Grafting Juniper Help

[samsam563]

I just bought a rocky mountain juniper (yamadori) from a bonsai nursery.
I was wondering can I graft a Juniperus procumbens 'Nana' onto the rocky mountain juniper or does it need to be a different conifer. I read online that they needs to be from the cupressaceae family. Which other junipers can I graft onto the rocky mountain juniper or will the nana be fine?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Juniper to juniper. I would suggest Shimpaku, as a far superior alternative to p. Nana. Some RMJ foliage is very good as is...is yours?

 

[samsam563]

Juniper to juniper. I would suggest Shimpaku, as a far superior alternative to p. Nana. Some RMJ foliage is very good as is...is yours?

May I have your input please? This would be my first attempt at grafting. What are some of your thoughts on the image below?

 

[sorce]

What are some of your thoughts on the image below?

The white bar on the left is rather off-putting, but the red bowl in the grass is a wonderful accent.
The black sack is kinda big for that little seedling. What is it?
Also, the thing weeping down from the sky, what is that?
The metal shelving stuff is interesting to me as I am rebuilding a chicken coop and I could use those things. Why is one on the ground? Rabid squirrels?

My squirrels have White Ears!



Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

May I have your input please? This would be my first attempt at grafting. What are some of your thoughts on the image below?

Unless you’re going for a literati style (look it up), you’re going to need to bring the foliage in closer to the base, where it seems the interest lies; either by grafting or by bending that trunk. With collected junipers, the charm is the interplay between life and death. Yours has life running far from death.

The foliage on yours appears to be droopy, which is a challenging characteristic for juniper styling. You’ll always be fighting it to look tidy. For this reason, I’d graft.

Approach-grafting has a higher success rate. Here is a link to a post showing approach-grafting shimpaku to RMJ.

Still Changing Clothes, RMJ to Itoigawa

Over four years ago, I started grafting Itoigawa cuttings into this collected RMJ. Since the first attempt failed, I have been very reluctant to cut the roots, even though I suspect the grafts have…

nebaribonsai.wordpress.com

 

[TN_Jim]

My squirrels have White Ears!

Whoa!!!
You my friend, are a beautiful man

 

[samsam563]

The white bar on the left is rather off-putting, but the red bowl in the grass is a wonderful accent.
The black sack is kinda big for that little seedling. What is it?
Also, the thing weeping down from the sky, what is that?
The metal shelving stuff is interesting to me as I am rebuilding a chicken coop and I could use those things. Why is one on the ground? Rabid squirrels?

My squirrels have White Ears!View attachment 273125

View attachment 273126

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

Unless you’re going for a literati style (look it up), you’re going to need to bring the foliage in closer to the base, where it seems the interest lies; either by grafting or by bending that trunk. With collected junipers, the charm is the interplay between life and death. Yours has life running far from death.

The foliage on yours appears to be droopy, which is a challenging characteristic for juniper styling. You’ll always be fighting it to look tidy. For this reason, I’d graft.

Approach-grafting has a higher success rate. Here is a link to a post showing approach-grafting shimpaku to RMJ.

Still Changing Clothes, RMJ to Itoigawa

Over four years ago, I started grafting Itoigawa cuttings into this collected RMJ. Since the first attempt failed, I have been very reluctant to cut the roots, even though I suspect the grafts have…

nebaribonsai.wordpress.com

your wisdom is very helpful and informative. Thank you very much for the tips

 

[Shibui]

I would second Shimpaku being superior to procumbens.
The challenges of styling that tree from foliage way up top probably outweighs the time and effort to graft new foliage lower down so I'd also go for approach grafting at a few points along the living trunk.