Collecting California Juniper with JC

[Juniperus Californica]

Dwight & friends,

When it comes to taking the Cal Junipers out of the greenhouse, I wait until the plant has either started sprouting or is dead. Just after the plant has sprouted, I start mild fertilizer. I like fish emulsion because it's organic, mild and everybody loves the smell, especially the local Turkey Buzzards. Other fertilizers I use are Grobetter for organic and 1/2 strength Miracle Grow. Harry Hirao uses Peter's 20-20-20 and Green King on his Junipers.

As far as approach grafting goes, as stated before, Roy Nagatoshi grafts in the winter months, however, others say you can graft at any time. Although I follow Roy's teachings, I have been known to graft past winter especially when I have to re-graft a shimpaku that was damaged by either ground squirrels or lack of water (they dry out fast).

Grafting Shimpaku to Cal Juniper stock (or any other juniper stock) has the advantages of providing small and very green foliage on a very old trunk. Also, the trees don't have to live in dry climates and the foliage doesn't grow as fast, meaning much less pinching and maintaining.

JC

 

[Attila Soos]

I like fish emulsion because it's organic, mild and everybody loves the smell, especially the local Turkey Buzzards.
JC

Man, thanks for the good laugh. I've been wondering where can I find those buzzards, I've heard that they are supposed to live in our area (up in the Angeles Forest), but I've never actually seen one, although I go trail running almost daily. Is there a particular area where they are easier to spot? Or may be I just need to drop by a slaughterhouse, get a large piece of discarded meat, take it up into the mountains, and wait for them to appear.

 

[rockm]

Attila,

you want a few vultures? you can have a few hundred thousand of ours... We have a problem with them here in Va. They are extremely overpopulated in these parts:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/dutch-gap-black-vulture-management/
http://audubonmagazine.org/features0811/horrorShow.html

There are a few that hang around the ruins of a local civil war era plantation I used to collect wisteria from. They can be quite aggressive...

 

[garywood]

Hey Mark, over population of Vultures should be self correcting. They eat dead stuff Maybe it's the dead weight in D.C. that keeps them fed
Wood

 

[Bill S]

Wood the problem is telling the Vultures from the pols.

 

[Attila Soos]

Attila,

you want a few vultures? you can have a few hundred thousand of ours... We have a problem with them here in Va. They are extremely overpopulated in these parts:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/dutch-gap-black-vulture-management/
http://audubonmagazine.org/features0811/horrorShow.html

There are a few that hang around the ruins of a local civil war era plantation I used to collect wisteria from. They can be quite aggressive...

Wow, very interesting, I never knew about this.

 

[greerhw]

Wow, very interesting, I never knew about this.

Don't ever walk under one, they will vomit on you and man does it stink.

keep it green,
Harry

 

[rockm]

They also "excrete" on their feet to keep cool in the summer AND their poop will remove paint from your car...WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE

They're STILL better than those @#$!$ ^$%@ squirrels...

 

[greerhw]

They also "excrete" on their feet to keep cool in the summer AND their poop will remove paint from your car...WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE

They're STILL better than those @#$!$ ^$%@ squirrels...

Ah, the little tree rats, I aim for them with my car when they run acroos the road.

keep it green,
Harry

 

[Dwight]

And I can just see them laughing when you miss and run into a bar ditch. Hay , that sounds like a great commercial

 

[Dwight]

Hay JC , how are the trees doing ?

 

[PETER PHAM]

Cont'd 2,

Next I cover the root ball with more Akadama then finally with scoria. This particular tree is a male, so I won't have to remove any berries. I also left the tree long because I needed to keep the top alive so I could graft farther down the trunk in the future.

Now the tree is off to the greenhouse where it is bagged and kept in 40 - 60% humidity. I never move the trees until I'm sure they're alive and kicking. Then I'll gradually bring them out where they'll live with the other trees. Keeping the trees in the greenhouse too long will eventually weaken them because they're used to living in dry conditions.

