Itoigawa Junipers

[digger714]

Hello to everyone. I just received a couple Itoigawa Junipers from Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks. I was getting ready to plant them, and was wondering if anyone thinks i should let them get used to my weather here before going into full sun? They were shipped monday morning, and i got them today. Am i just being too cautious? Thanks in advance.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nope...easy on the sun with shimps in our climates; contradictory with almost everything you'll hear. Full sun is too much unless they're in the ground. I treat them (shimp and itoigawa...both from Brent) about like maples, azaleas, beech etc: morning sun, dappled rest of the day. They're also about as thirsty! Enjoy, if they're from the same parent tree as mine, the color was surprising when you opened the box, a GREAT green!

 

[digger714]

I know, they were a beautiful color of green. Thats what is so appealing to me about this type. I saw one last year, and have been saving up to get a couple. I got two of the 1 gallon size, and am very satisfied with the trees. They look great, and he has put some movement in them also. I am planning on putting them in the ground for a few years, and i was thinking about the west side of my house. Do you think i should put them in less sun?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Mine in the ground are on the West side of the house, but with the fence where it is, they are in the shade by the hottest part of the day...you might be able to get away with more sun since they'll be in the ground.

 

[Vance Wood]

I hate to offer contradicting information but-----: I have quite a few Shimpaku Junipers and I grow them in as much direct sun as I can manage unless they start to look stressed out. The reason is the kind of growth they produce when grown under more sun exposure. In 2000 I had the opportunity to talk to Kimura about Shimpakus and he said the same thing, grow them in a lot of sun even and especially after repotting. However; if I plan on showing one of them I will put it in the shade for a couple of weeks to green up the foliage, they do tend to be a bit more yellow when grown in full sun and the growth is much more compact than when grown in the shade.

 

[buddhamonk]

FULL sun will give you the best foliage - tight, compact and light green

 

[IdahoDR]

I would imagine it would vary due to geographical region. When i was in Fresno a couple summers ago the nursery was keeping them in part shade, and they looked good. Where im at its full sun, but im in N. Idaho.

 

[Vance Wood]

FULL sun will give you the best foliage - tight, compact and light green

I agree! But as I said, if I want to show them I put them in the shade for a couple of weeks to obtain a beautiful dark blue green color.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Digger...told you this advice was contradictory to about everything you'll hear!

In Michigan and Oregon, and in my native Iowa, they can handle full sun. RDU area has a very similar summer climate to Bham, and down here they flame out. AM sun, and dappled after that has been the best conditions for my shimps down here.

I've noticed that I don't see many junipers in the wild south of about Huntsville, AL (zone 7a), that tells me about all I need to know.

 

[mcpesq817]

Mine are on benches along my garage with a southern exposure, so they get sun all day (even after repotting). I've done this for the last three years and my junipers are very healthy.

 

[october]

Man..This is different, a fight brewing over sunshine...lol

From what I understand... If you keep junipers in all day sun (so to speak) you can still maintain that nice green color buy making sure you keep up with fertilizing.

Mine have done well for years.. The sun exposure tends to vary from season to seson..but they usually get 4-7 hours of sun, on average, a day.

 

[digger714]

Where im thinking about these are with my other shimpakus, and they get sun from about 11 am until dark. I live on a lake, so i dont get much shade on my west side, and its about 1/2 mile across the water to shore, so i get alot of sun from the west. The other shimpakus are doing great. They have grown like crazy there for almost two years now. Ill probably plant them there, and set up a 50% shade cloth stick frame if i need to. Ive got some maples im experimenting with in different parts of the yard, and i know ill have to shade cloth them this summer, but im ready. Ive got about 10 regular shimps that i have wired and twisted up there also, some foemina's, some procumbens nana, and black pines, and they are all doing great. I made huge beds in my yard for my landscaping, then i got into bonsai, and have filled the areas with starter material.


Since i just got these from California, and they were in a box for a few days, what would be a good wait time to transition them to full sun? Thanks for all the input.

 

[Vance Wood]

Where im thinking about these are with my other shimpakus, and they get sun from about 11 am until dark. I live on a lake, so i dont get much shade on my west side, and its about 1/2 mile across the water to shore, so i get alot of sun from the west. The other shimpakus are doing great. They have grown like crazy there for almost two years now. Ill probably plant them there, and set up a 50% shade cloth stick frame if i need to. Ive got some maples im experimenting with in different parts of the yard, and i know ill have to shade cloth them this summer, but im ready. Ive got about 10 regular shimps that i have wired and twisted up there also, some foemina's, some procumbens nana, and black pines, and they are all doing great. I made huge beds in my yard for my landscaping, then i got into bonsai, and have filled the areas with starter material.


Since i just got these from California, and they were in a box for a few days, what would be a good wait time to transition them to full sun? Thanks for all the input.

This time of year I don't think you will have a problem putting them out now but be ready to provide some shade in case they start to look stressed out. One way of telling is if they start to produce polen cones; another hint I got from Kimura.

 

[digger714]

Thanks alot Vance. I wanted to make sure before i planted them. I got them yesterday, so ill go ahead and put them in. We are still having cool nights, around 45 - 50, and looks like its gonna stay around 70+ for the highs. Im going out to plant, thanks again.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

You should be fine.

Now, who's going to go through this thread and pick up all these names Vance keeps dropping...

 

[Vance Wood]

You should be fine.

Now, who's going to go through this thread and pick up all these names Vance keeps dropping...

In 2000 when our club hosted MABA our guest master was Masahiko Kimura. I had the opportunity to spend some time with him and tried to squeeze as much information out of him as he was willing to give up. It didn't take much squeezing, he was more than willing to share anything you asked him. We talked a lot about this species of tree.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That's an incredible and rare opportunity Vance...I'd have been squeezing too!

 

[digger714]

Its great how you all share this information. Ill always be grateful. Thanks again.

Brad

 

[IdahoDR]

This time of year I don't think you will have a problem putting them out now but be ready to provide some shade in case they start to look stressed out. One way of telling is if they start to produce polen cones; another hint I got from Kimura.

Nice tidbit about the polen cones, i had not heard/read that before.

 

[woodguy]

So polen cones can be an indication of stress? Does this apply to other junipers also?