New to the forum... I have questions!

[Cattwooduk]

Hello all!

I'll skip the long backstory but a couple of years ago I started my own gardening company - design, general maintenance etc. I've always had a loose interest in bonsai but over the last year especially I've been doing a fair bit of reading and watching youtube videos etc.

I've been gradually acquiring what I perceive to be good starting material for Bonsai which I have been noting down some long term plans for the various plants. However I've got a couple which I have questions about.

First off is this juniper, I think it's a 'blue star' - I found it behind a shed in a garden I was clearing for someone so thought I'd see if I could salvage it. I took out all the dead stuff and opened it up as much as I dared but I know Junipers take strength from their foliage. Can someone advise how likely it is to survive?! I've put it in a slightly wider pot with some decent free draining gritty soil around the existing root ball. My plan is to leave it for a long while to recover before I do anything with it. It's got a fair few new growth points around it and some further back into the branches, so I'm hoping given time it will recover.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Next up is an Acer 'Little Princess' which I bought a few years ago and stuck in the ground to grow on a bit- it's now about the size (1 1/4 inch trunk) where I can start thinking about doing something with it. Plus I've got another more upright maple I want to put in that spot.
So as we get towards Spring I'm thinking it's nearly time to pot it up - I'm going to put it in a training pot for at least a year or two I expect to begin working on the roots. My question is, if I'm going to be cutting back some of the roots to get it in a training pot, should I hold off doing anything else until next Spring?
Rather than just cutting off some of the branches I was planning on air layering them to pot up for potential future material. Would it stress the plant too much to air layer a few branches right after it's been potted into a training pot?


Thanks for reading!

 

[Random User]

I'm going to suggest that you speak to someone in the UK, preferably someone close to your region.

 

[Vin]

Welcome to the forum. 50/50 on the Blue Star. Just leave it and hope for the best.

The Acer is a good start. Just remember the longer you leave it in the ground the fatter the trunk will get. If you dig it up and put it in a pot you'll need to prune back a lot of the branches. Each branch can be stuck in a pot and some will strike. You can leave a few to air layer and it won't hurt it. They really aren't that big for the effort of air layering though. I hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Hey @ConorDash

One more!

Sorce

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

The juniper will survive with adequate care. Don't overwater. It has a bad rootbase (strong lateral root), you want foliage near the base, the only usable branch is the fist one on the left. You will have some backbudding but it is not the type of juniper to make a good bonsai from. Might be a juniperus stricta. It does work a bit like rigida. For the maple, if you want to layer, leave it in the ground, layer as many branches as you want and repot it the spring after that. Little princes does reproduce from cuttings easily. Or, repot, wait a full year and then layer but it will not be as strong as when leaving an extra year in the ground. So netto you lose a year. While layering you can reduce the strongest (not layered branches) to the closest usable branches. With a trunk of this size you need to get the foliage closer. Little princes can get dense rather fast (especially when you use this vigorous year in the ground extra.) Remember that next year you will have big rootwork to do. Have fun.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Thanks!
Weather in my region hasn't settled into really warming for spring yet- we had some light snow yesterday so temps are still low.

The trunk is big enough at the bottom I think for a small bonsai. I'll be moving it into a 3 inch deep training pot so it will still grow on for a couple of years I expect.
So I can afford to chop back an equal amount from the top as the roots to keep it balanced?

It was only about 3 of the lower branches growing about an inch above the soil level which I was going to air layer. They're a bit thicker than pencil thick. Idea being stick them in pots to grow on for ages.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Oh thanks Dirk, I posted before I read your reply!

Would it be viable to put it in a much larger pot to only reduce the roots slightly now and still air layer?

I need to move it really, so the alternative is to not bother layering any of it and just go into a training pot and reduce the top and roots at the same time?

 

[leatherback]

Do not trim the juniper. Give it lots of light.

The Acer.. Just move it to a pot. Let it settle. And next year, layer the bracnhes you want.

 

[ConorDash]

Thanks!
Weather in my region hasn't settled into really warming for spring yet- we had some light snow yesterday so temps are still low.

The trunk is big enough at the bottom I think for a small bonsai. I'll be moving it into a 3 inch deep training pot so it will still grow on for a couple of years I expect.
So I can afford to chop back an equal amount from the top as the roots to keep it balanced?

It was only about 3 of the lower branches growing about an inch above the soil level which I was going to air layer. They're a bit thicker than pencil thick. Idea being stick them in pots to grow on for ages.

