Juniper Trunk Diameter And Taper

joesteady

Ok, now I see why Junipers are the "beginners tree". They are readily available and require that you develop an eye.

I recently bought 6 cuttings of various stages for practice on. Only now that I have thinned the branches out do I see the challenge I am up against. All of them are completely different in form and none of them look anything like a Bonsai. I looked at just about every Juniper picture in the gallery and still have no idea what direction to take these in.

ok, on to the question. The one thing these all have in common is a thin trunk and hardly any taper. How can I increase trunk diamater and taper?

Any feedback is very appreciated. I'll post some pics here soon.

Joe

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susieq

If they are cuttings, I am assuming they are quite small.... Put them in a large pot that gives them a lot of room to grow, fertilize them aggressively and let them go for a while. Or, if you have an appropriate area to do it, plant them in the ground even. I prefer growing junipers in a pot, just because it's easier to control the roots that way. You can root prune every couple of years (in very early spring) and encourage the fine feeder roots you want while getting rid of large thick ones. Removing an equal amount of foliage to keep balance, of course. From cuttings, this is a long term project. You can practise bud pinching through the growing season and develop some nice thick pads while you are at it. But cuttings......well, you might want to buy something a bit larger to play with. Something from a local nursery in a 1 gallon or 3 gallon container, that has some trunk to it already. Just a thought. Good luck to you
susieq

joesteady

Great information, thanks susieq. I guess 2 of the plants I got are pretty nice sized. I am including a couple pics of their trunks.

So that's it aye? Just keep pruning it back? I'll be back in 10 years I guess, to show you guys the results. =P

I would love to know more about bud pinching. I've read a lot of threads that mention it, but nothing that goes into detail.

cheers,
Joe

joesteady

tree 1

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tree1.jpg (57.6 KB, 98 views)

joesteady

tree 2

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tree2.jpg (51.8 KB, 95 views)