Yardadori Garden Pond Junipers

herzausstahl

Chumono
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So when I first built/dug my garden ponds I planted lots of accent junipers and misc evergreens. Living in one of many lands of ice and snow I wanted year round color, hence my natural love of evergreens. These have been growing for years unattended. I need to trim them down regardless this year for the look of my garden. I am all for collecting any that upon closer thinned inspection would have decent trunks for bonsai.

@Brian Van Fleet I'm curious how you would move forward with these? I'm ok with a any year plan to maximize successful collection. I had one last year I just dug out without touching the foliage, probably planted in a pond basket in napa 8822. Guaranteed I underwatered it and put it in too small a container (pond basket vs larger grow box). I didn't really bareroot so the the DE (napa8822) should've been sufficient enough for it to live I would think, given my limited experience.

Also @sawgrass I'm curious what you would try with any of these? For both of you keep in mind I'm in zone 5 (near border of zone 4, but temps last decade holding to zone 5 here) so my growing season is shorter than yours.

There is only one of these that I will need to be careful in the collection of as it is planted really close to my 2" Flex Pvc pipe that supplies water to the upper pond/stream (I recently checked this as I thought my water loss was too much for the cold weather, till I found nothing and had to accept I have a lot of moving water with a lot of spray/splash off that leads to water loss).

If you recognize the variety of juniper on any of these (I know unlikely, given lack of up close foliage pics) please share:

Juniper #1

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Juniper #2, this is the largest, probably 4' plus accross

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Juniper #3

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herzausstahl

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Juniper #4 (this one I know is a juniperus chinesis 'old gold')

DSCF6799.JPG DSCF6800.JPG
This next ones aren't for collecting, but 2 blue rug junipers that started out as 1 gallon cans

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Here is another angle of Juniper #3 with Juniper #2 in the background
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Juniper #5 also and Old Gold, this is the one near the 2" pipe, can be collected, care just must be taken

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Juniper #6

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So all of these are a part of my garden so there is no rush on any of them, even if you feel cutting back this year would be too much. I will have enough dealing with the weeds and the few shrubs the birds planted. I do have a ground cover in one section I planted that I want to take over most of the area to choke out weeds. Also looking to add a natural pond (no filter, no pump, mosquito dunks until natural predators inhabit the pond), but that might need to wait until next year. Like a bonsai, the pond is never done, maybe one day I'll learn to just sit by it and enjoy, but don't hold your breath.
 

AlanReynolds

Sapling
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I would start the rough trunk shaping now while its in the ground. it will give you a head start later on down the road. :) Its just a suggestion but either way those are gorgeous!! I'm definitely one that's a tad jealous of those.
 

herzausstahl

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I would start the rough trunk shaping now while its in the ground. it will give you a head start later on down the road. :) Its just a suggestion but either way those are gorgeous!! I'm definitely one that's a tad jealous of those.
I have an update for these, so overgrown, I cut them back fairly hard today. Plan to leave alone for at least a year and see what happens.
 

herzausstahl

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So it might've been a bit of hard pruning but felt the garden as a whole needed it. So my plan is to leave these alone until next year and see how they respond. Then determine if I should try to thin out unwanted branches and expose the trunks more, or if I should dig them up and plant them in grow boxes. Some trunks were cool, from what little I could see. Just plan on leaving them alone for the rest of the summer, possibly some fert in a few weeks.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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That's what I do. In addition, try to find interesting trunk lines for each, and keep the shoots growing strong all along that trunk line. When pruning, always leave stubs to Jin later.

If the trunks are still small enough to add a low bend or twist with some wire, do that now. I noticed that I tend to plant my grow-out stuff straight up in the ground, and it's boring or limiting when it finally hits a bonsai pot. Don't be afraid to plant at a severe angle, and chop low after a few years to get some interest in the lower portion of the trunk. And by low, think the first 1-3". To help that, I also started damaging the trunks and ripping off some branches to create some Jin and Shari.

Do some heavy work one year, and let them grow wild for the next 3. I worked these over last year, so this year, they're growing unchecked now. 2 kishus and an Itoigawa:
6241766080_IMG_6549.JPG 6241766080_IMG_6547.JPG 6241766080_IMG_6551.JPG

Nice looking pond area, BTW.
 

herzausstahl

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Thanks @Brian Van Fleet ! I think most of these developed their own interesting trunks from what little I did look at. The trunks are about 2-3" in diameter so probably no wiring low on these. I was going to let them recover this year and then next spring I'll prune again to more define a trunk line and then let them go for a year or two to recover before digging them up. At the size I pruned them down too, I have no issue leaving them in my garden. Where they were was too large for the landscape. Is there anything special you'd recommend when collecting them, other than trying to get as many roots as possible?
 

herzausstahl

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If the trunks are still small enough to add a low bend or twist with some wire, do that now. I noticed that I tend to plant my grow-out stuff straight up in the ground, and it's boring or limiting when it finally hits a bonsai pot. Don't be afraid to plant at a severe angle, and chop low after a few years to get some interest in the lower portion of the trunk. And by low, think the first 1-3". To help that, I also started damaging the trunks and ripping off some branches to create some Jin and Shari.

Do some heavy work one year, and let them grow wild for the next 3.


This advice I definitely plan to follow with the Shimpaku I plan to grow out. The nursery I knew carried them finally got them in but it is tiny, I'll post a pic later. So I plan to get it in a grow bed, let it run wild, and take cuttings for more. Do you do anything special for the cuttings? Mix of perlite/sand work ok? And do you bother with rooting hormone?
 

herzausstahl

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Nice looking pond area, BTW.

Thanks! If you ever get bored, here's a running thread on it: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/wisconsin-pond-build.7186/

I've cleaned it up and switched some stuff around the last couple days along with looking for a potential leak (I have so much running/moving water its hard sometimes to tell if its a leak, spray from moving water, evaporation or a whole host of other possibilities). Its amazing though how much character develops on its own in my garden as I'm going for a natural wildlife garden.

I thought about using it as a ground growing area but it kind of clutters it up too much at times and I should have enough space now next to the garage. Otherwise I'll end up with too many trees to work on. Thanks again for all your help/advice!
 
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