Quote:
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Originally Posted by Vance Wood
How long are you waiting before you cut into the root ball again? Junipers should not be disturbed in cycles closer than three years. They sometimes can be slow to develop good roots and if you are disturbing them every year they don't have a chance.
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Valuable answer, Vance. Funny this should come up....
I am working on the cascade shown in the
Which do you prefer? thread, and was thinking similar thoughts.
When I got the tree, it was severely root bound in a nursery pot. Because it had been though a lot of stress, I simply teased the outer roots and put it in a larger pot with bonsai soil, jabbing some holes in the surface with chopsticks to help water penetrate.
Last year (after my first winter with it), I put it in its present pot, removing two "pie slices" with a saw, as the root ball was nearly impenetrable.
This year, I needed to shift its pot position (I was making potting angle changes.) and, when I took it out of the pot, I noticed that the formerly pot bound sectors had loosened up nicely. I also noticed little new root growth in the areas of the pie slices.
You have confirmed my decision to leave the roots alone this year, except for the "slip" potting. Once in place, I'll leave it alone for the next three years.