Foxboro
Sapling
Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this. I am very new to bonsai. I purchased a small Japanese Juniper bonsai from a roadside stand a couple months ago. I've done some pruning and shaping, I even added a few rocks and some moss for some landscaping. It's still in its original little plastic bonsai pot and I'm having success keeping it alive. It did peak my interest in learning to grow and shape and train my own. I bought a little Juniper Procumbens at Lowe's, same species as the bonsai I purchased. I went a little crazy with it I think and rushed to prune it and re-pot it and landscape it before knowing much about the timing required to maintain a successful bonsai. It is now drying up and I'm afraid it will die. Lessons learned. I bought another little Procumbens from Lowe's and cleaned it up, and began shaping and pruning, I even tried my hand at a little wiring. This one has been kept in it's plastic growing pot from the store, and so far is not showing the symptoms that the other one displayed. I think I'll keep that on in its pot until I know better about when to re-pot for bonsai. Just a little backstory there.........
This brings us to my questions. I went head over heels researching and looking at all types of bonsai and it really gave me the desire to try my hand at something bigger, older and more elaborate. I went to a local small landscaping nursery to see what they may have as good bonsai stock. Well, they had ONE plant that was bigger and cooler than the rest. It had been set aside and was neglected. It was covered in dead pine needles from the trees above and littered with debris from the nursery. I also suspect that the local tom cat may have favored it for a bathroom, as I noticed an ammonia smell on it after getting it in the van. They had no other plants of this species that I saw. As it turns out, I believe it's an older Chinese Juniper. In my excitement, I rushed it home and began cutting off most of the dead material. I cleaned out the top of the pot and cut the excess rim of the pot away so that I could really get to its trunk. (three twisting, criss-crossing trunks btw). I pinched or cut most of the foliage that was growing downward and tried to find its best features. The tree definitely needs some TLC. Some of the older foliage closest to the branches is much darker than the rest, almost appearing sick but I'm not familiar with this particular species enough to know if that's normal. The man seemed to believe it had been at his nursery for quite a while. Never had been re-potted or pruned. Just set out and neglected. He did sell it to me for $20.....lol
Anyway, I had a realization that I was probably headed for disaster if I did not time the next steps properly, or even get them in the right order....lol
What I ultimately want to do is develop this to be nice bonsai I can hand down later in life. I'd like to re-pot, train it, and plan a nice little scene around it. At this stage, I'm not sure if I should prune its roots and try to re-pot it in a bonsai pot. It is quite root bound in its container. I'd like to wire it but not sure if re-potting and wiring at the same time is advised at this stage. And I'm not even sure if the plant is healthy enough for either, or if there's something I should do above all to rescue it's health, before trying anything else.
Should I re-pot it and root prune to help invigorate the tree? Should I leave it in the pot and wire it till next spring? Am I missing something altogether??? LOL
I have included photos and all the information I can think of. If you need more specific information or more photos in order to assist me, please ask and I will answer or provide everything to the best of my limited knowledge. Thank you all for taking the time, any help is greatly appreciated!!
Also, if anyone can help me guesstimate the tree's age I would be grateful!
This brings us to my questions. I went head over heels researching and looking at all types of bonsai and it really gave me the desire to try my hand at something bigger, older and more elaborate. I went to a local small landscaping nursery to see what they may have as good bonsai stock. Well, they had ONE plant that was bigger and cooler than the rest. It had been set aside and was neglected. It was covered in dead pine needles from the trees above and littered with debris from the nursery. I also suspect that the local tom cat may have favored it for a bathroom, as I noticed an ammonia smell on it after getting it in the van. They had no other plants of this species that I saw. As it turns out, I believe it's an older Chinese Juniper. In my excitement, I rushed it home and began cutting off most of the dead material. I cleaned out the top of the pot and cut the excess rim of the pot away so that I could really get to its trunk. (three twisting, criss-crossing trunks btw). I pinched or cut most of the foliage that was growing downward and tried to find its best features. The tree definitely needs some TLC. Some of the older foliage closest to the branches is much darker than the rest, almost appearing sick but I'm not familiar with this particular species enough to know if that's normal. The man seemed to believe it had been at his nursery for quite a while. Never had been re-potted or pruned. Just set out and neglected. He did sell it to me for $20.....lol
Anyway, I had a realization that I was probably headed for disaster if I did not time the next steps properly, or even get them in the right order....lol
What I ultimately want to do is develop this to be nice bonsai I can hand down later in life. I'd like to re-pot, train it, and plan a nice little scene around it. At this stage, I'm not sure if I should prune its roots and try to re-pot it in a bonsai pot. It is quite root bound in its container. I'd like to wire it but not sure if re-potting and wiring at the same time is advised at this stage. And I'm not even sure if the plant is healthy enough for either, or if there's something I should do above all to rescue it's health, before trying anything else.
Should I re-pot it and root prune to help invigorate the tree? Should I leave it in the pot and wire it till next spring? Am I missing something altogether??? LOL
I have included photos and all the information I can think of. If you need more specific information or more photos in order to assist me, please ask and I will answer or provide everything to the best of my limited knowledge. Thank you all for taking the time, any help is greatly appreciated!!
Also, if anyone can help me guesstimate the tree's age I would be grateful!
Nice tree!
