foliage pads on juniper

shane1130

Hi, I have a procumerans juniper, that I need to do a better job on developing foliage pads. What is everyone preferred technique?

Shane

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TreeBay

I would say,

1) thin the woody parts of the tree down to two or at most 3 twigs

2) Remove foliage growth between twigs and at the base of the branches.

3) remove downward facing growth

4) Pinch the branch tips by holding the branch between the thumb and forefinger of one hand and pluck out the branch tips with the fingers of the opposite hand.

With repeated effort you should be able to develop cloudlike foliage on the perimeter of the branch. The combined thinning and pinching is essential so that you can have density, but still get light and air to the interior of the tree. Keep in mind that the pads are defined mainly by the spaces around them. So you'll need to prune out some "un pads" to create the pads. A somewhat Zen idea.

The picture below just shows the typical foliage of J. procumbens on a tree in the ground. Maybe with another couple hands, I could better illustrate the technique.

Regards,

Matt

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msowka

Matt, could you repost the picture you refer to in your reply. I'm a beginner that picked up a procumbens nana at homedepot <gasp>, it looks like a nice healthy tree (other than the dying moss at the base of the trunk (?)) but at this point it's more of a shaped _twig_.

Going to follow your instructions on thinning and pinching to thicken it up. My first attempt at pinching were miserable: I would literally pinch shooting needles into pieces. As I understand as I should be pulling out 2 of the 3 leaves that spring out from the middle of the shoot?

Pics? Thanks,
Mike

TreeBay

Gosh I am not sure I can locate that photo. It's been rather a long time. You might find some useful diagrams in the wiki if you double click on the words

thinning

or

pinching

Meantime I'll see if I can find another photo to illustrate that point.

Regards,

Matt

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Mcspeed

msowka, if you want to add thickness to this do not trim or prune it, let it grow unhindered. New growth is what adds pounds to the skeleton.

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bonsaikc

Brent from evergreengardenworks gave a very good, succinct explanation of how to handle junipers.

To get the layers you want, you do not pinch, you prune. Here's a link to Brent's explanation of Boon's technique:

Pruning Junipers

Here's the photo Brent referred to in the post:

http://bonsainurseryman.typepad.com.../rebs200610.jpg

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Mcspeed

Thats the one Chris, thanks, good enough to bookmark this time.

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Vonsgardens

Hi,
This was one of the most profound things to have learned from Boon, it has also been reinforced by Mike Hagedorn and Marco. The mantra is: "a pinched tree is a stressed tree".

Those of you who are pinching officienados please don't take offense, just another approach.

John

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Yandrosxx

JOhn could you elaborate on this technique? I'm not sure what is meant by "green shoot." Are we talking about runts, hotheads or mature growth?