I received this nursery Juniper early last fall. The individual thought it was an 8 year old Nana variety. The first picture is the before Pic while still in a nursery pot. Per some advice I cut it way back early last fall. Replanted this Spring. I lost a couple of branches which have been removed. My question is how to get the plant to switch from leggy to more compact foliage? As you can see, there isn't a lot to work with. Thanks for any advice.
ShimpakuBonsai
Chumono
Hard to tell which variety it is but it doesn't look happy.
I think the tree was very sparce before pruning and I also see juvenile foliage.
I would take off the wire (because IMO it doesn't do anything styling wise the way you applied it) and let it grow for at least a year to get it healthy again.
I think the tree was very sparce before pruning and I also see juvenile foliage.
I would take off the wire (because IMO it doesn't do anything styling wise the way you applied it) and let it grow for at least a year to get it healthy again.
Thank you. That is a great point on the wire. It did a little more on a couple of branches I had to remove recently. I probably stressed those branches out too much and killed them. Is there anything I should do while it is growing to encourage back budding or more growth in your opinion. Thanks!
bwaynef
Masterpiece
Put it in full sun, 25 hours a day. Barring that, just give it as much sun as you can. That will drive growth. Growth drives backbudding. If you're not already, start with a light fertilizer and as you see growth, slowly increase the fertilizer. This will be a long-term project, to the point it would be faster to start with different material. Then just wait until you start to see runners/whips. It could take 1 year. It could take 2. It takes as long as it takes, and you're on the tree's timeline. Sun, water, and drainage are the most important. Fertilizer is important but orders of magnitude less so than copious amounts of sun.
Was this a bareroot repot, half-bareroot, or did you leave the interior as it was in the nursery container and replaced the outer portion?
Was this a bareroot repot, half-bareroot, or did you leave the interior as it was in the nursery container and replaced the outer portion?
Thank you. It was almost a bareroot repot, somewhere between half and bare. The soil in the pot was very hard and claylike, so I tried to get rid of as much of it as I could. I had what seemed like tip blight about a month ago. I think that is gone, and the other tree looks great. This one, still struggling. Thanks for your help.
Wood
Chumono
You took off a lot of growth in the fall, then a super invasive repot in the spring. It'll take time to recover.
Junipers are sensitive to losing a lot of foliage and bare rooting conifers usually isn't suggested. Two or three years of beneficial neglect is gonna be the best thing for this tree now, like @bwaynef said. Put it in a sunny place, let it just grow for a while, don't bother styling it until you see vigorous growth. Everybody makes these kind of mistakes when they're first learning. I've done it before and still keep doing it sometimes too
Junipers are sensitive to losing a lot of foliage and bare rooting conifers usually isn't suggested. Two or three years of beneficial neglect is gonna be the best thing for this tree now, like @bwaynef said. Put it in a sunny place, let it just grow for a while, don't bother styling it until you see vigorous growth. Everybody makes these kind of mistakes when they're first learning. I've done it before and still keep doing it sometimes too
Yeah, your tree isn't happy right now. It might take 2 or 3 years to recover, so just leave it alone until it gets really bushy again. As others have said, sun, fertilizer, and water--but don't water log the soil. I worked a juniper too hard once and it took 4 years to bounce back. Any wiring or work I tried to do just made more branches die. Weak junipers just need to be left alone.
Thank you. Looks like I definitely over did it.
Thank you for the advice. Just starting out, and it looks like I definitely over did it.
