definetly more compact that sabina. They tend to be a hybrid of sabina x chinesis.
I going to cover it for few days ( still 0ºC at night where I am ) and set it outside once temp start to rise during spring.
Did not pay too much attention to potting angle so you dont see much the trunk movement and the possible jins, on the repoted picture.

Hope this helps to you,
Open to suggestions from anyone as well



Cheers

 

[Jurij]

Hi @Jurij
Found a really nice nursery stock Juniper x media for an awesome price, too.
After checking the forum for the references on the species I decided to go first for a repot and only touch the green once I see strong recovering happening, that may be or not during this season.
The pot where it came home it was packed with long and thick roots, so I think that was a good decision. Tried to remove less than 50% of the root mass though and ended up in a bigger container that i first thought. Well, at least now is in a better soil components I hope.
The cultivar looks really good ( perhaps Pfitzeriana, but not sure) it has supper interesting color huge and foliage is definetly more compact that sabina. They tend to be a hybrid of sabina x chinesis.
I going to cover it for few days ( still 0ºC at night where I am ) and set it outside once temp start to rise during spring.
Did not pay too much attention to potting angle so you dont see much the trunk movement and the possible jins, on the repoted picture.

Hope this helps to you,
Open to suggestions from anyone as well

View attachment 587087View attachment 587092

Cheers

Hello, looks like it has amazing potential! All the best of luck with it. I'll start slow with repotting my material same as you and I will prune it back hard next year.