Still very much a noob. Sabina nursery stock

[Eckhoffw]

Been at this for almost 5 yrs now, and it often occurs to me how little I know.

Usually I get nursery stock as soon as it’s available locally. -sometime in May.
This plant was purchased on clearance last fall, and had wintered in my unheated greenhouse.

I Decided to repot this juniper yesterday but go heavy on the roots first.
As you can see, I did prune back the ends of branches quite a bit and removed the brick-a-brack from the interior. + a couple Jin’s

During this, I found myself asking questions like, “Am I removing to many roots?
“How much foliage should/can I remove to balance the tree’s top and bottom?”
“Is it unwise to make Jin out of live branches now when I’ve just cut half the roots off?”

Of course experience is the best way to learn these answers & yes Trial and error will teach you what will work for you specifically.

BUT… what are your thought on this here procedure?

here’s the juniper, and my assault on it.
Please, your advice/ criticism very much appreciated!Loads more I would like to do, but I will wait to see if it survives.

 

[PonderingSage:]

I think you should be ok. Its is best to leave some native soil in the rootball…hard to tell from the picture.
I would suggest misting it in the evenings.

 

[Eckhoffw]

This clump has been pretty difficult for me. More than a few times I thought of just tossing it or putting it in the ground.

I think this one has a fairly interesting front, but it is a very two dimensional tree. Currently it’s pretty ugly from every other angle. Opposite side.

It did grow pretty well this year. I still may plant it in the ground.