Do these stickers EVER just drop off ??

Mike Corazzi

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I....think... it's a procumbens
I thought a WIRE BRUSH ....might... take them off. It's a brass brush I use for moss on trunks of other bonsai.
Nope. It just seems to GROOM them! :mad:

Doesn't matter if I brush with or against their grain.

stickers.jpg

This is what it's on. Pretty sparse foliage. The foliage increases every year and I prune it to try to make pads.

twisy juniper.jpg

The stickers stay and stay and stay. Urk.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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You mean those old dead needles?
Yeah. You have to tweezer those off. Didn't anyone tell you?
Some people steer away from needle junipers just because of it.

I have three or four of them. I postpone maintenance until deep in the winter when I'm crazy bored. They do drop! But only if the wood beneath them gets woody.. Three years, give or take.
 

sorce

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If they don't fall off leave em IMO.

If you have to pull em at all you're taking away health, usually it's just a little but those littles add up, and if your anal like me you pull em all and it's much worse.

Sorce
 

HorseloverFat

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About the OPs “stickers”..

You just get in there and biff ‘em.. jiggly-bones style... most will fall.

Start throwing clay... then nothing can hurt your hands!
 

Arnold

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In the needle junipers you need to constantly remove the old needles they dont shed them like scale junipers, with a tweezer and a lo of patience gently remove them without hurting any back-bud.
 

Mike Corazzi

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Y'know, I ....have.....tried picking them off with tweezers.
I think the damn things are greased!
Maybe PLIERS.
VISE GRIPS?
Propane torch?

Back to the burn, I guess. 🙃
 

Mike Corazzi

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The issue has been DEALT WITH !!!
I have some precision pliers and they do indeed grasp the offending brown spikes.
They are such precision tools that they even mash the fibers into the jaws of the pliers necessitating vigorous removal.
However, the experience dictated that I .....move.... the precious NEEDLE juniper to a different location.
It is now resting comfortably on the RACK OF NEGLECT ! :D:D:D
The bench that is so far across the yard that distance alone can adequately subdue the impact of the shitty dead needles.
It will receive the sun that the weather gods decide to bestow upon it.
It may even get some water and nutrient if I decide to waste some effort on it.

I thank you all for your indulgence.

🙏
 

Arnold

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Seriously, it's one of the main reasons I don't keep needle juniper varieties any more.
Imagine working a giant old Rigida, remove the wire and the old needles, then pinch the new shoots and then wiring it again. Crazy amount of time and pain but it pays off

 
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