Junipers Blauuw guidance needed

[Munkies]

Hi everyone, my name is Peter, I'm 55 and live in Helsinki. I have dabbled with the world of bonsai for the past five years, mainly indoor suitable plants, and recently moved house and now have a garden. The garden has opened up possibilities to outdoor plants and I'm excited to start but my age has been a concern when pondering possible projects. Anyway I decided I wanted to start with a plant with some age and reasonable development. At my local garden center there is a Japanese garden and a particular juniper had been sitting there since 2014 in the same pot and in the same spot, overlooked and unloved for so long. So I decided to take it home and paid €183 for it. It's exactly 60cm tall and the seller told me it is at least 20 years old.


What I need from those off you with practical experience is guidance on styling and care. I have attached photographs and in unsure how to link videos here. As you can see the tree is as straight as an arrow and the nebari is nothing to write home about but I love the tree and I'm sure it will make a fantastic formal upright. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks, Peter

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site!

J. chinensis "Blaauw" is a Chinese juniper cultivar just like shimpaku, and care is identical. You will find tons of threads here about care and styling of Chinese junipers. First and foremost the focus should be on the health of the tree, and often when we are talking about a nursery tree in the same pot for years, we need to be concerned about roots and soil... but this particular tree looks in relatively good shape. Did you repot it? Or is that the planter and soil it came in?

I am not sure that a formal upright is the best path forward for this tree. When you are thinking about styling, always start at the base of the tree where the roots meet the soil, and work your way up the trunk line, and then review your main branches. In this case, the roots at the base are asymmetrical, and the base of the trunk has a noticeable lean which would be more or less impossible to solve. Not a good base for a formal upright (where you want a straight trunk at the soil, and symmetrical balanced roots that radiate like spokes on a wheel). However the energy and lean at the base starts to suggest other possibilities. Often when you have a straight trunk but the nebari (base of the tree where the roots meet the soil) is not suitable for formal upright, you can consider a slant style or windswept style where you lean the trunk over from straight vertical. Suddenly the straight trunk, instead of being somewhat dull and boring, becomes a powerful design element:



Another challenge you will have with this tree is that it has been styled as a topiary for a long time. All of the fine interior foliage has been removed, leaving a number of long branches that are too thick and straight for your final design, and you don't (yet) have new growth on the trunk from which to grow new branches. One solution is to either graft new branches, or to get the tree as strong as possible, and then remove a lot of the exterior foliage, opening up the interior of the tree and hoping that new growth will pop where you need/want it. Or else, dramatically change the entire design where you use one of the branches for your new apex, and jin/shorten the rest (remove all the foliage and bark, but leave the deadwood, giving the old branches the illusion of being old growth that died off).

To post a video on the site, the best approach is to upload it to YouTube, and simply post a link here. When you click on the "Media" link in your post (the little film icon at the top of your window) you will see the list of sites from which we allow video links.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Here's a couple of ideas that wouldn't require a ton of work:





You could see how with just a little detail wiring you could come up with some striking trees. As you shorten the tree you visually give it a thicker and more powerful trunk, and maintaining the jin (particularly the deadwood at the top of the tree) gives it a very strong line as well as a sense of age.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Blaauw is a lot slower than other shimpaku like itoigawa.
With that I mean that in some years, you can prune once and you shouldn't expect another flush of growth that year.
The wood is a bit more rigid too, because of their slow behavior. But they make very nice foliage pads with very little maintenance.

They do like to revert to needles when pruned too hard/much, or on some weaker branches. I've been waiting for 3 years now for some branches to convert back to scale. That's something to keep in mind. But the plus side of their slower growth is that they can be kept untouched for a number of years without ruining the design by overgrowing it.

 

[WavyGaby]

Blaauw is a lot slower than other shimpaku like itoigawa.
With that I mean that in some years, you can prune once and you shouldn't expect another flush of growth that year.
The wood is a bit more rigid too, because of their slow behavior. But they make very nice foliage pads with very little maintenance.

