Junipers Barch

Lannabulls

Yamadori
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Sawadeecrap," it means hi in tai".
The other day I was looking at beautiful juniper bonsai and my attention was catched by their barch, nice light brown, copper color.
When I look at my juniper prebonsai or nursery stock barch has a completely different look, it is dark brown with bumps all over. I did some reserch, I learned about juniper vascular system, how live veins look like, etc and I found out that, the nice "copper color" is behind the barch, a first barch layer should be removed to expose it.
Therefore one simple question: when is time to perform this task, it could be done anytime or the bonsai should be old enough? In this case, just to have a general reference, how old it must be?
Dont get me wrong please, I am a seedling, a complete beginner therefore I am still learning basic stuff, this question about more advance thecniques is just curiosity, knowledge that will be implemented on the future, now I am still building my house basement.
Thanks so much for your help!
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
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You can do this any time on plants a few years old.. Remove only the thin outer layer which alreay has started to come off. Once you try it on a somewhat thicker juniper you will get a feel for it quickly. Use a dull knife which you use to lift bark at a light crack and slivers should come off. If you see white-greenish spots you have gone too deep. With young material you usually cannot take off anythink without showing white / green.

Just keep in mind that the nice color fades over time as the newly exposed bark ages and turns dull and grey. As such, it is an act done annually, as part of maintenance by some. Others decide to leave the bark alone and only when going for exhibitions clean it out. Some feel it helps them to reduce impact of insects, as these might hide in loose peeling bark sections.

I remove the older bark when doing a major overhaul. So maybe every 2 years or so.Adding a light oil (e.g., walnut oil) you can give it an even deeper shine.
 

Lannabulls

Yamadori
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Walnut oil, here planty of teak wood oil, should it work ok? thanks
 
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