Yamadori.... from your local shuttered Steak n Shake parking lot - advice welcome!

_thinkaboutit

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Pulled these 3 juniper from a local abandoned parking lot about 3 weeks ago. Cleaned up the roots and put them in these boxes. It was wet and rainy for the two weeks following that but the last week has had lots of Florida sun with scattered and sometimes heavy showers. The soil has remained pretty well saturated. They get full sun until about 2pm when the shadow of the house shades them. I took about 1/3 of the foliage off one of them after potting. In the last few days I’ve noticed a bit of browning on some tips. More so on the bushier one that I didn’t prune at all - it’s also limp and weak looking. I assume there is too much foliage and the roots can’t keep up. I’m planning on removing some of the foliage tonight. The 2 bigger ones are mostly all dead wood (I think) with all the foliage originating from one main “branch” on the trunk.

I don’t know if my timing was best for collecting but I couldn’t help myself when I spotted these. I’m really hoping they make it - suggestions welcome!


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sorce

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Nice.

Sorce
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Misting junipers, yes, until the new roots begin to form, misting is helpful.

On the one that is wilting, cut some foliage off, wait 24 hours, see if wilting becomes less severe. Cut more off if the wilting is still too severe. Don't want to cut off more than you have to. Approach it step wise.
 

_thinkaboutit

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Misting junipers, yes, until the new roots begin to form, misting is helpful.

On the one that is wilting, cut some foliage off, wait 24 hours, see if wilting becomes less severe. Cut more off if the wilting is still too severe. Don't want to cut off more than you have to. Approach it step wise.
I agree, that’s my plan for now
 

August44

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Why do they look like they've been in a Forest fire? That looks like a tough project to me. Good luck!
 

Potawatomi13

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Not Yamadori(from the mountain)but just collected captive grown trees. Not bad looking. Not sure of outlook for these but have read here bagging, green housing and/or misting called for care for survival. As to cutting foliage search site for best advice;).
 

Sunwyrm

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I agree, that’s my plan for now
Is that last one in a dollar tree basket that's been cut around the handles? How stable is that? I have a ton and wondering if that helps. Nice scores! Love the movement on the last one too.

Why do they look like they've been in a Forest fire? That looks like a tough project to me. Good luck!
I think that's just the lighting/shadows
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I recommend leaving most/all foliage in collected junipers. Let the tree sort out how much of it the roots can support. That isn’t helpful to you now, but going forward, I’d keep them in all day shade, mist the foliage as often as you can (multiple times per day), and let the soil get on the dry side before you water it. It will be a year or more before you need to think about pruning and styling. If they survive, you definitely have some interesting movement in the trunks to work with.
 

_thinkaboutit

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Thanks for all the advice, keep it up!

They are coming along OK I think. I guess it’s been about 5 weeks since collection. The biggest one is looking great. I had pruned about 1/3 of the foliage off after collection. It showed a little browning in a couple small spots but has remained healthy and has some nice green growing tips.

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The smallest one had about 1/3 pruned off as well and it’s looking pretty good too, nice and green on the tips.

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The third one was that was limp looking has remained pretty limp looking. I didn’t prune much off this at all. It seems that it’s natural growth habit was in windswept shape so I think that’s part of it, but looking at the photos in the original post I can see that it’s looking even more limp now. The tips seem to have growth but it’s a yellow shade of green. There isn’t a lot of visible dieback back but it has lost a few small branches here and there.

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They’re misted 3 times a day. We’ve been getting plenty of rain so I only water with a hose occasionally. I’m not really happy with the soil mix, I didn’t have any of my good potting mix. It’s just generic tree potting mix with some pumice and turface. I’m still expirementing but this seems to hold a little more moisture than I would like, especially with all the rain we’ve been getting... and when it’s not raining it’s 93 and sunny. They’re in full sun until about 1:00pm. It’s hot and sunny but they don’t seem too heat stressed. I haven’t fed them anything but the soil seems pretty rich. Might be time for that.

I believe they are growing roots. I’m feeling good about the 2 healthy ones but I think I need to take some weight off the one that’s struggling. It just looks heavy - and tired.

Should I feed them? Too much sun? Decrease the misting? Let the soil dry out more? Leave them alone?!

Is that last one in a dollar tree basket that's been cut around the handles? How stable is that? I have a ton and wondering if that helps. Nice scores! Love the movement on the last one too.


I think that's just the lighting/shadows

That’s exactly what they are. They’re not extremely durable but I anticipate they will last 2 years, maybe more. I accidentally discovered they are not weed whacker proof. For a dollar I figured I’d give it a shot - they are perfect size for growing and they get air in and water out!
 

Mikecheck123

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Not Yamadori(from the mountain)but just collected captive grown trees. Not bad looking. Not sure of outlook for these but have read here bagging, green housing and/or misting called for care for survival. As to cutting foliage search site for best advice;).
Actually, there is a much more ancient use of the term yama that not a lot of people know about, which translates to "Steak and Shake Parking Lot."
 

_thinkaboutit

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Actually, there is a much more ancient use of the term yama that not a lot of people know about, which translates to "Steak and Shake Parking Lot."

Yes, this is not a well known fact. They have spent many years being shaped by natural forces like cars going over the drive thru curb, trampling by drunken late night customers, and brutal landscape technicians.
 

hinmo24t

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haha !!! i wish we had those here in the Northeast (the shake shack or steak n shake) i love food

nice trees
 

sorce

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I wouldn't change anything.
2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Sorce
 
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