First Juniper styling

[Hermes33]

My first juniper styling from pre-bonsai. Any suggestions on foliage removed? Too much? Too little?

 

[Shibui]

I would be comfortable with that as a first reduction on Juniper, especially a younger tree like this one.
Wiring nice and neat.
I think you've left the branches a but long but the tree has had enough for now so spend a few months contemplating further work while the tree recovers from your initial assault.

A location in your profile would be very helpful to let us know whether you're in northern hemisphere going into winter or southern going into summer. Plant hardiness zone numbers also help us decide what would be appropriate for different plants.

BTW, I hope you know that junipers do not do well indoors long term.

 

[Hermes33]

Hi,
Thank you for the reply! I’m always a little nervous to cut too far back as been told that Junipers wont grow if you cut past green. Is this accurate?

I’m in the Northern Hemisphere in California in a zone hardiness of 9 however up against an ocean hill so get morning fog and some high transient day to night temps. Several microclimates come together here.

I actually bought a Juniper when I first started that the person had kept indoor and he told me to. Therefore when I placed it outside correctly it died fairly quickly. All my other pre-bonsai Juniper are currently outside. Should I treat a Shimpaku any different? With pre-bonsai, my others I want to grow longer in the 1 gallon plastic grow pots. Are there any good places to see how to maintenance care for pre bonsai to allow them to grow a large trunk but still be prepared for initial structural setting? Once I remove from the pre-bonsai pots also is the size fairly set? Thank you!

 

[Shibui]

Thank you for the reply! I’m always a little nervous to cut too far back as been told that Junipers wont grow if you cut past green. Is this accurate?

Correct that cutting right down to bare wood is likely to stop growth on that section BUT if you cut back hard and leaves some green junipers are quite likely to develop new shoots along bare sections below. Reduction can be done but needs to be done slowly over several years.
Most of the branches I'm looking at in the picture have shoots all along so should be no problem cutting those shorter but as I said earlier not this winter. Wait for next spring when it has recovered from the first trim.
Treat shimpaku as other junipers. Outside is best but you must water correctly to match outside heat and drying winds to keep them alive. Correct watering is one of the hardest things to learn.

Grow junipers on in larger containers is a great plan. I have lots developing here in pots. Sacrifice branches are a great way to thicken lower trunks while not letting the main trunk get too long.


Blue lines show the real bonsai trunk. White shows where I will convert the sacrifice branches to jins.

I wire and bend young trunks while they are still flexible as bending later is really difficult then allow them to grow and thicken. Look at the bends and curves in the trees shown above.

Most bonsai are developed by grow and chop and junipers are no exception. Some parts will grow long but will later be chopped off completely or turned into dead wood 'jin' Having some lower branches to cut back to and use them to develop a new trunk and branches is the key to most bonsai development so, no, the size is not set once you remove the tree from the grow pot.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Does pot have drainage hole in bottom? Is bigger trunk desired?

 

[Hermes33]

Does pot have drainage hole in bottom?

Yes, pot has 2 meshed drainage holes and a larger trunk would yes be desired. I have several more Junipers I would like to determine what to do with. IE some leave in grow pots but do smaller training/cutting which is less defined but will lead the tree to the proper shape.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Good there's drainage. Check many other Juniper threads, in particular Yamadori threads. Get firm idea of trunk size desired for each/any Juniper in possession. Growth in grow bed or grow pot likely needed for several years. Necessary for growth of trunk is MUCH foliage growth of sacrifice branches/trunks while only pruning, shaping, wiring only few branches for final design. Critical is bending basic trunk while still small/easiest to do. As general rule do NOT wire and repot in same season for welfare of roots, survival of tree. Lastly please put location in profile so is always there to see.