- Come Spring and good signs of growth... My first order of business will be root work and getting these in (probably) grow boxes (based on their size alone, i'm thinking the most economical choice) with a good non organic mix.
- I plan to stick to the convention of removing no more than 1/2 of the original soil. This point is somewhat troublesome for me. Will This not cause a vast difference in wetness of soil mediums; the original soil holding much more water than the new bonsai soil.. How can one water properly to satisfy both mediums? Watering well enough to keep new roots alive in bonsai medium may drown out the old organic stuff..And of course the inverse of that.. hmm?
- Is it also true that not more than 1/3 to 1/2 the root mass should be removed... or did I make that up?
- I think now , or soon as things are really dormant, is a reasonable time to do any hard chops / initial rough styling. Am i right?
Spring after it shows signs of growth is good for the rootwork.
I wouldn't cut a thing off until then also. Leaving it sit dormant with no activity to get healing going is a recipe for dieback.
As to how much rootwork depends. Sometimes nursery junipers are left in buckets so long that the roots actually form a solid block that's nigh on impossible to comb out. I saw the bottom half right off. At this point Vance has taught me that at this point you cut from the outer edge of the mass in towards the trunk. I do this 4 times. One cut every 90 degrees around the rootball. I put them in colanders at this point but a grow box works just as well. I then start adding the bonsai substrate of my choice. You can use whatever you use that works well for you. Poke it in all around the roots and work it down into the cuts you made also. Water,pop it back onto the bench and done. I water the foliage everytime I water and everyone I think about it. Not mist. Soaking shower.
Some nursery junipers you find can have just been up potted recently. These will have a core of roots from the last pot but with loose soil with roots that have only just begun to colonize the pot. I remove all of the loose soil from these. Basically barerooting the tree. I will use a hose and wash every piece of dirt. I'll then cut them back as far as needed to get it into my colander. Then follow the steps for adding soil and aftercare just like the other ones.
Now. I don't want you to lose a tree but I will completely bareroot a juniper in the middle of summer. It isnt for the squeamish and some may even say I shouldnt but I havent lost one from it yet.
After all that work you need to let it sit at least a year to recover. They say one insult per year. I insult them like I hate them.