They do like to revert to needles when pruned too hard/much, or on some weaker branches. I've been waiting for 3 years now for some branches to convert back to scale. That's something to keep in mind. But the plus side of their slower growth is that they can be kept untouched for a number of years without ruining the design by overgrowing it.

I only have 1 Blaauw Juniper but I have many other Shimpaku for several years now. In my experience, Blaauw grows faster than other Shimpaku. Here are my results over the last 11 months.
It was recieved as shown on Sept 12, 21. The other photos are from today.
Planted in APL and given full sun and fertilizer. Wired and left for about 9 months. I'm not thrilled with some of the loops I made but I'm just letting it grow out for now.
Cheers

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I only have 1 Blaauw Juniper but I have many other Shimpaku for several years now. In my experience, Blaauw grows faster than other Shimpaku. Here are my results over the last 11 months.
It was recieved as shown on Sept 12, 21. The other photos are from today.
Planted in APL and given full sun and fertilizer. Wired and left for about 9 months. I'm not thrilled with some of the loops I made but I'm just letting it grow out for now.
Cheers

That's awesome! In my climate it's the opposite. Itoigawa grows like bamboo while the blaauw just.. it grows. But not like itoigawa where I'm getting 20cm extensions every summer, twice. My 5 blaauws go for about 1/4th of that and I haven't pruned them. Even the adult ones.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

That's awesome! In my climate it's the opposite. Itoigawa grows like bamboo while the blaauw just.. it grows. But not like itoigawa where I'm getting 20cm extensions every summer, twice. My 5 blaauws go for about 1/4th of that and I haven't pruned them. Even the adult ones.

I can't honestly tell the difference in growth rates between it and kishus and itoigawas. It looks (to me) identical to kishu - with the exception of the blue coloration. (Blaauw top left, Kishu bottom left, Kaizuka (Hollywood juniper) right).

I happen to be growing some itoigawa and blaauw cuttings right next to each other - two rows of each in the same propagation tray, same size cuttings, same rooting hormone, so I guess we will see if there is much of a difference (at least with a dozen of each).

 

[Munkies]

Welcome to the site!

J. chinensis "Blaauw" is a Chinese juniper cultivar just like shimpaku, and care is identical. You will find tons of threads here about care and styling of Chinese junipers. First and foremost the focus should be on the health of the tree, and often when we are talking about a nursery tree in the same pot for years, we need to be concerned about roots and soil... but this particular tree looks in relatively good shape. Did you repot it? Or is that the planter and soil it came in?

I am not sure that a formal upright is the best path forward for this tree. When you are thinking about styling, always start at the base of the tree where the roots meet the soil, and work your way up the trunk line, and then review your main branches. In this case, the roots at the base are asymmetrical, and the base of the trunk has a noticeable lean which would be more or less impossible to solve. Not a good base for a formal upright (where you want a straight trunk at the soil, and symmetrical balanced roots that radiate like spokes on a wheel). However the energy and lean at the base starts to suggest other possibilities. Often when you have a straight trunk but the nebari (base of the tree where the roots meet the soil) is not suitable for formal upright, you can consider a slant style or windswept style where you lean the trunk over from straight vertical. Suddenly the straight trunk, instead of being somewhat dull and boring, becomes a powerful design element:

View attachment 452004

Another challenge you will have with this tree is that it has been styled as a topiary for a long time. All of the fine interior foliage has been removed, leaving a number of long branches that are too thick and straight for your final design, and you don't (yet) have new growth on the trunk from which to grow new branches. One solution is to either graft new branches, or to get the tree as strong as possible, and then remove a lot of the exterior foliage, opening up the interior of the tree and hoping that new growth will pop where you need/want it. Or else, dramatically change the entire design where you use one of the branches for your new apex, and jin/shorten the rest (remove all the foliage and bark, but leave the deadwood, giving the old branches the illusion of being old growth that died off).

To post a video on the site, the best approach is to upload it to YouTube, and simply post a link here. When you click on the "Media" link in your post (the little film icon at the top of your window) you will see the list of sites from which we allow video links.

Welcome to the site!

