Help With The Right Way To Pinch Junipers.

Carp

hi all
i was wondering if some of you guys(and galls) could possibly post some pics of the way you pinch the candles on your junipers , i have been
1 , holding the growth below the intended victim.
2, pinch and twist out the offending tip

i must not be doing his correctly as i am still ending up with quite alot of brown needles, like you see when someone has taken to a juniper with a pair os siscors.
every couple of days i pinch a few tips , is this to often?
the tree in question is Juniperous procumbens- Common Name Japanese juniper

Attached Images

japanese juniper(1999)-feb2003.1.jpg (72.5 KB, 255 views)

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bonsaial1

Pinching junipers, which by the way is Chinese, is very easy to do.

1. It depends on if you are pinching buds

2. or, just pinching down rank growth.

Pinching junipers can also be done with scissors. As long as you are cutting the currant fresh growth, cutting with scissors is considered pinching too.

When taking out just the buds, you pick out the bud packet just before it expands. when done at the right time, it will not turn brown. WARNING; bud pinching should be done after the tree is styled. Pinching buds induces more buds to grow in the same spot. Continued pinching causes more buds to grow thereby creating tight compact foliage. But the branch should be configured like you want it. It does no good to pinch buds on the branch that is not the length or shape you want. If you decide to prune it back you will be cutting off all your previous ramification, aghh!

Style the tree. Wire the tree. Get the tree going in the direction you want the tree to look like in the future. The branches at this point can actually be sheared just like shearing a hedge with electric hedge trimmers. Yes, the ends will turn brown, yes, the tree will look ugly for a while. But, this will give you the basic tree to go with.

Then at this point when the second flush of buds comes out, due to the pruning it just had, you can start bud nipping. This will create the foliage that you want on the branches that you want to achieve the tree that you want.

When doing the pinching with scissors it takes a little more care. When cutting the tip off, the scissor tips must be worked in between the little overlapping leaves running up and down the stem. When done right, there is little browning. If you cut the small leaves or just shear across like hedge trimming there will be browning. It grows out fairly fast if you are religious about fertilizing, have it in a grow box, and have fast draining soil.

Be prepared, pinching procumbens can be a fuill time job, year round if you have very many of them in your collection. They are fast growers, and respond well to the pinching.

Hope this helps, Bonsai-al

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Carp

thanks Al for your advice , i will take it all into due consideration.
think i might buy myself a pair of those baby nail cutting sciscors that i have for my daughter, they are truely tiny and razor sharp.
thanks again.

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"The aim of life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
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erubeck

Al:

Thanks for the lesson on pinching junipers. That is very helpful information for a novice such as myself.

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Regards,

Ed

pdbbonsai

We should also learn to recognize the difference between adult and juvenile foliage, and, the different shoot behaviors.

Adult foliage in junipers are more scale-like and pressed tightly on the shoot. The juvenile foliage is more needle like. Thes occur in groups of three and stand upright to the shoot.

There are two types of shoots...non-extending and extending. Non-ex shoots grow in clumpy masses, in short amounts during a growing season. Extending shoots are the "extension" growths that can get as long as 6-8 inches in a season.

Pinching the tips of non ex shoots keeps the pads neat and cloud-like. Response is energizing to the tree as Al has said, causing loads of growth in that area.

Extending shoots should be "cut" back to where all the remaining laterals on the shoot are non extending.


(I got this info from Colin Lewis' "The Art of Bonsai Design". An excellent case study reference for several species that include, Elm, Juniper, Pine, and Larch. All include different styles he has, and the trial and error he made in creating some wonderful bonsai.)

He also describes three behavior patterns of the shoots, but I wont confuse us anymore than we have to be.


Paul

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