Hello! I'm deciding on this juniper future design to do a hard prune now. You guys think my option is OK or see any other one? Also.. summer is starting here... Should I prune now or wait for next spring. Ty!
Greetings and Merry Christmas!
Personally-
I think the trunk is too small for this kind of foliage. I would let it ground grow for 5-10 years, then reconsider my options. I cant tell what cultivar it is, but some Juniper species just arent worth sinking that much time and effort in, unless you want to get into grafting foliage. So i wouldnt even ground grow it actually, just get a pre-bonsai shimpaku/procumbens/squamata or whatever is popular and cheap in your location and style that with ease and certainty.
But
If you really want to follow your plan,i would only deadwood all of those thick branches along the trunk and carve them into shapes(too thick for that trunk visually, and the abundance of deadwood would offset the coarseness of the foliage) and grow bonsai branches and a canopy from the buds you have emerging- cascade style as your curve line lends to that naturally. This will take a few years depending on where you are and the health of the tree- and in the end you might realize that the foliage is too coarse for the trunk girth- but each to his own.
There are aesthetic guidelines you can follow(that this tree violates and cant overcome unless you ground grow it for a decade or two), but what matters is what you personally find appealing.
Happy holidays!
Personally-
I think the trunk is too small for this kind of foliage. I would let it ground grow for 5-10 years, then reconsider my options. I cant tell what cultivar it is, but some Juniper species just arent worth sinking that much time and effort in, unless you want to get into grafting foliage. So i wouldnt even ground grow it actually, just get a pre-bonsai shimpaku/procumbens/squamata or whatever is popular and cheap in your location and style that with ease and certainty.
But
If you really want to follow your plan,i would only deadwood all of those thick branches along the trunk and carve them into shapes(too thick for that trunk visually, and the abundance of deadwood would offset the coarseness of the foliage) and grow bonsai branches and a canopy from the buds you have emerging- cascade style as your curve line lends to that naturally. This will take a few years depending on where you are and the health of the tree- and in the end you might realize that the foliage is too coarse for the trunk girth- but each to his own.
There are aesthetic guidelines you can follow(that this tree violates and cant overcome unless you ground grow it for a decade or two), but what matters is what you personally find appealing.
Happy holidays!
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
I think this has a nice trunk and its worth trying to do something with it.
Id agree with jinning the large main trunk under your chosen leader. I think its a good option for a leader.
As for hard pruning now. It's hard to answer because we have no idea where in the world you are. You said summer is starting but we have no idea what your summer is like. Does it get very hot? Is it dry?
Typically we can prune junipers in spring/early summer. However I would not remove more than 25%-30% of the foliage in any year. You need to leave it enough to recover and give it time to recover. When was it repotted last? If this spring, I'd take off no more than 20% foliage this year. So this is a multi year project that if you don't have patience, you'll kill it so be careful how much you do in a year's time.
Id agree with jinning the large main trunk under your chosen leader. I think its a good option for a leader.
As for hard pruning now. It's hard to answer because we have no idea where in the world you are. You said summer is starting but we have no idea what your summer is like. Does it get very hot? Is it dry?
Typically we can prune junipers in spring/early summer. However I would not remove more than 25%-30% of the foliage in any year. You need to leave it enough to recover and give it time to recover. When was it repotted last? If this spring, I'd take off no more than 20% foliage this year. So this is a multi year project that if you don't have patience, you'll kill it so be careful how much you do in a year's time.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Welcome. It’s difficult to tell from the photos, but assuming this is the best front, here is another design to consider, keeping the lowest left branch, and continuing the trunk like with the closer branch, then converting the current trunk to deadwood.
Timing, early fall is an ok time to do work, otherwise spring is safest.
Timing, early fall is an ok time to do work, otherwise spring is safest.
Similar threads
- Deleted member 47471
- Junipers