New material tips "NaNa Juniper"

[humanafterall]

Feeling lucky today as I found this piece of material bit I have no experience with it.... it's currently rootbound and drinking alot of water due to it.

Thoughts on the health/shape so far?

Tips for repotting this speices?

Changing medium from organic to in organic, what's the course of action? *We talking Half bare rooting here.....

Thanks alot on the advice! I do belive I found some good material here but im still new to the hobby.

*shots in order going around the tree*

 

[Bonsai Forest]

Great material

Two options among dozens:


Since trunk slants kind of straight, any appearance or creation of additional movement in that same overall direction that you can add would be good. But not necessary for it to still be a really nice composition. Nice score!

 

[humanafterall]

Great material

Two options among dozens:
View attachment 543859
View attachment 543860
Since trunk slants kind of straight, any appearance or creation of additional movement in that same overall direction that you can add would be good. But not necessary for it to still be a really nice composition. Nice score!

I like the idea you have on the second image.

Thanks for taking the time I'm gonna have alot to consider. My favorite front is shown below.

Just my first thoughts. I like where your at with it also I'm just a fool for trunks coming at me.

 

[Japonicus]

t's currently rootbound

This means you need to be putting your attention to keeping foliage rather than losing foliage.
Because the foliage of a juniper is the driving part that collects energy from the Sun to aid in recovery.
Recovery from repotting is your very 1st step, so let's not get the cart before the horse.

Changing medium from organic to in organic, what's the course of action?

Now you're talking 1st order and course of action
One, your soil cannot percolate well with water flowing through, but rather around the soil, mostly.
Oxygen is not getting into the root system in good proportions, so the health of the tree can only decline.
Go removing foliage and you will expedite the decline.
More to follow...

 

[We're all Mad Here...🎩]

If it were me, I'd slip pot it to avoid shock if you're in hot weather already, then let it grow and beef up for a while. This requires patience, though. Also, find trees you think look good to YOU, and style it similar as a guide. Just don't chop to high hell. Better to have more to work with, than wish you hadn't created so much less.

 

[humanafterall]

This means you need to be putting your attention to keeping foliage rather than losing foliage.
Because the foliage of a juniper is the driving part that collects energy from the Sun to aid in recovery.
Recovery from repotting is your very 1st step, so let's not get the cart before the horse.

Now you're talking 1st order and course of action
One, your soil cannot percolate well with water flowing through, but rather around the soil, mostly.
Oxygen is not getting into the root system in good proportions, so the health of the tree can only decline.
Go removing foliage and you will expedite the decline.
More to follow...

To be fair I never asked for styling advice but the other user put in his advice on that.... I know it needs to be potted and brought to health before hacking away. My questions were centered on its health and how to go about repotting it.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

I like the idea you have on the second image.

Thanks for taking the time I'm gonna have alot to consider. My favorite front is shown below.

Just my first thoughts. I like where your at with it also I'm just a fool for trunks coming at me.

That’s fair! I like trunks that go towards the viewer, so long as they are welcoming and not confrontational

 

[Japonicus]

It would be helpful @humanafterall to edit your profile to include a general location and USDA grow zone.
I can only guess by the foliage that you are in grow zone 7 or higher based on development.

There has been work done to this procumbens in branch selection and removal.
When was this work done?

By you or before you received it?

Many variances of soil is fine. Here's what I use, and this will vary from person to person and climate
and availability or cost. I use bonsaijack.com to order my soil. pumice/lava rock/Monto clay (1'4" turface) and some bark.
For my pines in better development stage, I use Boon mix pumice/lava rock and hard fired medium size akadama in equal parts.
Bonsai jack is quick to ship and a very clean, washed and sifted and tested for pathogens product.