J. chinensis "Blaauw" is a Chinese juniper cultivar just like shimpaku, and care is identical. You will find tons of threads here about care and styling of Chinese junipers. First and foremost the focus should be on the health of the tree, and often when we are talking about a nursery tree in the same pot for years, we need to be concerned about roots and soil... but this particular tree looks in relatively good shape. Did you repot it? Or is that the planter and soil it came in?

I am not sure that a formal upright is the best path forward for this tree. When you are thinking about styling, always start at the base of the tree where the roots meet the soil, and work your way up the trunk line, and then review your main branches. In this case, the roots at the base are asymmetrical, and the base of the trunk has a noticeable lean which would be more or less impossible to solve. Not a good base for a formal upright (where you want a straight trunk at the soil, and symmetrical balanced roots that radiate like spokes on a wheel). However the energy and lean at the base starts to suggest other possibilities. Often when you have a straight trunk but the nebari (base of the tree where the roots meet the soil) is not suitable for formal upright, you can consider a slant style or windswept style where you lean the trunk over from straight vertical. Suddenly the straight trunk, instead of being somewhat dull and boring, becomes a powerful design element:

View attachment 452004

Another challenge you will have with this tree is that it has been styled as a topiary for a long time. All of the fine interior foliage has been removed, leaving a number of long branches that are too thick and straight for your final design, and you don't (yet) have new growth on the trunk from which to grow new branches. One solution is to either graft new branches, or to get the tree as strong as possible, and then remove a lot of the exterior foliage, opening up the interior of the tree and hoping that new growth will pop where you need/want it. Or else, dramatically change the entire design where you use one of the branches for your new apex, and jin/shorten the rest (remove all the foliage and bark, but leave the deadwood, giving the old branches the illusion of being old growth that died off).

To post a video on the site, the best approach is to upload it to YouTube, and simply post a link here. When you click on the "Media" link in your post (the little film icon at the top of your window) you will see the list of sites from which we allow video links.

Hi bonsai nut and thanks for your insights and information. When I bought the tree a week ago it was in a different pot and was slanted (see photo), and completely pot bound. I bought a larger pot and repotted, removing less than a quarter off the soil to correct the slant (idiot!), Anyway, I added 3 litres of mix which consists of Lightweight natural aggregates 60 percent, pumice 30 percent, chopped pine bark 10 percent, root grow, trace and Bio-C2, trace.

After seeing the examples you posted I now realize I made a mistake correcting the slant. I will return the tree to it's original position.

The examples you posted demonstrated to me how untrained my eye is and will begin exploring slanted examples. Jin creation is an unknown for me and will search YouTube for tutorials.

You really have helped me see and thanks for that.

 

[Munkies]

Here's a couple of ideas that wouldn't require a ton of work:

View attachment 452007

View attachment 452008

You could see how with just a little detail wiring you could come up with some striking trees. As you shorten the tree you visually give it a thicker and more powerful trunk, and maintaining the jin (particularly the deadwood at the top of the tree) gives it a very strong line as well as a sense of age.

Hello again Bonsai Nut, how tolerant are junipers to development. Changes such as the ones in your examples would be incremental over time or could these changes be carried out during one season (winter perhaps?)

 

[Bonsai Nut]

They are very tolerant of dramatic work as long as the tree is strong.

One reason why I asked if you had just repotted - I would wait until the tree has recovered before I did major pruning work on it. You want the tree to respond strongly to your pruning - and it can't do that if it is still recovering from being repotted. You will know that it is recovered when it starts extending foliage from the tips of its foliage pads.

A jin is when you are going to kill a branch, but instead of removing the branch by pruning it flush with the trunk, you strip the branch of foliage and bark - leaving just the wood. It gives the impression of a branch (or trunk) that has died back in nature.

 

[WavyGaby]

That's awesome! In my climate it's the opposite. Itoigawa grows like bamboo while the blaauw just.. it grows. But not like itoigawa where I'm getting 20cm extensions every summer, twice. My 5 blaauws go for about 1/4th of that and I haven't pruned them. Even the adult ones.

Interesting. That is great growth on the itoigawa. I want an itoigawa mother like that to make a bunch of cuttings!