This is by no means the only way to collect California Junipers; there are countless other ways to kill them! I've had very good luck with this method (about 80%) but there are a couple of caveats. I try to dig a few weeks after a heavy rain (that's why El Nino years are fantastic) and younger trees will have a better success rate that very old large trees. After you dig the tree you must thank the Yamadori gods for giving you that opportunity and you must kiss the root ball of every tree you want to survive!

Anyway, now you know what I do, I would appreciate if everybody would contribute to this website by sharing their stories of success and failure because this is the only way we can put those arrogant European bonsai wannabes back in there places.

Love
JC

Hello JC, I went to my friend's land in Lancaster to dig up 3 California Junipers right after Christmas heavy rain weeks. I copied all the techniques you showed people. I have few questions I'd like to ask you. The old, dirty long strip barks cover the trunk and branches, a lot of them sticked loose and some had white spots fungus on...Do we need to remove these loose strip barks? Are they doing any good? Also, during 3-4 months nursing, can I spray the leaves with Superthrive solution? I've misted the leaves with water almost every evening. Last, do you think light/small percentage of root hormone mixed with water to water the roots. Does it help to speed up rooting process? Thanks!

 

[Juniperus Californica]

JC's Collecting Top Ten!

Peter my good man,

You ask some very interesting questions so here are my top ten suggestions:
10. The loose bark strips can stay, you don't have to remove them,
9. I believe you can spray the needles with Superthrive although I haven't seen any evidence that it helps or hurts,
8. After the initial watering, I don't recommend watering the roots unless they're dried out. Bag the pot so when you mist the foliage, water doesn't get into the roots.
7. I have seen more evidence that the quality of the water you use makes a difference. Rain water or distilled water is better than So Cal city water, however, I've used city water and the trees have survived.
6. Misting in the morning & evening are the best times when the plant stomata are open, use clean water (e.g. rain or distilled)
5. Some people soak their collected trees in Superthrive and others soak them in Miracle Gro, I've tried both and I haven't seen any real difference.
4. The temperature of the root zone seems to make a difference. Planting the tree in the ground, whether in a pot of directly, seems to help the trees survive. Also, wounding the tree by constantly pinching back the foliage seems to stimulate growth and keeps the tree from going into a coma.
3. Don't fertilize until you see the tree starting to pop out and then start with something mild.
2. Always post pictures of your collected trees on this thread.
1. Never go collecting unless you invite me!

Good Luck Grasshopper!
JC

 

[Brian Underwood]

How are the trees doing? Any updates?

 

[falcon1117]

hi I am new to bonsai. Where is a good place to collect the california and the sierra juniper? Thanks in advance.

 

[tmmason10]

Would love to see updates on last years collections if you have some JC. Great thread a wealth of information, very nice specimens.

 

[Bill S]

Falcon, to give you a heads up , I wouldn't expect an answer to that question other than the mountains, collection spots(especially good ones) are a gold mine, and not many people will tell you where they are. Not to mention often you need special permits to collect them or owners permission.

 

[Ris]

I just read through all these messages and wow, great stuff.
Sure would be nice to see those trees collected and grafted, anyway great info.

Rishi.

 

[Juniperus Californica]

Alright, you asked how they're doing and here it is. Four out of 6 survived, one is in a bonsai pot and is ready to be styled (the last Juniper in the pot was collected at a different time, but I threw in the picture just for fun).

I like to wait until I get the Cal Juniper into a bonsai pot before I start styling it so I know the tree will survive all the transplanting. It's important to note that when I put the trees in the growing pots, I make sure the roots are cut back enough so the tree will fit in a bonsai pot. So all my collected trees fit pretty easily into bonsai pots and my success rate into bonsai pots, so far, is 100%. Once the tree is in a bonsai pot & in fast draining soil, you can water every day and fertilize regularly and the tree will love it!

Well there you have it, the journey is just beginning and if you want me to, I'll continue to post the progress of the trees. Also, if anyone wants to take me digging, I'll gladly show you all the ins and outs .

Your Humble Bonsai Enthusiast

J.C.