Not knowing where you're located, if you were in my location, I would pull the root bound mass out of the can
saw off half of the root ball, a serrated knife does well, take a bonsai rake or chop stick and begin removing soil
from the underside raking out maybe another inch and a half of soil and cut thick roots as high up into the bottom
as you can in that 1.5 inches (3-4cm). Rake out some soil from around the trunk trying not to damage good thicker roots
if you find any. Of course you'll need a pot of sorts 1st, be it a pond basket (low cost, popular grow out method found at Lowes)
and soil enough to fill the basket that may hold 2 gallons. Also popular is a REB-10 mica pot, or a quick hand made wooden
grow out box. Over order on your soils. You will have more projects and don't want to be mid potting and run out.
Basically you want to tease the roots out radially when repotting and remove a good % of the nursery soil.
Backfill around the roots using a chopstick to work into the roots and void spaces AFTER tethering the root ball to pot 1st
using a couple of wires through the bottom tall enough to have both ends meet + some to begin twisting together to secure to pot.
Raise up with pliers and twist, raise and twist till snugged in and trim excess wire off leaving several spirals of wire so it does not fall apart.
You'll have to mound the soil high enough under the roots to get the nebari close to the surface before you snug it in. Try not to leave any
air pockets.

 

[BrightsideB]

These are good to start with. A good test to see if water and moisture is actually getting to most the roots is to soak it and see if it is actually just a bobber. But there are many approaches to this and factors to consider for the future of the tree. I think @Japonicus is giving you good advice. He has some nice junipers. I killed a couple nana’s when I started due to my lack of knowledge. There is no quick way to learn bonsai.

 

[Japonicus]

See post 11 here < for an idea on repotting a juniper that is bushy healthy.
Less healthy = less root work or none at all.
It's possible you can avoid a repot by...
...pierce the soil with a sharp nail like tent stake or larger than 16d nail anyway
in multiple points throughout the soil. Pierce as deep as you can go by hand.
This will aerate the soil and allow water and nutrients to permeate the shin getting more O2 in there.
However, the roots will grow over and percolation will slow again.
This is something I do with trees that I've missed the repot window, or the roots were ok
on a pine in March but the new root growth during vegetation choked off the percolation after the window closed.
Pines are more picky about a window than juniper.

See post 12 here < on a hinoki cypress being repotted, for ideas on soil below the rootball, and tethering to the pot.
The wires are passed through, wire or drainage holes, from underneath the pot in a U shape, then ends twisted together
from same wire atop the root surface till snug.

 

[We're all Mad Here...🎩]

To be fair I never asked for styling advice but the other user put in his advice on that.... I know it needs to be potted and brought to health before hacking away. My questions were centered on its health and how to go about repotting it.

If you know those things already, this is your friend https://www.bonsainut.com/forums/junipers.9/

You said you know it needs to be brought to health, but generally speaking, IMHO, that doesn't look like an unhealthy procumbens whatsoever. It's in a basic nursery can, root bound, and already shaped a bit, all relatively/very common things that require you to research the species, dig through the forum, get your hands dirty, fail at times, and have fun. While we all learn differently, it may be easier to watch repotting videos, by trusted professionals, on YouTube if it's your first one, for a visual guide.

Good luck

 

[humanafterall]

It would be helpful @humanafterall to edit your profile to include a general location and USDA grow zone.
I can only guess by the foliage that you are in grow zone 7 or higher based on development.

There has been work done to this procumbens in branch selection and removal.
When was this work done?

By you or before you received it?

Many variances of soil is fine. Here's what I use, and this will vary from person to person and climate
and availability or cost. I use bonsaijack.com to order my soil. pumice/lava rock/Monto clay (1'4" turface) and some bark.
For my pines in better development stage, I use Boon mix pumice/lava rock and hard fired medium size akadama in equal parts.
Bonsai jack is quick to ship and a very clean, washed and sifted and tested for pathogens product.

