J. Squamata 1

[HorseloverFat]

I figured I would start a thread on this young Blue Star for record’s sake alone.

Here “she blows” when received in early April.(After re-UP potting)



The juvenile foliage was cleaned out to make some semblance of “order” shortly after, as to properly “meditate” on the plan’s “direction”

Here it is today... just going to let it “do it’s thing” for a few years.. see what avenues emerge.

 

[sorce]

You fixed the hell out of that pot!

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

You fixed the hell out of that pot!

Sorce

Hehe! insulation.. there’s drywall mesh tape underneath.

The pot was from a “casualty of war”..

 

[HorseloverFat]

(((Update)))

Squamata.. just... bein’ a squamata.. living it’s life.

 

[Japonicus]

Wishing you better luck with yours than I had trying to wrangle the species.
They bark up ok, but the foliage was too heavy for the flimsy branches IME.
I probably didn't cut it back frequently enough either and the foliage being coarse, I lost interest quickly..
Bottom branches need cleaning out underneath for better air flow.
It will still do its' thing, just better, and you're nearing good wiring time too.
This was one I tried maybe 20 years ago, and remember them shedding branches easily
and I used plain silver colored aluminum wire. I'll always remember that ____.
Have you any blue rug? That's one of sorces favorite junipers.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Wishing you better luck with yours than I had trying to wrangle the species.
They bark up ok, but the foliage was too heavy for the flimsy branches IME.
I probably didn't cut it back frequently enough either and the foliage being coarse, I lost interest quickly..
Bottom branches need cleaning out underneath for better air flow.
It will still do its' thing, just better, and you're nearing good wiring time too.
This was one I tried maybe 20 years ago, and remember them shedding branches easily
and I used plain silver colored aluminum wire. I'll always remember that ____.
Have you any blue rug? That's one of sorces favorite junipers.

Thank you, friend!

No.. i do not have any blue rugs.. i only get to “purchase” trees every once in a while...So I’m limited to mostly what I “hunt”. (Purdy po’)

There ARE ground cover junis that I see occasionally..but they are seldom in great shape.. and mostly large enough of a “patch” that it seems inconvenient..

 

[Eckhoffw]

Wishing you better luck with yours than I had trying to wrangle the species.
They bark up ok, but the foliage was too heavy for the flimsy branches IME.

So true.
The branches seam Flexible like you could tie knots in them. However, I recall damaging-and breaking all sorts of branches on mine when shaping/wiring.

 

[HorseloverFat]

So... last time I “cleaned” this guy up.. I performed the operation somewhat timidly.. because I was unsure if the tree was healthy enough/ would respond with new growth.

This was a mistake, as within 2 months of “growing season”.. it looked MUCH more unkempt than when I started “work”.

So this plant got “set aside”, as my “plan” at this point is mainly developing trunk caliper... The long con.

Cleaned it up a tad again... this time around being just a touch more brash.

 

[leatherback]

clean up.. more..

 

[HorseloverFat]

clean up.. more..

Thank you!
Like.. in the same fashion as I did the bottom? But all the way up?

 

[leatherback]

Hm.. EVen there.. Clean
Up more

Squamata foliage..

 

[HorseloverFat]

Thank you, Jelle!

I truly appreciate you taking time to offer me direction/teach me things. (Not JUST this thread)



I must take a break... it’s -1C here right now.. and my hands have gone from feeling cold.. to numb.. to hot.. AND NOW they are painfully burning (in sensation alone)

 

[leatherback]

Hahaha
Here temps were VERY good today. SPent most of the day working trees. (Day of, jay!).

WHen you get back to your tree: Start wiring with thin wire, and start laying out primary, secondary and tertiary branches. Make pads of structures. Right now, all the young stull is left "to do its thing". I think you can creayte a nice structure.

Note: Squamata I find to be iffy with backbudding once the needles are gone. So I try to avoid the tree growing out too much, and prune strong at least once a year..

 

[leatherback]

I truly appreciate you taking time to offer me direction/teach me things. (Not JUST this thread)

No problem. I enjoy thinking about trees, styling, routes forward etcetc.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Hahaha
Here temps were VERY good today. SPent most of the day working trees. (Day of, jay!).

WHen you get back to your tree: Start wiring with thin wire, and start laying out primary, secondary and tertiary branches. Make pads of structures. Right now, all the young stull is left "to do its thing". I think you can creayte a nice structure.

Note: Squamata I find to be iffy with backbudding once the needles are gone. So I try to avoid the tree growing out too much, and prune strong at least once a year..

Ok.. but where the “branches” are still hardening “juvenile foliage”... where it only APPEARS to be a branch.. still treat it (loosely cradled by wire) like the branch it WILL be... or leave it alone until it defines itself more?

 

[Japonicus]

So... last time I “cleaned” this guy up.. I performed the operation somewhat timidly.. because I was unsure if the tree was healthy enough/ would respond with new growth.

This was a mistake, as within 2 months of “growing season”.. it looked MUCH more unkempt than when I started “work”.

So this plant got “set aside”, as my “plan” at this point is mainly developing trunk caliper... The long con.

Cleaned it up a tad again... this time around being just a touch more brash. View attachment 339409View attachment 339410View attachment 339412

That's almost a whole roll of duct tape. You'd make Uncle Red proud for sure.

 

[leatherback]

when building the pads, I sorted through the green needles stuff and wiring those out.