Pruning new nursery stock

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Hello all, I just bought some new nursery stock the other night. Came home with a Blue Star Juniper, Sabina Juniper and a Dwarf Hinoki Cypress. I'll be reading up on these species and figuring out their proper care, but one thing i would like to do is thin them out a bit just so i can get a better look at what im working with. Right now all three have very dense foliage and im only able to feel around (quite painfully with the Blue Star) to get an idea of their natural shapes and movement. The Blue Star is so thick that i have not yet been able to see the movement in the trunk or any of the first branches.

Is it okay to prune out some of the branches that clearly need to go at this time of year?
 

Cable

Omono
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Welcome! I'll leave the questions to the experts. It would be helpful, though, if you put your location and plant zone in your profile. It really helps when giving advice. :)
 

Silentrunning

Chumono
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Welcome Kip. My advice is to wait and read. Go to the magnifying glass and type in your plant name. It will give you an amazing amount of information. Some of the senior members will probably jump in and give some advice too.
 

M. Frary

Bonsai Godzilla
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You can clean out the dead stuff for sure.
You can cut branches off you dont need too.
Dont cut off foliage close to the trunk. Especially the hiroki. They dont back bud very well so once you cut it off it's gone for good.
 

Miyagi

Seedling
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I just bought a Hiroki from the nursery today and went crazy on it. Hacked away a lot of foliage and branches. I know i'm not supposed to but I couldn't resist. I hope it survives *Fingers Crossed*
 

Cypress187

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Welcome to the forum! They grow the strongest when not clipped.
 

WNC Bonsai

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Do not thin hinoki foliage without a long range development plan. Hinoki do not back bud on old wood so once you cut the foliage you have lost it for good. The best you can do is pinch the growing tips and force the foliage pads to thinken up instead of thin out. Also be ready for the annual winter dieback of old foliage on the insides of the canopy.
 
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I had to clean things out on these three in order to see and plan for what i want to do with them. I didn't remove much from each plant, maybe 10% of foliage dead or alive from each plant. Turns out these three have a ton of potential. Check it out!
 
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