Juniperus sabina Tamariscifolia

[AJL]

I have this landscape plant which has been growing in the ground over 5 years. It is multi-stemmed and sprawling and Im wondering if its worth trying to convert into a Bonsai?
Is this cultivar suitable and if so could I chop it back hard and have any reasonable chance of it back-budding?
What is the best time to prune junipers hard ?
Sorry no photo yet as its under snow right now!

 

[0soyoung]

I've seen a large number of outstanding bonsai made of sabinas. Pavel Slovak had posted a photo essay of his bending and unbelievably lanky sabina into a nice compact bonsai.

As with any material, it is no better than your ability to make something of it. So, you never know until you try.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Sabinas can be very nice. The tam no blight cultivar (also sold as tamariscifolia) is a bit on the blue side when it comes to foliage and it easily reverts to juvenile foliage when chopped hard. But it's as indestructable as many pfizer types and can make nice bonsai.
They don't seem to backbud as well as chinensis.

I'm treating them as any other juniper, but I'm not going to cut them back hard again.

 

[AJL]

Thanks for the encouragement I will certainly try -
Where has Pavel Slovak posted a photo essay of his bending?I cant find him or it on here ! Also tried a google search but no success!
Will they back bud on old wood?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Will they back bud on old wood?

Will they randomly produce shoots on bare locations if the conditions are right? Yes, they will.
Can it be directed/forced with techniques? Hardly. It's a game of chance. We can encourage budding by exposing wood to sunlight and air, but it's no guarantee.
If you graft its foliage back on to itself, you'll likely have fast and reliable results. Approach grafting seems like a viable possibility. I'll be trying that with some of my pines next spring.

 

[0soyoung]

Where has Pavel Slovak posted a photo

It looks like he's let his website url expire, but he is still on FaceBook.