Uprooting a garden grown Hollywood juniper

[Potsofgreen]

Hey guys have a chance to get a huge Hollywood juniper for free just need to dig it up...here in so cal...just wanted to clarify a few things...1. I’ve read relocating from garden to pot in summer is both good and bad for junipers? Which is it? It’s looking to be around 90s the next few weeks and I’ll put it in shade with misting on foliage will that be ok?...2. I’ve read pretty much everywhere to not defoliate a juniper when relocating, is it not at all? Or not more then 1/3? This thing is massive guy said was in 25gallon pot before planting few years ago so it’s going to have a ridiculous amount of foliage, a lot that is unneeded I believe...3. Straight pumice for the soil? How about some pumice and ewc for added nutes and bennficiary organisms? 4. After the relocation it’s not supposed to be touched for 2 years? Is that correct? Going to try and get some pics to go along with this thread ASAP but looking to repot this weekend...thanks in advanced!

 

[Nicholas Box]

Hey guys have a chance to get a huge Hollywood juniper for free just need to dig it up...here in so cal...just wanted to clarify a few things...1. I’ve read relocating from garden to pot in summer is both good and bad for junipers? Which is it? It’s looking to be around 90s the next few weeks and I’ll put it in shade with misting on foliage will that be ok?...2. I’ve read pretty much everywhere to not defoliate a juniper when relocating, is it not at all? Or not more then 1/3? This thing is massive guy said was in 25gallon pot before planting few years ago so it’s going to have a ridiculous amount of foliage, a lot that is unneeded I believe...3. Straight pumice for the soil? How about some pumice and ewc for added nutes and bennficiary organisms? 4. After the relocation it’s not supposed to be touched for 2 years? Is that correct? Going to try and get some pics to go along with this thread ASAP but looking to repot this weekend...thanks in advanced!

Never defoliate a juniper, ever....is my advice. 99.99% of the time that would mean death to any branches you remove foilar mass from. Is ok to shorten a few branches if you think it really is extreme, but use caution.

For all the yamadori I collect its the general process below. Its less about the time of year you do the collection and more about how healthy the tree is now, and how many roots you get. In my opinion.

*Get as many roots as possible...even if you have to build a ridiculous sized box for it.
*can transport using plastic bags and duct tape. Then set your bundle on your chosen container and slowly cut it free. Filling in with pumice and chopsticking around the root ball, but not into it.
*Keep all the foilage and branches you can
*Plant in straight pumice 1/4" to 5/8" is ok.
*wire into position, if it moves a bunch new roots will have trouble not breaking
*Stick in the shade for 2-4 weeks and while you can water, don't go ham sandwich....unless you get a really nice root mass out of the ground with it. Even then, water with care. I let them very nearly dry out then water.
*junipers will like the misting though, can do as much as you like....so long as the pot doesn't get super swampy
*slowly transition to full sun
*when you see growing tips , can consider fertilizing via foilar or in the pot. Maybe wait until Spring if unsure.

 

[Potsofgreen]

Thanks for the response pretty much answered all my questions...how about the rebound time to when I can’t start work on it? 2 years?

 

[Nicholas Box]

Thanks for the response pretty much answered all my questions...how about the rebound time to when I can’t start work on it? 2 years?

Yes. Plan on 2 years as a general rule of thumb.

In reality its like everything else. Observe the plant and how vigorously it is responding.

Some take 1 year of growth. Some take 3-5.

Goal 1- lots of fine roots
Goal 2- top growth

Good luck! Post photos of what you end up with.

 

[Potsofgreen]

So here she is in all her glory, got a nice fat root ball and pulled her when it had just rained, last pic with plastic is a make shift humidity dome, now that’s it’s all wired down and good to go one question I have is because it is 9 foot tall when can I air layer? It has like 3 to 4 potential trees in there, great movement and taper...would I be able to get that rolling for a spring separation or is that going to hurt my root zone and affect its bounce back? And can I air layer multiple sections at once?

 

[Nicholas Box]

Personally I would always wait and see on a recently collected tree.

Looking sweet though!

 

[Potsofgreen]

Thanks! Wiring and building the box was way more time consuming then digging it haha...Ok, after waiting is it possible to airlayer like 3 different sections at once? I’m planning on all the layers being on the trunk so would the layer below kill the one above it?

 

[Dav4]

The tree needs to be growing stronger before you do anything to it other then feed and water… And that includes air layering. You can perform multiple layers in a row as long as there is adequate foliage supporting each layer.

 

[Nicholas Box]

Thanks! Wiring and building the box was way more time consuming then digging it haha...Ok, after waiting is it possible to airlayer like 3 different sections at once? I’m planning on all the layers being on the trunk so would the layer below kill the one above it?

The tree needs to be growing stronger before you do anything to it other then feed and water… And that includes air layering. You can perform multiple layers in a row as long as there is adequate foliage supporting each layer.

This

 

[Potsofgreen]

The tree needs to be growing stronger before you do anything to it other then feed and water… And that includes air layering. You can perform multiple layers in a row as long as there is adequate foliage supporting each layer.

Ok cool I’ll let it bounce back first then thanks for the reply fingers crossed it all works out

 

[Potsofgreen]

So the juniper has been getting the crap beat out of it due to high winds and crazy temps in California, but I’m hoping for the best, here’s some pics of the box I built and from it getting blown over, the trunk was wired so well it didn’t budge in the pot just completely fell over

 

[Nicholas Box]

That's frustrating. Some of my taller material I have to weigh down with large rocks.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
Looks like you got yourself a great tree there. I do hope it survives the next 2-3 years so you can air-layer and reduce this down.
My fear is that the trunk and sub-trunks are so stiff that you might be better to use all 10-15? sub-trunks as air-layers and the main trunk with first sub-trunk is your new large bonsai.
Would you be best to reduce it now by half to reduce stress load for next year or 2 then air-layer rest? @Dav4 , any thoughts ?

That would be my thinking or way of doing this. After you see the tree doing really well with loads of runners etc.
Charles

 

[Dav4]

Hi,
Looks like you got yourself a great tree there. I do hope it survives the next 2-3 years so you can air-layer and reduce this down.
My fear is that the trunk and sub-trunks are so stiff that you might be better to use all 10-15? sub-trunks as air-layers and the main trunk with first sub-trunk is your new large bonsai.
Would you be best to reduce it now by half to reduce stress load for next year or 2 then air-layer rest? @Dav4 , any thoughts ?

That would be my thinking or way of doing this. After you see the tree doing really well with loads of runners etc.
Charles

Doing anything to a juniper other then giving feed and water for the first few years post collection will likely be counter-productive. Get it to recover and grow well, then start to work it.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I would be protecting the foliage.

The key to success with transplanting junipers is keeping as much foliage is possible, but protecting it from drying out. Many ways to protect it - humid greenhouse, humidity tent, wrap with damp burlap. But leaving it out unprotected during Santa Ana winds is not a good idea.

 

[Potsofgreen]

I would be protecting the foliage.

The key to success with transplanting junipers is keeping as much foliage is possible, but protecting it from drying out. Many ways to protect it - humid greenhouse, humidity tent, wrap with damp burlap. But leaving it out unprotected during Santa Ana winds is not a good idea.

Yeah i wont be doing anything to it for awhile, its still green as of now and looks like its shooing new growth, only gets morning sun so i think its doing ok, i sprayed daily for the first few months and now i just make sure the pumice is damp...To big to keep enclosed with anything i got...i tried wrapping with plastic first week but it just blew off