juniperus stricta

[defra]

Hi there tree nuts !

i got this juniperus chinensis stricta some time ago

Its a needle type cone shaped juniperus the reason i bought it because it was cheap practice matterial.

inner parts died off due to lack of Light.
after some cleaning and cutting i ended up with long leggy branches.

it lost allot of foliage but still a fair bit of green left...

in spring get it into trainingpot with propper soil and as styling i tought off keeping one branch as trunk and jin all the others but that Will have to wait untill next year cus that probably is to much if I do that now lol

im curious what you guys would do with it

pics

 

[defra]

oops i did it again lol
i was looking at it and saw something grabbed my wire and started wireing

tried to go windswept seccond time attempting windswept first attempt tree died lol

the other branches Will be jinned next year

 

[just.wing.it]

Was that one on sale for breast cancer awareness month?

 

[sorce]

I would leave it spread open like that and try to get some buds down in there...

Seems young enough.

Cut that right side half way back, leave some green.

If anything should be "swept" anywhere.....it is under the rug IMO.

Nice base though...I'd try to get there.
Maybe even practice grafting.

Sorce

 

[defra]

lol @just.wing.it i did only buy it cus of the pink pot its in

hmm thnx for the reply sorce ill Just wait and see what happens maybe ill get myself another slighlty larger one they only Cost about 8 euro's so fun stuff to practice with

 

[defra]

@just.wing.it today i went for the christmass red pot

again cheap practice material !

 

[just.wing.it]

@just.wing.it today i went for the christmass red pot

again cheap practice material !
View attachment 125346

Nice, I have seen some relatively large juni's at my local box store....in red pots.
But I promised my wife that I wouldn't buy any more bonsai related stuff until after she takes me to Meehan's Miniatures for my birthday in January...
So I've restrained myself from even looking at them up close, every time I walk into the store.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Not very inspiring material, but nothing wrong with ''practicing''.

You might try to learn to follow the suggestions for what season you should be working on these and observe how they respond if you do no more, or even less drastic work than the guides tell you.

I was not able to leave material alone until I had over 50 trees in my collection, now I'm always behind schedule instead of ''ahead'' of schedule. But these can be your test cases, buy one and go crazy with it, and the second ''go slow'' with it. At the end of each year, see which looks better. If both are still alive at the end of 5 years you know your horticulture is good and you are ready for ''good stuff''.

 

[defra]

thnx Leo practice and fun and your right I rather kill a couple cheap plants and Learn out of it and then maybe in 5 years im ready for the good stuff !

i did go rough on the first one
and this seccond one i Will clean up get the brown growth out from the inner part and prune it Just enough to get Light and air into it
then ill wait and see what happens

 

[defra]

Its still alive after all season free growing i styled it again today
The windswept part i did last time had died off
Took it in a other direction this time
Inspired by @MACH5 his multitrunk literati spruce



With posting this message i notice that the pic does not realy looks like when sitting in front of it
Ill try to take a good pic or video soon when its light outside

 

[defra]

This pic is a bit better
Its a start lol

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice!
It's better like this, in my opinion.
It's on its way now!
When do you plan to work the roots?

 

[defra]

Nice!
It's better like this, in my opinion.
It's on its way now!
When do you plan to work the roots?

Thnx!
In spring 2018 i will repot it

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Thnx!
In spring 2018 i will repot it

Nice, but pretty sparse.

Uh, I would wait with the repot until spring 2019. Or late summer 2018. You don't have enough growing tips on your branches to support new root growth. If you repot in spring there is a risk it will stall, decline or completely crash, dead, as in compost. It might live, but I'd bet spring repot would be too much too soon.

 

[defra]

Nice, but pretty sparse.

Uh, I would wait with the repot until spring 2019. Or late summer 2018. You don't have enough growing tips on your branches to support new root growth. If you repot in spring there is a risk it will stall, decline or completely crash, dead, as in compost. It might live, but I'd bet spring repot would be too much too soon.

Thnx leo i will keep that in mind
I could always just slip pot it first to give it some space and wait another year

 

[sorce]

some space

It shouldn't need more space.

Lotta the roots will Probly die from the top work.

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

As an "experienced grower", not as a bonsai artist, more often than not when I try to "slip pot" a tree, it ends up being a major root disturbance. Any jostling to the roots can seriously break fine roots. It is the very tips of the roots that must stay undamaged, and they are delicate. Just give it time. You will be able to see when the tree is ready. Observe the tree in front of you, don't just looked at a calendar.

 

[Josiana]

I just purchased a Stricta on sale.. How do you decide what to chop on these? Mine also has multiple leaders, and I am clueless where I should even start, since I want to go informal upright (with a strong trunk). Are these not very good bonsai material?

I will be slip potting mine this weekend since it has awful drainage at the moment.

 

[defra]

I just purchased a Stricta on sale.. How do you decide what to chop on these? Mine also has multiple leaders, and I am clueless where I should even start, since I want to go informal upright (with a strong trunk). Are these not very good bonsai material?

I will be slip potting mine this weekend since it has awful drainage at the moment.

Step one
Buy or wear gloves they are spikey!
Then start by removing all the dead interior first

Step two would be to thin it out some id say no more then 20% of the foliage to get the light and air penetrate into the tree

With a tree the lower branches are the thickest getting thinner more up to the top keeping that in mind will help decide alittle wich branches to keep and what not

Also branches that grow inwards to the trunk can be removed

When thats done let it rest and get it trough winter and look at it often to see what way to go with it
In spring you could repeat step two

Im not sure yet how suitable they are for bonsai techniques im playing with them for the seccond year now but so far they are doing well

I got another one wich is going for the candelabra style a style worth considering for this species and their multi trunks growth habit .... il post a link to that one later if you like

Do you have a thread about the tree?
If not create one and upload some pics so more accurate advice can be given!

 

[Josiana]

Thank you so much, defra!

I purchased some gloves along with the tree. We named the tree Needle for this reason.
I would very much like a link for the candelabra style! I am definitely open to ideas for different styles. So I have not posted a thread yet, as I am not sure what to do with it yet. But maybe will this weekend after the repotting I think?