Think i can save this juniper?

[danrittereiser]

I recently did a cascade style procumbens juniper nana from nursery stock. It looked great for a month or so... but is brittle and drying out now. Scratch test says its still alive, but uts not doing well. Is there any way for me to save it? I think i just did too much work on it all at once between potting and pruning it. If anybody can help save it i would love some advice

 

[MeDupree]

I recently did a cascade style procumbens juniper nana from nursery stock. It looked great for a month or so... but is brittle and drying out now. Scratch test says its still alive, but uts not doing well. Is there any way for me to save it? I think i just did too much work on it all at once between potting and pruning it. If anybody can help save it i would love some advice

From my minor experience of killing about 4 last year brittle is a very bad sign...you did too much root work too soon possibly and it may be slowly dying in some if not all areas. Someone with more experience may know a better way but I would put this in the ground until next spring at the least

 

[PonderingSage:]

Usually once the foliage is dry it’s toast…sorry.
You could try tipping the pot to offset the cascade & frequently mist the foliage. This may help if its not too far gone.

 

[Japonicus]

Next time, remove about half the roots straight across the bottom.
concave the root ball maybe 2” deep at most while you’re learning to style the roots.
Tease out radially, and begin practicing what you learn in repotting videos by known bonsai artists,
transitioning to bonsai soil. Even though they’re dealing with bonsai (not projects), the technique is
pretty much the same.
This will be done in a vessel that accommodates the nursery foliage, be it a bigger pot,
a wooden grow box you make, or a pond basket should have enough height, but needs more water.
Notice I haven’t mentioned styling the foliage. The foliage will drive recovery of the roots, always.
The following year start on the foliage. Certainly not before late July-August same year you might
open the foliage some to get light and air in.

I often do the reverse, styling the foliage with little to no wiring, and certainly no big bends
as Spring time, the cambium is more apt to break apart and not heal. We just typically do not
do both to nursery projects in the same year. Repotting 2 years in a row also is not advised.
Whatever vessel you go with, be sure to secure the root ball to the pot so that it does not move much.

Always repot a juniper that has lush healthy foliage and leave the foliage.
You can trim off something to get it into the pot, under growth that will require more energy
to live rather than providing energy (out of Sun light) and leave as much interior foliage that may
be usable to the design later, that you can. Sounds backwards? It’s a learning curve.
You don’t want Pom poms, with bare branches for so much distance from trunk to branching
yet you want to remove inessential energy drawing foliage not producing energy.
So remove a snip here, and a snip there to get light inside. But the new growing tips is where
the most energy is being driven from. Remove those is removing life. It’s a balance once you
get familiar with it.

 

[Japonicus]

Last juniper purchases this year I "promise" (fingers crossed)

Sarcastically, my wife said I needed another juniper, so I got 3 :p All 3 are in 3g cans. Left to right Sargent, Robusta (tall like a Hollywood juniper) and Gold Lace. There's a nursery not far from here in the Green Bottom Lesage area that sells wholesale from Columbus, Cincinnati -...

www.bonsainut.com

In this thread I do both to nursery projects.
I style a Sargent juniper and leave the roots in the nursery can.
I remove some foliage from a golden lace or tip juniper and repot it bushy into bonsai soil.
I removed more than 50% of the roots by the time I was done, but notice all the new growing tips.
Both now transitioned to bonsai soil, both healthy, although when I separated to 2 Sargent junipers
one did die, the other is in the ground and very happy after a year or so in bonsai soil.

 

[danrittereiser]

Thank you guys gor your input... im gonna put this thing in the ground for a while and see if it lives... but im not holding onto any hope. Thanks again

 

[ShadyStump]

Thank you guys gor your input... im gonna put this thing in the ground for a while and see if it lives... but im not holding onto any hope. Thanks again

If it doesn't make it, that doesn't mean quit. It just means you're a noob.
Try again.

I've killed as many trees as not, and what I have right now is still in development. Nothing pretty so far.
What started saving trees for me was styling first, in the nursery pot, then let the tree recover for the season. Repot into something pretty once your tree is heading in the direction you want.
That's not the bonsai you're looking for, of course, but it will be. Bonsai is all about considering the future.

 

[RJG2]

If it doesn't make it, that doesn't mean quit. It just means you're a noob.
Try again.

I've killed as many trees as not, and what I have right now is still in development. Nothing pretty so far.
What started saving trees for me was styling first, in the nursery pot, then let the tree recover for the season. Repot into something pretty once your tree is heading in the direction you want.
That's not the bonsai you're looking for, of course, but it will be. Bonsai is all about considering the future.

I've only done two nursery junipers, but I do the opposite.

Leave all the foliage, but bare root and trim just enough to get it in a training pot and bonsai soil (usually mica for this). BUT, it has to be a very healthy nursery tree - no ancient yamadori this way!

I figure, it's a cheap nursery tree, if it dies it dies - if it lives, the hard part is done. Both have been fine.

Here's one:

Box store San Jose Juniper

My first juniper. Should be good practice. Giving it it's own thread because I'm proud of it for living through a late summer full bare root last year. At this point I had only done a bit of clean up and practiced a couple of my first jins.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[danrittereiser]

That is exactly my plan from here on out... do some pruning and styling in the nursery container and let it recover... then pot after it has had a season to recover... there will def be no quit in this noob

 

[ShadyStump]

I've only done two nursery junipers, but I do the opposite.

Leave all the foliage, but bare root and trim just enough to get it in a training pot and bonsai soil (usually mica for this). BUT, it has to be a very healthy nursery tree - no ancient yamadori this way!

I figure, it's a cheap nursery tree, if it dies it dies - if it lives, the hard part is done. Both have been fine.

Here's one:

Box store San Jose Juniper

My first juniper. Should be good practice. Giving it it's own thread because I'm proud of it for living through a late summer full bare root last year. At this point I had only done a bit of clean up and practiced a couple of my first jins.

www.bonsainut.com

My reasoning is any mistakes made or major damage done in styling can be more quickly healed or mitigated while it has more roots.
6 of one, half dozen of the other.
If it works, I won't knock it.

I will admit I've had terrible luck with conifers so far, but that's mostly collected trees which is a whole different thing in many regards.

 

[Baku1875]

That is exactly my plan from here on out... do some pruning and styling in the nursery container and let it recover... then pot after it has had a season to recover... there will def be no quit in this noob

look for runners after you style.

The hormonal logic- auxin is produced in the tips of shoots and runners, and it gets transported down to the roots to make them grow. If you clean a juniper, prune it, structural wire it, detail wire it, pinch foliage, it will be auxin deficient and incapable of recovering quickly from a repot.

cytokinin is produced in the tips of the roots, and it gets transported up the tree to produce foliar mass. If you prune the roots, you will delay foliar mass production. Positive tree health is a feedback loop where auxin and cytokinin production are in balance. If the foliage is very strong and loaded with runners, you can bare root it immediately and cram it into a pot. If the roots are weak, you shouldn't be styling or doing heavy pruning to the foliage.