kale
Shohin
Will this foliage ever get better? Too spikey for my tastes. I am developing it in the ground but its almost big enough to pot up.
Home Depot chinensis
- Thread starter kale
- Start date
Will this foliage ever get better? Too spikey for my tastes. I am developing it in the ground but its almost big enough to pot up.Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
I've been diving into junipers for a long time now, and I've never seen a chinensis with foliage like that.
Do you know if it's a certain variety, like stricta? Stricta is chinensis, but it only makes needle foliage. But those look more broad-arrow-like than these thin pointy needles.
If there's no scale foliage to be found anywhere on the plant, I'm honestly thinking this might not get better, no.
How long has it been in the ground? And have you been continuously pruning? Because continuous pruning might cause the foliage to behave like this.
Or.. It's not a chinensis but a juniperus virginia that's acting the way they do.
Do you know if it's a certain variety, like stricta? Stricta is chinensis, but it only makes needle foliage. But those look more broad-arrow-like than these thin pointy needles.
If there's no scale foliage to be found anywhere on the plant, I'm honestly thinking this might not get better, no.
How long has it been in the ground? And have you been continuously pruning? Because continuous pruning might cause the foliage to behave like this.
Or.. It's not a chinensis but a juniperus virginia that's acting the way they do.
kale
Shohin
Thanks for the info! Its been in the ground about 4 years and not pruned often, just a few hard prunes for shape. I recall the tag when I bought it, I specifically wanted chinensis so thats why I got it.
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Hmm then I think it was the stricta variety.
Did it ever have scale foliage that you can remember?
Too late for a return anyways, but I would consider grafting different foliage onto it later on.
Did it ever have scale foliage that you can remember?
Too late for a return anyways, but I would consider grafting different foliage onto it later on.
kale
Shohin
If I recall last year it did have some scale foliage. Its been growing lots this year so maybe this spiky stuff will scale up after a while.. Got any good recommendations for a good scale foliage species I could get from a garden center or am I better off just ordering a small shimpaku from evergreengardenworks.com?
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Juniperus horizontalis makes nice scale foliage and can be found in most garden centers for a small price. But shimpaku has the better type. It's more refined and smaller.
If your plant did produce scale foliage in the past, something might be stressing it out and cause it to produce the spikes. Depending on your own time scale, you could wait for it to revert back to scale. But that could take 2-3 years.
Plenty of time to get a couple shimpaku and grow those out for approach grafting, or to grow out for scion grafting. If the plant makes the scales on its own, no need for the grafts and you then have a couple extra bonsai-to-be. If it doesn't, you're good to go.
If your plant did produce scale foliage in the past, something might be stressing it out and cause it to produce the spikes. Depending on your own time scale, you could wait for it to revert back to scale. But that could take 2-3 years.
Plenty of time to get a couple shimpaku and grow those out for approach grafting, or to grow out for scion grafting. If the plant makes the scales on its own, no need for the grafts and you then have a couple extra bonsai-to-be. If it doesn't, you're good to go.
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