J. Procumbens nana 2012001

[Paradox]

Here is a nursery juniper I bought last summer. I repotted it this spring and did some pruning.

It might be hard to see where Im going with this because I didnt prune more this year, but I will try. I didnt want to prune more at the time because I didnt want to do too much to this tree this year and I wanted to study it more decide where I wanted to go with it. The good news is that the tree has put out a new flush of growth since I repotted it and seems pretty happy so Im doing something right


Picture just after I bought it


Picture after I repotted and pruned it


You can see two cascading branches. They almost have no taper from the main trunk to the tip. I was trying to decide whether to leave as a cascade or do something else. The initial pruning really revealed the trunk (the reason I bought the tree) with excellent (imo) movement that turns back on itself. This suggested a better alternative to a cascade.

Back of the tree


The front of the tree with the two cascade branches pushed aside so you can see the trunk.


I direction I like best is to to cut back those two cascading branches and have the foliage above the trunk on the left. I might jin the right side branch (left side in the back photo) or leave some foliage there but not sure yet.
In any case it will take some time, but I think this could be a very nice shohin or slightly bigger tree in the future.

 

[augustine]

Looks fine, leave it alone til next July. Feed and grow.

 

[october]

Hi Paradox, I like this tree. It does have nice movement. I agree with you to do a slant/informal style tree instead of the cascade. The tree does not really have the makings for a good cascade. One problem is that all the branches are very thick which will ruin the illusion of an older tree. However, you can partially carve/jin along the undersides of the branches creating the look of thinner branches.

Maybe something like this.

Rob

 

[Paradox]

Thanks for the vert Rob. I really need to get my photoshop skills up so I can do verts.

I think once I can cut back those two branches next spring, Ill be able to get a better look at things and see where to go from there.

 

[Paradox]

Update

Did some pruning to start toward the design I had in mind. The tree is not finished and more foliage will be removed later on. Some of the current smaller branches need to grow more. Also there is a jin in this tree's future (left branch of second pic).

 

[Paradox]

Didn't need to worry too much about this one. It grew like a weed this summer. Hardly looks like I pruned it in May and I took a lot off of it.