Not knowing where you're located, if you were in my location, I would pull the root bound mass out of the can
saw off half of the root ball, a serrated knife does well, take a bonsai rake or chop stick and begin removing soil
from the underside raking out maybe another inch and a half of soil and cut thick roots as high up into the bottom
as you can in that 1.5 inches (3-4cm). Rake out some soil from around the trunk trying not to damage good thicker roots
if you find any. Of course you'll need a pot of sorts 1st, be it a pond basket (low cost, popular grow out method found at Lowes)
and soil enough to fill the basket that may hold 2 gallons. Also popular is a REB-10 mica pot, or a quick hand made wooden
grow out box. Over order on your soils. You will have more projects and don't want to be mid potting and run out.
Basically you want to tease the roots out radially when repotting and remove a good % of the nursery soil.
Backfill around the roots using a chopstick to work into the roots and void spaces AFTER tethering the root ball to pot 1st
using a couple of wires through the bottom tall enough to have both ends meet + some to begin twisting together to secure to pot.
Raise up with pliers and twist, raise and twist till snugged in and trim excess wire off leaving several spirals of wire so it does not fall apart.
You'll have to mound the soil high enough under the roots to get the nebari close to the surface before you snug it in. Try not to leave any
air pockets.

I'm going to read back on this as it's important and sorry I thought I did this before on my profile... Atlanta 8a I received this with work already done not sure when from plant city bonsai in north GA mountains. He just made sure to stress it's drinking alot due to roots overfilling.

Bonsaijack is something I'll need to look into getting. I was think of using the bonsai supply 1/4 size mix.

 

[humanafterall]

If you know those things already, this is your friend https://www.bonsainut.com/forums/junipers.9/

You said you know it needs to be brought to health, but generally speaking, IMHO, that doesn't look like an unhealthy procumbens whatsoever. It's in a basic nursery can, root bound, and already shaped a bit, all relatively/very common things that require you to research the species, dig through the forum, get your hands dirty, fail at times, and have fun. While we all learn differently, it may be easier to watch repotting videos, by trusted professionals, on YouTube if it's your first one, for a visual guide.

Good luck

Most certainly it's not bad I just don't know when to start and soil recommendations. Upotting or half bare root. Just looking for the best advice to get the roots ready and free for styling in the future

 

[humanafterall]

It would be helpful @humanafterall to edit your profile to include a general location and USDA grow zone.
I can only guess by the foliage that you are in grow zone 7 or higher based on development.

There has been work done to this procumbens in branch selection and removal.
When was this work done?

By you or before you received it?

Many variances of soil is fine. Here's what I use, and this will vary from person to person and climate
and availability or cost. I use bonsaijack.com to order my soil. pumice/lava rock/Monto clay (1'4" turface) and some bark.
For my pines in better development stage, I use Boon mix pumice/lava rock and hard fired medium size akadama in equal parts.
Bonsai jack is quick to ship and a very clean, washed and sifted and tested for pathogens product.

Not knowing where you're located, if you were in my location, I would pull the root bound mass out of the can
saw off half of the root ball, a serrated knife does well, take a bonsai rake or chop stick and begin removing soil
from the underside raking out maybe another inch and a half of soil and cut thick roots as high up into the bottom
as you can in that 1.5 inches (3-4cm). Rake out some soil from around the trunk trying not to damage good thicker roots
if you find any. Of course you'll need a pot of sorts 1st, be it a pond basket (low cost, popular grow out method found at Lowes)
and soil enough to fill the basket that may hold 2 gallons. Also popular is a REB-10 mica pot, or a quick hand made wooden
grow out box. Over order on your soils. You will have more projects and don't want to be mid potting and run out.
Basically you want to tease the roots out radially when repotting and remove a good % of the nursery soil.
Backfill around the roots using a chopstick to work into the roots and void spaces AFTER tethering the root ball to pot 1st
using a couple of wires through the bottom tall enough to have both ends meet + some to begin twisting together to secure to pot.
Raise up with pliers and twist, raise and twist till snugged in and trim excess wire off leaving several spirals of wire so it does not fall apart.
You'll have to mound the soil high enough under the roots to get the nebari close to the surface before you snug it in. Try not to leave any
air pockets.

See post 11 here < for an idea on repotting a juniper that is bushy healthy.
Less healthy = less root work or none at all.
It's possible you can avoid a repot by...
...pierce the soil with a sharp nail like tent stake or larger than 16d nail anyway
in multiple points throughout the soil. Pierce as deep as you can go by hand.
This will aerate the soil and allow water and nutrients to permeate the shin getting more O2 in there.
However, the roots will grow over and percolation will slow again.
This is something I do with trees that I've missed the repot window, or the roots were ok
on a pine in March but the new root growth during vegetation choked off the percolation after the window closed.
Pines are more picky about a window than juniper.

