Garden Juniper - What should I be doing?

[PMorey]

Hi all,

I'm new to Bonsai but have taken an 11 lesson beginners course so I have a little (very little) amount of knowledge about this art. What I'm wondering is what should I be doing with my Garden Juniper now?
I live in Sydney, Australia and it's winter here. Temperatures rarely get below 8 or 9 deg. Celsius (~46-48 deg. Fahrenheit) and will now begin to rise as we head towards spring in about 1 months time. The bonsai is about about 2.5 years old, I re-potted it 18 months ago and has not been wired. I plan to do that in late winter/early spring. I check the soil daily to make sure it doesn't dry out and water when needed. I gave it slow-release fertiliser (pellets) about 6 months ago and I'm sure it needs a top-up. So, what I'm wondering is what should I be doing with it in the winter? Should I give it more fertiliser and if so, what kind NPK ratio? Also, what can I do if I decide to e.g. wire it? Prune it and shape it etc.
Any advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[MSU JBoots]

Hi all,

I'm new to Bonsai but have taken an 11 lesson beginners course so I have a little (very little) amount of knowledge about this art. What I'm wondering is what should I be doing with my Garden Juniper now?
I live in Sydney, Australia and it's winter here. Temperatures rarely get below 8 or 9 deg. Celsius (~46-48 deg. Fahrenheit) and will now begin to rise as we head towards spring in about 1 months time. The bonsai is about about 2.5 years old, I re-potted it 18 months ago and has not been wired. I plan to do that in late winter/early spring. I check the soil daily to make sure it doesn't dry out and water when needed. I gave it slow-release fertiliser (pellets) about 6 months ago and I'm sure it needs a top-up. So, what I'm wondering is what should I be doing with it in the winter? Should I give it more fertiliser and if so, what kind NPK ratio? Also, what can I do if I decide to e.g. wire it? Prune it and shape it etc.
Any advise is greatly appreciated.

At those temps it’s probably not growing or barely growing. I wouldn’t worry about fertilizer until spring. A picture should help guide you better. Sounds like the next step would be structural pruning and wiring to set the main branch structure.

 

[Shibui]

Should I give it more fertiliser and if so, what kind NPK ratio?

Definitely give it more fertiliser. Conifers are slightly active all through our Winters so fert will definitely help with Spring growth. NPK with any multiples of around 4:2:2 because that's the ratio that most plants use for growth. Note that 8:4:4 is the same ratio, just more concentrated in the container. Higher N ratio gives more growth, Higher K ratio usually required for flowers and fruits.
In actual fact, any plant fertiliser will be better than no fertiliser. Your juniper won't care if it is tomato, citrus, flowers and fruit or lawn fertiliser. All fertilisers have nutrients and that's what plants want and need.
Liquid fertiliser is quick acting but also quick to disappear so need to apply every 2-3 weeks. I use 'Thrive which is 25:5:8 - so high N 'growth' fertiliser
Organic pellets are slower to release nutrients but keep releasing varied amounts for 4-6 weeks. Organic pellets do leave some residue which can gradually clog up soil drainage.
Controlled release ferts like Osmocote release nutrients every time you water over a specified timeframe (3 months, 6 months, etc) so great as a set and forget fert program for lazy or forgetful people or as a background nutrient program combined with either or both of the above.

Also, what can I do if I decide to e.g. wire it? Prune it and shape it etc.

Not sure what you're asking here. If you decide to wire and shape it you put wire on the trunk and branches and shape it.
Now I'm wondering what was included in the 11 bonsai lessons or maybe you were not paying attention

If you are looking for specific ideas for shaping your juniper you'll need to post some pictures so we can see what you have to work with.

 

[ponderingsage]

Keep it outside if you aren’t already doing that