Juniperus rigida/styling advice

Ravenna

Hi, just got myself this juniperus rigida and wondered whether you had any suggestions. I fear the branches are difficult to see but may be you can still give some hints I have been doing some reading up but it is my first juniper rigida and I haven't got any experience with conifers as yet so any help would be welcome.

Regards, Ravenna

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Ravenna

View of the branches from below...

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Ravenna

Hi,

hmmm... I would really welcome a bit of advice, you know...


Ravenna

heymikey(deceased)

heyRavenna; Since nobody else has attempted to provide any advice I will offer the following:

a) Remove the moss completely from the soil and tree trunk to get a better look at the nebari and to allow the soil/roots to breathe better.

b) Remove the berries/seeds to direct more energy to the foliage (unless you plan on exhibiting the tree in the near future and want to feature the berries).

c) Find out if the whitish growth on the foliage is natural or some sort of fungus/mold/whatever. This is hard to determine from photos so take it to an experienced nurseryman or horticultural expert.

d) Next you need to decide what size and form you are looking for in the future. If you envision a larger profile you need to place it in a larger pot or growbox. As far as suggested forms or styles it is not very easy (or wise) to suggest something unless one can see the overall structure and branching and this is hard to do with pictures because of the foliage density.

e) Since you are participating in the Crespi bonsai school I would presume that they would be an extremely valuable resource in answering all your questions. Remember, if you do not seek and take advice from a professional instructor (which you are paying to teach you bonsai techniques) you will not get the benefits you signed up for.

I have not worked specifically with needle juniper as they are not very prevalent in the US. My advice is based on generally accepted bonsai and horticultural pricipals. Regards, heyMikey!!

Aaron_K

If it were mine, I would be inclined to open the tree up a bit more to reveal trunk and branch structures.

From the photo's, its very hard to discern the "naked" shape of the tree as there is a lot of foliage covering the branches and the photo's are pretty dark too.

Mikey makes some good points which you should consider. The best thing to do would be to take this tree to your teacher to view in the flesh, and suggest the best direction in which to take this bonsai.

Regards,

Aaron

Ravenna

Hi,

thank you very much for the advice... I was planning to try and do the shaping within a course anyway and had showed it to a bonsai specialist at Schinznach. She recommended a certain bonsai course in June but I just got a mail from P. Notter because the course I wanted to go to is booked out so I will have to see what else I can use here.

The problem with trying to shape the tree within the Crespi course is that we are provided with material we are supposed to work on there already and the programm is "full", i.e. there is no time for any "side-steps". Already I will have to present and make some corrections to my "homework-juniper" and we will get a deciduous tree in our next class in March so... any advice taken within the course would be rather hurried and superficial and I feel that it would be a pity as I think that it is a really nice tree.

BTW there is no white growth on the needles that is just the natural shade. I will have a chat with P. Notter and see whether he has anything else he could offer coursewise here in Switzerland. Actually I have already "dug" a bit in the area of the roots but as I wasn't going to do any major shaping right now I have left it at that for the time being....

Well, as you wanted a lighter pic there is one here.

Regards, Ravenna

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TreeBay

It is hard to see in there. If you do any thinning, be sure to use very sharp shears and get in just above a bud and nip it off cleanly without cutting through any of the needles. You can use a chopstick to poke around.

There might be areas that need to thicken (I really can't see) but say if the apex needed more thickness you wouldn't prune as much there. My needle juniper grows almost all year, even in the wintertime it seems to be pushing growth. I have to go in and both prune back to shape the branches and then thin it out too or it will get congested

This diagram may help. There is a strong bud at the apex that would be a logical place to prune back to, but that's assuming that the apex doesn't need thickening, which is something I can't assess from these photos.

thinning

I do know that if you don't let light and air get in there there is the danger of dieback and spider mites and so forth. Prune back cleanly to live buds and you'll be okay. If you do that it's very unlikely you'll do any damage. If you prune back arbitrarily, especially when cutting leaves, it is likely to die back to some other branch. As someone else said, get the moss off the trunk. Organic fertilizer would be a good choice.

I don't think this needs to go into a grow box as I believe was suggested earlier, but it is hard to see the condition of the rootbase.

Regards,

Matt

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Vance Wood

I agree with removing the moss on this tree, to reveal the base and nebari. The tree has great potential, a wonderful trunk and possibly some dead wood to fool around with. You need to thin out some of the foliege a bit to reveal the nature of the branch structure but already from the point of view of your last picture I can see a pretty nice tree in there just waiting to be revealed.

The white on the needles are stomatic lines. This is normal and attractive. This is obviously a very good cultivar and probably worth a good deal of money, so take care of it.

JavaScottC

Ravenna,
Oh, so THATS what it looks like I agree with Mikey, Matt, and Vance on the moss removal....it has a nice trunk, and some interesting direction to it. Nice tree, there, and should be some serious fun to work on. I too might be delving into carving this year, as I have a sketch for the tall pine, so give me some tips if you go carving before I do.

Scott

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