Help with id of juniper species
- Thread starter D'Angelo
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Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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If the foliage smells like cat piss, my bet is that is Rocky Mountain Juniper with juvenile, semi juvenile, and scale foliage present.
D'Angelo
Mame
It doesn't really smell bad but the foliage is dense like a California juniper, and leggy!!
D'Angelo
Mame
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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In my experience Cali juniper scale foliage is thicker then RMJ. Anyway, I'd never consider keeping a Cali juniper in MA...too humid in the summer and too cold in the winter. If you got it from Bonsai West or NEBG, they should know, or at least have other specimens to compare it to.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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Here's a picture of some foliage I pruned from a RMJ yesterday. I purchased it 7 years ago off of the summer sales table at NEBG, species unknown. Ryan Neil ID'd it as RMJ during a club meeting. It's mostly semi-juvenile foliage right now (that's what is shown in the pic)
Can anyone guess from the photo why this was pruned off?
Can anyone guess from the photo why this was pruned off?
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wireme
Masterpiece
Rust of some kind?
D'Angelo
Mame
I think you guys are correct!!...Comparing the foliage to what I found here, it seems to be a male Rocky Mountain Juniper...with that said, is there any way to estimate the age?
http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=165
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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Nick Lenz has guesstimated that these deadwood RMJs live in such a hostile environment that they add about an inch of thickness to their trunks every century. Measure the width of the trunk in inches just above the roots and you've got a decent idea of the age.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Andy Smith works for the forestry department and I think he is involved in dating trees. I've looked at his material to gain a sense of age with trees out there.
Here is a shoot from one of my RMJ, the foliage on this one is especially tight and bright for RMJ. Yours looks like a good one!
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D'Angelo
Mame
Ok so I measured the widest point of the trunk just above the soil line and it is about 4 inches, so 400 years??...really??
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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I think 3 to 4 hundred years is a very reasonable conservative estimate.
D'Angelo
Mame
Ok guys, I have done a little work on this and would like your input before I continue. Which branches if any should be removed? The tree is very wide, should it be brought in more? The pot seems to small for this size of a tree?....thoughts, advice, input??
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Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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From that last picture, I wouldn't remove any branches. I'm not sure if you need to pull the branches down more or not...I kind of like the silhouette on this one as is, but you can certainly play around with the image and see if something strikes you. I'd definitely focus on thinning and fine wiring the canopy. As far as the pot goes, it doesn't look that bad. If the tree is healthy (looks it from here) and it isn't rootbound or in crappy soil, I'd leave it be for now. You can start looking for a better pot down the road.
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