See post 12 here < on a hinoki cypress being repotted, for ideas on soil below the rootball, and tethering to the pot.
The wires are passed through, wire or drainage holes, from underneath the pot in a U shape, then ends twisted together
from same wire atop the root surface till snug.

6in round pot, I Would like your best soil choice. Atlanta gets hot and I usually use @The Bonsai Supply soil so i dont mind trying something else as the bonsai supply soil seems okay.... haven't had much experience with anything else. Here some shots of the roots

 

[humanafterall]

It would be helpful @humanafterall to edit your profile to include a general location and USDA grow zone.
I can only guess by the foliage that you are in grow zone 7 or higher based on development.

There has been work done to this procumbens in branch selection and removal.
When was this work done?

By you or before you received it?

Many variances of soil is fine. Here's what I use, and this will vary from person to person and climate
and availability or cost. I use bonsaijack.com to order my soil. pumice/lava rock/Monto clay (1'4" turface) and some bark.
For my pines in better development stage, I use Boon mix pumice/lava rock and hard fired medium size akadama in equal parts.
Bonsai jack is quick to ship and a very clean, washed and sifted and tested for pathogens product.

Not knowing where you're located, if you were in my location, I would pull the root bound mass out of the can
saw off half of the root ball, a serrated knife does well, take a bonsai rake or chop stick and begin removing soil
from the underside raking out maybe another inch and a half of soil and cut thick roots as high up into the bottom
as you can in that 1.5 inches (3-4cm). Rake out some soil from around the trunk trying not to damage good thicker roots
if you find any. Of course you'll need a pot of sorts 1st, be it a pond basket (low cost, popular grow out method found at Lowes)
and soil enough to fill the basket that may hold 2 gallons. Also popular is a REB-10 mica pot, or a quick hand made wooden
grow out box. Over order on your soils. You will have more projects and don't want to be mid potting and run out.
Basically you want to tease the roots out radially when repotting and remove a good % of the nursery soil.
Backfill around the roots using a chopstick to work into the roots and void spaces AFTER tethering the root ball to pot 1st
using a couple of wires through the bottom tall enough to have both ends meet + some to begin twisting together to secure to pot.
Raise up with pliers and twist, raise and twist till snugged in and trim excess wire off leaving several spirals of wire so it does not fall apart.
You'll have to mound the soil high enough under the roots to get the nebari close to the surface before you snug it in. Try not to leave any
air pockets.

I ordered this soil and the REB10 pot, would it be okay to do this work when everything arrives?

I Appreciate your knowledge!

1 Gallon Organic Conifer Bonsai Soil Mix. Juniper Plus. pH 5.8 Mix #1DFD1 (4 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

 

[Japonicus]

I ordered this soil and the REB10 pot, would it be okay to do this work when everything arrives?

I Appreciate your knowledge!

1 Gallon Organic Conifer Bonsai Soil Mix. Juniper Plus. pH 5.8 Mix #1DFD1 (4 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

Absolutely.
The soil is perfect and most of the time Jack puts in a metal chopstick in the orders.
I would just recommend the 3 gallon size is all.

When you've started getting a solid bottom to your root ball this guy > @BrightsideB < makes some nice pot

Brightside Bonsai Pots

I appreciate the Bnutters who have purchased my pots for their collections! And I appreciate @19Mateo83 unboxing review! I wanted to start a thread that I could post some photo’s on to show a few of the newly added pots I put into my Etsy store. They usually go pretty quick so I figured I...

www.bonsainut.com

I'm going to read back on this as it's important and sorry I thought I did this before on my profile... Atlanta 8a I received this with work already done not sure when from plant city bonsai in north GA mountains. He just made sure to stress it's drinking alot due to roots overfilling.

Bonsaijack is something I'll need to look into getting. I was think of using the bonsai supply 1/4 size mix.

