Itoigawa cleanup

[bwaynef]

I was asked to cleanup a couple of really nice junipers. They were imported a while back and have lived in this guy’s collection for a while. Both of these first two were in straight akadama and in dire need of repotting. Couple that with some watering issues and I think that’s where I’d attribute the weakness in the lower branches. Two others in this “batch” are in what appears akadama and pumice in roughly equal portion and they don’t show the same weakness. (They have their own issues.)

My first order of business was to fix the soil as best I could. Now isn’t the time to repot but I figured some soji was in order after I removed I scraped away all the broken down soil and fertilizer and extra weed roots until I got to intact soil particles. This took me about 3/4” below the rim of the pot. I tried to get a mostly level/even surface across the pot. Then I filled it back with fresh Boon mix. Tamped it down so everything stays out. After this, water drains a lot quicker and it seems to drain a lot better closer to the trunk (where I found a lot more soil than particles).

After I cleaned the soil, I covered it with cloths before cleaning the foliage. There was lots of interior growth that had died and would fall just by brushing the foliage or tapping the branches. I then began the process of pruning and thinning. There wasn’t very much bud back so I needed to create space for light and air to stimulate new growth. Cleaning the foliage and removing weak growth does just as much as the add’l light and air to really get the tree growing.

I was pretty satisfied with where the first one ended up at that point but really needed to clean the trunk. I’ve seen some shimpaku that I like with rough bark and I also like the smooth look when the bark has been cleaned/peeled. I would’ve left it, but there was moss that’d grown up the trunk so it ruined the rough bark when I removed the moss. That meant that I needed to clean most of the trunk of rough, loose bark. That took significantly longer than I expected.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well. It could stand to be wired and still a couple years from show-ready, but was an enjoyable process.

 

[Ruddigger]

Shame to lose that first branch. It looks like it could be cleaned out a bit more, but it could just need wiring, like you say. I’m going up there in a few weeks with Sensei David, would be cool to see it in person.

 

[bwaynef]

This one's on the opposite coast from you. On all but the first and last, the pictures were taken in my yard.

As for it possibly needing to be cleaned a bit more, I'm trying to split the difference between cleaning it up and the weakness that's happening in the lower branch. If it was wired, it would look sparse with the branches pulled down a good bit. As it is now, from above, it is very open. From the side, some of the depth is adding to the density you see. It'll likely be a month before I'm near that tree again, but I'll try to remember to get a picture from above.

 

[bwaynef]

I did largely the same thing with this one. Clean up the soil, replace it, and thin the foliage to allow light, trying to even the density throughout while making allowances for the low branches and their weakness. This one was significantly stronger, but the soil seemed more broken down. I wasn’t able to get as far down into particles of soil that were still intact. This one had significantly less softwood or moss in the trunk so still has some bark that could be removed if desired.

It’s my strong recommendation both of these get repots into better draining soil that holds its shape better and longer.

 

[Colorado]

Looks like nice work! Tons of ramification on those trees. Plenty to work with for wiring!