A Twin Trunk Sierra Juniper

Tieball

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One of my difficulties.....finding real veins of sap flow. I try the tracing back from branches with some success...I think. I'm not sure though. But tell me if this is a clue: I find small sticky sap dots along the trunk. Usually at what was once probable a bud (but no longer a bud). Would those be a live sap path to use? Or just something to follow? The sap dots are right about where I would. Plan to graft.
 

markyscott

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One of my difficulties.....finding real veins of sap flow. I try the tracing back from branches with some success...I think. I'm not sure though. But tell me if this is a clue: I find small sticky sap dots along the trunk. Usually at what was once probable a bud (but no longer a bud). Would those be a live sap path to use? Or just something to follow? The sap dots are right about where I would. Plan to graft.

Hi Tieball. It can be tricky. What I do is use a sharp hand tool and begin in a place I know is dead. I scrape away the bark and slowly extend the area across the grain until I hit the edge of live wood. It can be white or pink in color. But in my experience there is usually a color change. It can be subtle. Then move a couple of inches up the trunk and repeat until you've defined the edge of the live vein. Mark it with chalk and you can start defining the edge of the vein. I'm not sure I would trust sap dots alone and I would definitely not trust swelling.
 

markyscott

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Well - kind of a bummer, but this graft:

B154737F-477C-40AD-AE91-7EA2FC61C2B2.jpeg

Didn’t take.

Scott
 

markyscott

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Kind of a bummer. But if at first you don’t succeed, try again:

This time I put one on each side of the second trunk:

B006DB00-DEEB-444F-BCAF-BBB1CC67CE81.jpeg CCC3BB44-B7D1-4C66-99F7-3C99D69738A9.jpeg

Scott
 

Adair M

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Hopefully one or both of these will take:

View attachment 167692 View attachment 167693

Back on the bench for another year or two.

S
Ready for another Ume graft! Even though my last Ume graft didn’t take, it DID bloom!

On second thought, maybe the graft should be chojubai next time... Ume is SO 2016! :D
 

markyscott

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Sierra before work. Of the two fronts, A and B, I think I prefer A.
53B696A3-539F-4305-8B5A-D69818643268.jpeg
CC844A2D-FCDC-4A88-8586-1AED8A602D63.jpeg

Most of the grafts have taken, but an important back branch for the B front didn’t make it.

S
 

markyscott

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I wired the new shoots and thinned the top growth significantly. Here’s front A and B - or what would have been B had it not been photobombed by @Adair M (or is it Pinus Envy now?).
96DE6FD2-2CEB-4795-880A-805BF29353FF.jpeg694BC03A-655D-4F31-850E-3D235F1AA992.jpeg
 

markyscott

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Then I placed several grafts in the back to replace the one that failed and cleaned up the top soil. All done for now.

A4AD1F65-F92A-4FF2-9867-256862473BE7.jpeg64A371B6-3EB1-4294-BE5F-A6A61A3928D5.jpeg
 

markyscott

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Checked Adair’s ume graft. I’m crushed - despite @Adair M ’s insistence that his grafting skills were up to the task, I don’t think it’s going to take.

8B9B3B3D-FCC8-48C5-8C2C-74B720F7A838.jpeg
 

markyscott

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In the summer, junipers drop their old needles. First step in cleaning is to pull off all the old yellowing needles. Yellowing needles will not magically turn green - go ahead and pull them off.

E16AE529-277B-4448-A5E1-B936C94B1287.jpegBCEC41E8-14BA-40BF-9082-ADB381B81CEB.jpeg211B8436-3072-4465-9FBC-31E7050B1564.jpeg
 

markyscott

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Pull all the old, yellowing needles.
D1730061-CCFF-4E50-8E3D-FDB125B6DB1A.jpeg1A7BC24B-024F-48C9-A9AC-B44DB3796790.jpeg67222498-DC3C-4530-8BD6-6991BAAE4408.jpeg

S
 

markyscott

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Here’s what your left with.

9AF44D19-0CB1-4E59-858F-52BC44A9AD7B.jpeg

Next , pull all the growth from the bottom of the branch. You’ll be left with something like this.

9A0C7121-758A-4618-B569-AB4FD6190AB1.jpeg

Finally, thin what’s left if it’s still too dense. Remove needles at the base of the shoots, leave alternating needles. And for every couple of pairs of alternating shoots, leave a a shoot on top.

S
 

Adair M

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It looks like you pinched the Ume! How do you expect it to bloom if you keep pinching it?
 
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