Steve and Sandy run a nice joint there in Clermont. I've been to a single workshop in my time in bonsai
and it was there that I went with Adair Martin as the artist teaching the class.
I brought my JWP with me and Adair said he'd be happy to add it to his collection lol.
I've bought a couple trees from Steve from JWP to Sekka hinoki and Kishu.

Bonsai by the Monastery in Conyers, GA is a decent source of pots.
I used to use their Master Soil Blend exclusively, but they closed their online store a few years back.
Won't even ship a pot.

Your root ball does not look too packed, but eager to be helped out.
If when you water (when it is ready), the water pools before soaking in, it is too packed, at least on top.

So you're going to need some wire to secure your root ball to the pot, and some screen to cover the
large drainage holes. Should have no problem finding these around Atlanta.

Here is an REB10 mica pot. If you look closely above and below the drainage hole
you'll see I've drilled the bottom, holes for the anchor wire. 2 holes around each drainage hole.
You can get away with just a layer of typical window screen cut to fit bottom and cut your anchor
wires ends on angle so to pierce through screen from bottom. The roots will engulf the screen
and full coverage screen has it's own issue of removal at next repot, but you're going to be working
those roots anyway, so not a big issue. Start with 2 feet of anchor wire for each side. That should give
you 10" to work with front and 10" back, above the soil line to twist. Better too much than not enough.
If the wire begins wrapping around itself as you're twisting
in a single location, kind of knotting up, it will break, and you'll have to start over. So lift, then twist, repurchase pliers
grip, lift and twist to keep a Y spinning till snug G's ruin the fun. I use either copper household wire that has no nicks
or aluminum wire. I use 14/2 household copper wire or aluminum bonsai wire, in whatever size is equivalent to 10 gauge copper.
The butterflies to hold screen pieces over drainage holes, I use whatever is recycled from other projects but long enough
to make the double loop and exit the bottom of the pot and flatten out 3/4" on bottom side, give or take is good.

 

[humanafterall]

Absolutely.
The soil is perfect and most of the time Jack puts in a metal chopstick in the orders.
I would just recommend the 3 gallon size is all.

When you've started getting a solid bottom to your root ball this guy > @BrightsideB < makes some nice pot

Brightside Bonsai Pots

I appreciate the Bnutters who have purchased my pots for their collections! And I appreciate @19Mateo83 unboxing review! I wanted to start a thread that I could post some photo’s on to show a few of the newly added pots I put into my Etsy store. They usually go pretty quick so I figured I...

www.bonsainut.com

Steve and Sandy run a nice joint there in Clermont. I've been to a single workshop in my time in bonsai
and it was there that I went with Adair Martin as the artist teaching the class.
I brought my JWP with me and Adair said he'd be happy to add it to his collection lol.
I've bought a couple trees from Steve from JWP to Sekka hinoki and Kishu.

Bonsai by the Monastery in Conyers, GA is a decent source of pots.
I used to use their Master Soil Blend exclusively, but they closed their online store a few years back.
Won't even ship a pot.

Your root ball does not look too packed, but eager to be helped out.
If when you water (when it is ready), the water pools before soaking in, it is too packed, at least on top.

So you're going to need some wire to secure your root ball to the pot, and some screen to cover the
large drainage holes. Should have no problem finding these around Atlanta.
View attachment 543943
Here is an REB10 mica pot. If you look closely above and below the drainage hole
you'll see I've drilled the bottom, holes for the anchor wire. 2 holes around each drainage hole.
You can get away with just a layer of typical window screen cut to fit bottom and cut your anchor
wires ends on angle so to pierce through screen from bottom. The roots will engulf the screen
and full coverage screen has it's own issue of removal at next repot, but you're going to be working
those roots anyway, so not a big issue. Start with 2 feet of anchor wire for each side. That should give
you 10" to work with front and 10" back, above the soil line to twist. Better too much than not enough.
If the wire begins wrapping around itself as you're twisting
in a single location, kind of knotting up, it will break, and you'll have to start over. So lift, then twist, repurchase pliers
grip, lift and twist to keep a Y spinning till snug G's ruin the fun. I use either copper household wire that has no nicks
or aluminum wire. I use 14/2 household copper wire or aluminum bonsai wire, in whatever size is equivalent to 10 gauge copper.
The butterflies to hold screen pieces over drainage holes, I use whatever is recycled from other projects but long enough
to make the double loop and exit the bottom of the pot and flatten out 3/4" on bottom side, give or take is good.

