Overgrown Upright Juniper. Next steps?

Cyrax

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Hi folks! First post here and would be happy to benefit from your wisdom and experience.

I got this very healthy, nice-trunked Chinese Juniper at a local nursery. It is very overgrown, with lots of long branches and thus out of proportion. (But at $20, it was just too nice to pass up on.) Still lots of cleaning to do, but I wonder about the general direction I should take it (and how!). What do you say?

I'm located in Tel Aviv, Israel. It's late summer here and very humid. The juniper is getting lots of sun in its original nursery pot (I just pulled it to start some of the cleaning).
 

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ShadyStump

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Welcome aboard!
Ye mentioned you were in Tel Aviv in your post, but if you add your location to your profile it will help out in the future.

General pruning guidelines start with removing dead or dying branches and foliage. This is a level of work that can often be done any time of year.
After that it's a question of what direction you'd like to take it in as far as styling goes. Taking off live healthy branches, though, you'll generally want to do in the fall or spring.

That said, you have some very long seasons there, so that can change allot.
I'll let someone smarter take it from there.
 

QuantumSparky

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Nice find! I don't do junipers at this point in my journey because honestly they are a bit daunting to me in the sense that I don't feel comfortable styling the foliage yet. I tried it once or twice and it turned out pretty bad :p

That aside, ShadyStump gave some good advice. Dead and dying branches can be cut off immediately and that should be step 1.

Next you can perhaps think about removing smaller branches which you know you won't need [vertical branches, maybe smaller parallel ones, "armpit" branches (as I call them) or the ones that are growing in the space between a bigger branch and the trunk]. This is usually done in spring or fall but if the branches are small and insignificant enough, they should be safe to cut. When in doubt leave a small stump for die-back and trim flush next pruning season.
After that, your tree should be a bit easier to examine. At that point, it would be smart to take a look at the trunk/roots and think about possible trunk lines that you'd want to take. Here is an example of the way I do it visually:
20210718_155040.jpg
If you manage to find a trunk line that you like, you'll have an easier time visualizing what to remove and what to keep. For your specific tree, it will probably be difficult anyway just because of the amount of foliage and possibilities.

Along with that, you may find ideas by figuring out how junipers respond to heavy chops or other hard pruning methods (because I have no idea haha). Sometimes the best styling move is getting rid of most of the tree.

That about all the advice I can offer, again I don't have much experience with junipers but I hope some smart members can continue to assist you!
 

Cyrax

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Thank you both!

I've already started taking out some dead branches and foliage (you may be able to see a few at the bottom of some pics), and I certainly have more work to do in this respect. I'm wondering where I can take the tree from here (even if only in two or three months) and what kind of pruning is suitable in a situation such as mine.

I'm attaching a sketch of the trunk line. The trunk basically starts out nice and then splits into two.

If this were a different kind of tree, I would feel comfortable drastically shortening the long branches as well as cutting the general height by half. Probably gradually rather than all at once. That would give it the right proportions. But I have very little experience with junipers and have never had to do (or even consider doing) such heavy pruning on one.

In other words, I'm not sure how to approach this and would love to hear how others would go about this if they were me.
 

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Wires_Guy_wires

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This looks like the stricta variety of chinensis, which produces only needles. I think it's important to consider this growth habit when styling.
Stricta is difficult in the sense that it's hard to direct the foliage to make it act like you want it. It grows straight up, and it tends to be finicky when trying to make pads.

I think that in this case, as with many junipers, a good aproach would be to just start wiring. Then look at it for a while and pick your keeper-branches. The plus side of this cultivar is that it's very resilient and it buds back fairly easy on strong branches. Weaker branches however, tend to get weaker over time even if you let them grow.
I'm still trying to figure out how to tackle that issue.
 

sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

I think the cleaning out of the old dead brown stuff will make new stuff grow down there.
I'd try to use that new growth for the future tree, and cut back to it in time.

Sorce
 

Cyrax

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This looks like the stricta variety of chinensis, which produces only needles. I think it's important to consider this growth habit when styling.
Stricta is difficult in the sense that it's hard to direct the foliage to make it act like you want it. It grows straight up, and it tends to be finicky when trying to make pads.
I think you're right about the variety! And that's an excellent point about its tendency. I'll keep it mind.

I think that in this case, as with many junipers, a good aproach would be to just start wiring. Then look at it for a while and pick your keeper-branches.
It's the trunk line that has me worried - that split in the trunk at a rather early point in particular - and the general height of the tree which seems to be a bit much.

I think the cleaning out of the old dead brown stuff will make new stuff grow down there.
I'd try to use that new growth for the future tree, and cut back to it in time.
Interesting! Thanks a lot.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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Picture 5420 shows a subtle curve from the trunk into an upright branch, if you tilt the rootball a couple degrees, I think you can still have an interesting line. Not the best nebari, but junipers are allowed to have that.
If you jin either of the two apexes, you can bend the remaining one to make some nice curves. Then reduce the height, either with a straight cut or by jinning the top. You can wait a couple years to do that, so the rest can fill up and give you a branch that can be the new apex.

If I would come across a split like that, I'd think I would just remove either one of the two.. Then there is no split, and no problem.
 

Zerobear

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Picture 5420 shows a subtle curve from the trunk into an upright branch, if you tilt the rootball a couple degrees, I think you can still have an interesting line. Not the best nebari, but junipers are allowed to have that.
If you jin either of the two apexes, you can bend the remaining one to make some nice curves. Then reduce the height, either with a straight cut or by jinning the top. You can wait a couple years to do that, so the rest can fill up and give you a branch that can be the new apex.

If I would come across a split like that, I'd think I would just remove either one of the two.. Then there is no split, and no problem.
Yes. Eliminating the split now will only help the OP's efforts in the future. It hopefully will add some movement to the trunk as the remaining branch grows.
 
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