Ashe Juniper…Possibilities or Hopeless Case?

[Jetson1950]

So, about 6 years ago when I first started looking into Bonsai, I collected this Ashe Juniper from my brothers ranch outside of Abilene, Texas. It was fuller, had more limbs, but I think the high humidity and excessive rain here in Florida were not to its liking and it has not faired well. It looked pretty bad. A few months age, I took it out of the dirt it was in and put it in bonsai soil and trimmed off all the dead limbs. It has started growing again. It’s still dealing with black mold, but I’m working on that. I’ve also moved it to a position where the sprinklers won’t hit it to cut down how much water it gets.

For those of you who are more versed in growing junipers, what do you think? Does this thing look like it has any potential to grow into something nice? It’s 16” tall and the trunk is 1 1/4” diameter at the base. There is a solid root ball just below the surface that about 4” across. If yes, I’ll work on it. If not, I’m headed to Texas next week for a family reunion and will be looking for trees. There are lots of junipers there to pick from.

 

[Hartinez]

if it’s alive, the possibilities always there. In this case it just needs to grow for a few years, maybe more, then the design considerations can start.

 

[Shibui]

Agree. Not much to work with now but who knows what it will look like if you can get it to grow a bit.
Depends how much patience you have or whether you are after instant.

 

[Jetson1950]

Agree. Not much to work with now but who knows what it will look like if you can get it to grow a bit.
Depends how much patience you have or whether you are after instant.

Patience is easy. I just have to figure out what it needs to grow better. I think I’ve been keeping it too wet. Will try and see if it likes it a bit dryer.