Thanks for the soil recommendation when I fall into a hobby I go pretty hard. I found Bsidebonsai and fell in love plus he was local so I have a few! I'm gonna keep me eyes out on a unglazed rectangle for the future.

I have mesh and wire ready to go, with the guidance you gave should I be good to cut this in half and tease the side roots slightly free and put it in the mica for a few seasons with out major issue or is this to late in the season.

 

[Japonicus]

My 20-$25 Shimpaku from NEB 2008

thanks for sending me to this thread. Do you have any recent pictures of the tree? Just snapped a pic between rains. Wiring season begins any time it dries out. The pot I got this weekend might be a better fit. It's a little deeper front to back and quite frankly, this 1st pot it got was pretty...

www.bonsainut.com

Here's another recent repot of a Kishu I got at NEB in Bellingham, MA in 2008.
Having a grand solid bottom to the root mass, I hollowed out a fist sized hole into the shin from underneath.
Bored 2 back fill holes through the nebari between roots diagonally to the bottom side.
This way I chop stick into the void, soil particles till air pocket is filled, if mounding soil was not thorough enough
to fill the void.
Call Steve and ask him or Sandy about the time frame. I am at prime time here for repotting my procumbens.
(770) 983-3377

It's going to boil down to aftercare whether or not you do this now or not. If you are away at work during the day
and cannot mist and keep it watered, it might be a bit late. If you can mist it whenever you think about it
and can water to keep it from drying out, but not constantly wet, now is A OK. There is a second window being
once the Summer solstice has passed through late August early September if you prefer.
It can reach double digits below 0ºF here occasionally in Winter, so I avoid late Summer/Fall repots.

 

[humanafterall]

My 20-$25 Shimpaku from NEB 2008

thanks for sending me to this thread. Do you have any recent pictures of the tree? Just snapped a pic between rains. Wiring season begins any time it dries out. The pot I got this weekend might be a better fit. It's a little deeper front to back and quite frankly, this 1st pot it got was pretty...

www.bonsainut.com

Here's another recent repot of a Kishu I got at NEB in Bellingham, MA in 2008.
Having a grand solid bottom to the root mass, I hollowed out a fist sized hole into the shin from underneath.
Bored 2 back fill holes through the nebari between roots diagonally to the bottom side.
This way I chop stick into the void, soil particles till air pocket is filled, if mounding soil was not thorough enough
to fill the void.
Call Steve and ask him or Sandy about the time frame. I am at prime time here for repotting my procumbens.
(770) 983-3377

It's going to boil down to aftercare whether or not you do this now or not. If you are away at work during the day
and cannot mist and keep it watered, it might be a bit late. If you can mist it whenever you think about it
and can water to keep it from drying out, but not constantly wet, now is A OK. There is a second window being
once the Summer solstice has passed through late August early September if you prefer.
It can reach double digits below 0ºF here occasionally in Winter, so I avoid late Summer/Fall repots.

Seems like uppotting is to a 7in pot would be better and then wait for next spring. I'll give them a call bit I'm thinking that might be the best action instead of cutting half to fit in the mica. I'll be gladly using it in spring with a correct repot

 

[rockm]

I would not do anything to this tree at this point except learn how to care for it. Spend a year doing just that. Looks pretty healthy to me. Start messing with the root mass and changing soil, much less planning designs at this point is rushing things a bit.

Slip potting it into a larger container with different soil surrounding the existing root mass is asking for trouble. The roots will be very reluctant to jump over into the new soil. It will likely simply circle its roots in the old soil. A root pruning and partial soil replacement at repotting season (next year) will help it expand into new soil. A larger container with no roots will also hang onto more water than the tree can use or the converse. It complicates things needlessly at this point.