Wire foliage pads when necessary in order to let air and light in and prevent the foliage’s inner parts from dying. If the deadwood is old and large, deadwood can be split off and bent into the more flexible parts of the tree. While their branches can be bent rather strongly, you must be very careful when wiring deadwood. When acquiring a bonsai, you may notice that many Junipers are wired heavily at the start of their lives. Because of this, dramatic shapes and twists are often associated with the Juniper bonsai. To encourage growth, use a fertilizer with high Nitrogen levels. Fertilizing A Juniper Bonsaiĭuring the growth season, fertilize once a month with organic fertilizer, or once a week with liquid fertilizer. Junipers respond to leaf misting very well as this will boost its air humidity. These trees do not like soil wetness, so avoid watering too much. These trees are pretty particular about their water intake. In the spring, its normal color will return. If your tree turns purplish brown in the winter, this is normal. Protect these trees from temperatures below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. While some trees are able to survive indoors or outdoors, Junipers are not. Junipers are outdoor bonsai trees and need lots of light with no shade. With proper care, your Juniper shouldn’t face too many problems with pests and diseases, but it is possible for problems to arise anyway. These trees are also sensitive to frost and cold weather. They are very particular about the amount of water they recieve and need lots of light. These trees are dark green or gray in color and are pretty dense. Sierra Junipers are insidiousness to western United States. Keep in mind all Savin’s are poisonous! California Juniper’s have blue-gray foliage, and are native to -you guessed it- California. Savin Junipers, which originated in North Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia, have either fine or coarse foliage, and range in shades of green depending on where it’s from. Many of the Chinese Junipers look so similar, that it is very hard to distinguish one species from another. Emerald-green, delicate foliage makes the Itoigawa Shimpaku very popular. These Junipers are particularly diverse in color, ranging anywhere from yellow-green, green-blue, and green-gray. Unlike the Japanese Needle, their needles are small and delicate.Ĭommon Junipers with scale-like foliage are the Japanese Shimpaku and the Chinese Juniper. Native to North America, North Africa, Europe, and Asia is the Common Juniper. The Japanese Needle Juniper has stinging needles that are dark green and have a white line down its length. This Juniper from Japan has short, compact, blue-green foliage. One example of this is the Green Mound Juniper Bonsai. There are many popular Junipers with needle-like foliage. Identifying Your Juniper BonsaiĪs previously mentioned, Junipers are divided into two categories: needle-like and scale-like foliage. Junipers are also commonly used for creating deadwood. After a year or two, they will ripen, but it is very common for birds to spread the cones through their droppings. Their cones are berry-like and very small – ranging from 2cm to 3mm- and are either round or oval shaped. After a few years this foliage can be removed and its scale-like foliage will grow again. Its original needle-like foliage can grow once again if the tree is under some sort of stress, like over watering, heavy pruning or wiring. Usually junipers will start off with needle-like foliage and grow scale-like foliage later in its life. The looks of these trees are pretty diverse, with foliage ranging from lighter greens to dark blue greens, and needle- or scale-like foliage. These coniferous shrubs have over 50 species in its family. Kicking myself.One of the most popular bonsai trees is the Juniper bonsai. And me, not realizing the potential, did not take a single cutting. Did I have lots of learning material afterwards!ĭropping loads of branches.
This probably cost me about 5 years of development, cutting of wrong branches, setting wires poorly and what not! But.
JUNIPER BONSAI HOW TO
With me wanting to really learn how to do this stuff, every cut, wire and bend was done by me, and the only input from these great guyes were the discussions on "where can I take this". Looking back through my pictures I realize, not 2011, but 2013! I guess that was the weekend that sealed my relation with bonsai! Eating, sleeping, drinking and what not till next morning around 7AM bringing me to Hull in the UK, and off to one of the best workshops I have ever been to, with Terry Foster, Tony Tickle, Hans van Meer and Pavel Slovak. So I took the car and drove from Germany to Hoek van Holland, to the the ferry.