Juniper Advice

[somewhatconcerned]

I was wondering what type of style would be best for my new Juniper Bonsai. It's not very tall and the crown is wide. I have been keeping it inside temporarily because the average temperature this month has been 115 Fahrenheit with humidity of 15% but I will move it once it cools down a bit.

 

[jszg]

As long as it isn't allowed to dessicate, I'm certain that the juniper would far prefer the outside than the inside, definitely not direct sun if it's in a black pot, but still! Remember what is the native habitat of most Juniperus....

Keeping it inside, or shuffling inside and out, will weaken and kill the plant.

 

[dmwphoto]

find a suitable place outside and let it grow some before doing anything to it.

 

[somewhatconcerned]

I thought they needed lots of humidity, inside I have it at mid 50's but outside I'd be lucky to get it to 20%

 

[Shibui]

I would also have this juniper outdoors. We have similar conditions here in summer and mine do fine provided I don't let them get too dry. It can be challenging to work out how to water effectively as a newbie in conditions like that though so outdoors with afternoon shade, while not ideal for juniper, would be better than indoors and probably give you some insurance while you learn to care for it properly.

As for shaping:
Please note that just because a tree is headed in one direction it does not mean we must keep that going. Pruners are made to remove parts of trees. Wire and bending techniques have been developed to change direction and shape. With very young stock like this juniper you can make it into almost anything.
It is short and wide because it appears to be a prostrate cultivar (they normally grow flat on the ground instead of upright like most trees) probably Juniper procumbens as those are very popular as cheap, easy, mass produced bonsai.

Can't really help much more with shape because we can only see the beginning of the trunk(s). Remainder of trunk and branches are hidden behind foliage so we have very little to go on. Such is bonsai design with only a couple of photos to work with.

 

[jszg]

I thought they needed lots of humidity, inside I have it at mid 50's but outside I'd be lucky to get it to 20%

You have Juniperus squamata "Blue Star". From Wikipedia,

(J. squamata) is found in and native to northeastern Afghanistan east to western Yunnan in southwestern China, with disjunct populations north to western Gansu, east to Fujian, and Taiwan.

It may not be exactly as drought-hardy as a Rocky Mountain juniper, but here is a photo of Gansu:

 

[Paradox]

Those roots are all exposed....
I would bury them under soil
Looks like the tree is in potting soil.
I would be very careful about watering to make sure it isn't staying too wet.

Put a wooden chopstick in the pot and leave it there. Take it out once a day and look at it and water when its almost dry.

 

[Javaman4373]

I would suggest wrapping that black pot with foil to prevent the sun from baking the roots.

 

[somewhatconcerned]

Also a part of my reasoning on keeping it inside is that it's monsoon season and it might get blown across the yard

 

[Shibui]

Also a part of my reasoning on keeping it inside is that it's monsoon season and it might get blown across the yard

OK but you are only moving it from possible problems outside to definite health issue inside. I can't stress enough how many junipers we see that are dead or dying because they were kept indoors.
I would urge you to look for solutions to be able to keep the tree outdoors where it can have a chance of living.

 

[somewhatconcerned]

Alright, I will move it ASAP. However, do you think it is possible to make the tree more upwards by training later on? The tree has two "main" branches which level out and cross each other. They look very thick and stiff so I'm not sure if they can be wired. More foliage sprouts from smaller twigs from these branches.

 

[somewhatconcerned]

You have Juniperus squamata "Blue Star". From Wikipedia,


It may not be exactly as drought-hardy as a Rocky Mountain juniper, but here is a photo of Gansu:

View attachment 559353

It seems much greener than other pictures of blue stars?

 

[Shibui]

However, do you think it is possible to make the tree more upwards by training later on? The tree has two "main" branches which level out and cross each other. They look very thick and stiff so I'm not sure if they can be wired.

You can see exactly how thick the branches are but, for me, no scale means making guesses based on foliage nearby. Even the pot is not much help to gauge size as most nursery pots look similar whether they be 10 cm or 40 cm across the top.

There's no problem making a prostrate variety stand up. Millions of malsai are developed like that very year. The trunk will set in the upright position in less than a year but new growth will still grow downwards unless you wire it and hold in position until it hardens in the chosen position.
Juniper wood is hard but quite flexible. These trunks may be a bit past making really tight bends but you should still be able to bend them upright given enough wire.
There are several techniques that can help bend stiffer wood.

• Let the tree partly dry out before bending. We can bend slightly dehydrated wood far more than the same branch full of water.
• Bend, rest, bend again. Allowing the branch/trunk to rest for a day or so allows the internal structure to adjust. It can then be bent quite a bit further.
• Wrap with raffia, tape, etc to hold the fibres and reduce cracking to make tighter bends that might crack a branch.
• Split or hollow out part of a branch to allow more flexibility before bending.

I do not think you'll need to resort to the last but definitely consider the first 3 when you get around to it. the trunks may still be thin enough to just wire and bend upward, depending on how much bend that requires.
Good wiring is key to successful bending. Uneven and loose wires cannot support the bends and will likely lead to broken branch/trunk.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

The frog leg split feature can be altered by turning the left trunk into a Jin and deadwood after wiring it in the direction of the right side trunk. Right trunk can be wired more toward the center and upward, as you expressed as your preference. Jin/deadwood at left moving toward the tree at the right will have the over flow and movement of the eye left-to-right. It will look good.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

The frog leg split feature can be altered by turning the left trunk into a Jin and deadwood after wiring it in the direction of the right side trunk. Right trunk can be wired more toward the center and upward, as you expressed as your preference. Jin/deadwood at left moving toward the tree at the right will have the over flow and movement of the eye left-to-right. It will look good.
View attachment 559722

And planting at a different angle could make it more dramatic

 

[somewhatconcerned]

Thank you for all your thoughtful insights, I will definitely take all your your advice to heart and hopefully my plant will do well!

 

[Japonicus]

Please don’t place it outside in direct Sun where it should be yet.
In shade to start. The way it is now, is like shipping a plant from zone 11 or higher
to zone 5 in Summer, except it is also in full shade indoors.
Now it’s going back to zone 11 or higher but the Sun and heat is now going to be a big part of the equation.

Tether the pot to a cinder block or wedge it between 3 or 4 heavy objects, or tether to a fixed object.
You can weight a large pot and place this one in that pot. Also I recommend placing on the ground
Better yet dig a hole and heal it into the ground with gravel underneath. Once monsoon kicks in
remove from hole and wedge between objects or tether.

 

[dmwphoto]

any updates?

 

[somewhatconcerned]

Sorry for the delay. I've decided to keep it inside just until average temperature drops below 120 F. I picked which branch I will eventually sacrifice for the Jin because it has a tad of an inverse taper. Hopefully I can sand it down to correct it. Does anyone know what time of year is best to prune and wire juniper?

 

[Shibui]

Prune juniper any time of year.

Wire and bend late summer through to spring. Bending in the spring and early summer growing season can cause bark to lift and kill sections of the tree above the bend. Does not always happen but often enough to be very wary.
You don't have a location listed so I can't translate those times into months.

I guess sanding a jin would work but a bit fiddly. We usually use pliers to strip away parts of the wood to reduce thickness of jin. If done well that makes the dead wood look more natural.