Yeah I got that snow too, shame it didn't settle, was just a flurry.
That tree on the left of the pic, of the Juniper, looks kinda cool. Whats that? Its trunk looks cool.

Do you see futures or have a plan for the air layered branches you want from the Maple? Or is it more wanting to air layer for the sake of getting more material?

 

[Cattwooduk]

That little thing is a Mock orange - it was struggling in really heavy clay soil at a care home where I work part time maintaining the grounds. It's still dropping leaves and doesn't look happy so not sure how it will do, it's been in the pot a few months and lasted this long though!

No real plans for the air layered bits, just seemed a waste to cut them off and bin them. They're pencil thick so I would just pot them and leave them, just extra material to play around with eventually.

So from what people have said, I can dig up the Acer and prune back the roots enough to get it in a 12 inch training pot and then remove a fair bit of the top growth. I'll leave one or two of the bigger low down branches to remove with air layering next spring.

I haven't tried striking any acer cuttings before, whats the best way to do it? Looking on the RHS website it suggests semi-ripe cuttings (new current years growth) rather than hardwood cuttings. If I'm striking cuttings from pieces I'm pruning off when re-potting before leaf break they would be hardwood, will those take?

 

[Victorim]

That little thing is a Mock orange - it was struggling in really heavy clay soil at a care home where I work part time maintaining the grounds. It's still dropping leaves and doesn't look happy so not sure how it will do, it's been in the pot a few months and lasted this long though!

No real plans for the air layered bits, just seemed a waste to cut them off and bin them. They're pencil thick so I would just pot them and leave them, just extra material to play around with eventually.

So from what people have said, I can dig up the Acer and prune back the roots enough to get it in a 12 inch training pot and then remove a fair bit of the top growth. I'll leave one or two of the bigger low down branches to remove with air layering next spring.

I haven't tried striking any acer cuttings before, whats the best way to do it? Looking on the RHS website it suggests semi-ripe cuttings (new current years growth) rather than hardwood cuttings. If I'm striking cuttings from pieces I'm pruning off when re-potting before leaf break they would be hardwood, will those take?

I bit the bullet yesterday and worked on a 5ft red maple I bought last summer. Have some bigger branches I've hormoned and potted, but results I'm afraid will be too late to do the work on your tree...

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

If the acer has to move, do proper rootwork, place it in big (but not to big) training pot wait a year for layering. Wait for buds that grow and forecast of warmer weather. Little princes is rather early. Juniper late.

 

[Cattwooduk]

I've got a couple of different sized training pots waiting, so I'll see how big the root system is when I lift the maple. If it looks like I need to remove more than 1/3 of the roots (? I think that is the most to remove safely?) to get it in my biggest training pot I'll knock one together out of some wood so I don't butcher it too much.
Am I right in thinking that if I'm doing the root work I should remove an equal portion of the canopy?

 

[Victorim]

I've got a couple of different sized training pots waiting, so I'll see how big the root system is when I lift the maple. If it looks like I need to remove more than 1/3 of the roots (? I think that is the most to remove safely?) to get it in my biggest training pot I'll knock one together out of some wood so I don't butcher it too much.
Am I right in thinking that if I'm doing the root work I should remove an equal portion of the canopy?

I removed over half of the roots and well over half of the top.. only theory here so someone else can point you better.

 

[Cattwooduk]

From the reading I've done I was using 1/3 as a guideline for 'safety' and not over stressing a plant. But then some of the youtube videos I've watched, some people seem to remove way more than half sometimes and go from a nursery pot right into a bonsai pot? Can't say I'll be doing that! I'm gonna play it safe and move it down over a couple of years at least.

 

[Victorim]

From the reading I've done I was using 1/3 as a guideline for 'safety' and not over stressing a plant. But then some of the youtube videos I've watched, some people seem to remove way more than half sometimes and go from a nursery pot right into a bonsai pot? Can't say I'll be doing that! I'm gonna play it safe and move it down over a couple of years at least.

Well you got some time to decide.. looks like a late spring for us..

 

[ConorDash]

From the reading I've done I was using 1/3 as a guideline for 'safety' and not over stressing a plant. But then some of the youtube videos I've watched, some people seem to remove way more than half sometimes and go from a nursery pot right into a bonsai pot? Can't say I'll be doing that! I'm gonna play it safe and move it down over a couple of years at least.

I also heard that as a safety limit.
But I would guess, if you are pruning heavily too, you would be able to remove more roots. It only becomes a problem if there is not enough root mass to support the number of branches and leaves. Then you'll start getting dieback.