Looking for advice - Juniper Bonsai

[JasonL]

Hey folks!

First time here and looking for some advice! I've always been fascinated by Bonsai and wanted to give it a shot. I'm very new to this (2yr) and don't know a lot of what I'm doing, lol.

I bought this little Juniper (not sure what type it is) at a local nursery, it was cut and styled a little bit the first time by the nursery but it was never wired or anything like that. My goal was to create a 'cascade' with it because I've always loved the look of cascade bonsai.

I did the initial trim and it's been wired once for shape...it did have another small branch on the trunk lower down (right side opposite cascade), unfortunately it browned and died and I removed it...I wasn't confident turning it into a 'jin'. The foliage was doing nothing, for a very long time, and some even browned at the tips and I thought I was going to lose the whole thing.

The trunk has never gotten any thicker...tree is about 8-9" from earth to top of apex of tree.

The first wire was removed and I've since just let it grow in a window for about the last year or so (it was just set here for these pictures, not it's normal location)...I haven't left it outside as I'm in Eastern Canada and I didn't want to subject it to our winters (sometimes -20C to -30C) or crazy summer humidity (30-40+C).

I'm wondering:

Should be doing another trim and wire for shape at this point?
Should I be starting to create pads on the cascade with some of these branches that have come off the main trunk of the cascade?
Should I just let it grow more until spring before doing anything?

Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated, want to make this little guy the best it can be...now that I've managed not to kill it!

THANKS!

 

[Paradox]

Welcome
First off, keeping it inside will kill it unequivocally. It needs to be outside period. That is why the foliage is doing nothing.

It is a Juniperus procumbens nana, a very common nursery juniper.
It's in a pot so while it will grow in a pot, the trunk will be slow to thicken.

For your winters, you need to provide protection. If you live in a house, you can bury/mulch the pot up against the north (preferably) or east side of the house (second best). A garage will be ok if it stays below 40-45 F but you'll need to make sure it doesn't dry out.

You have 2 other problems. The soil it is in looks like potting soil. Did you repot it when you got it or is that the pot and soil it was in? Also it looks like that pot doesn't have drainage holes. Big problem for bonsai especially those that prefer open soil and good drainage like junipers.

Next month, you could wire the trunk and carefully bend it into more of a cascade style. Look up how to bend trunks using raffia so you have the best chance to not break that trunk. Leave everything else as is for now. Juniper store their energy in their foliage for winter.

So put it outside so it can experience weather and prepare for dormancy as it gets colder. Drill some holes in the bottom of that pot and overwinter it as I suggest.

Meanwhile research bonsai care, specifically junipers over the winter and get what you need to repot in mid to late spring the buds start to swell. Choose a proper training pot for a first repot not a bonsai pot which will bee too fast a transition for the roots.

Research and ask more questions if you aren't sure. And please put your location on your profile so we don't have to repeatedly ask you where you are located in the world. Bonsai advice is sometimes dependent on location.

 

[JasonL]

Welcome
First off, keeping it inside will kill it unequivocally. It needs to be outside period. That is why the foliage is doing nothing.

It is a Juniperus procumbens nana, a very common nursery juniper.
It's in a pot so while it will grow in a pot, the trunk will be slow to thicken.

For your winters, you need to provide protection. If you live in a house, you can bury/mulch the pot up against the north (preferably) or east side of the house (second best). A garage will be ok if it stays below 40-45 F but you'll need to make sure it doesn't dry out.

You have 2 other problems. The soil it is in looks like potting soil. Did you repot it when you got it or is that the pot and soil it was in? Also it looks like that pot doesn't have drainage holes. Big problem for bonsai especially those that prefer open soil and good drainage like junipers.

Next month, you could wire the trunk and carefully bend it into more of a cascade style. Look up how to bend trunks using raffia so you have the best chance to not break that trunk. Leave everything else as is for now. Juniper store their energy in their foliage for winter.

So put it outside so it can experience weather and prepare for dormancy as it gets colder. Drill some holes in the bottom of that pot and overwinter it as I suggest.

Meanwhile research bonsai care, specifically junipers over the winter and get what you need to repot in mid to late spring the buds start to swell. Choose a proper training pot for a first repot not a bonsai pot which will bee too fast a transition for the roots.

Research and ask more questions if you aren't sure. And please put your location on your profile so we don't have to repeatedly ask you where you are located in the world. Bonsai advice is sometimes dependent on location.

Hey thanks for the quick response.

- In regards to being inside, it has been inside since day 1 and it is now growing, just slowly...could it live outside Spring-Fall and inside in winter?

- Yes, the soils is potting soil, it's all I had available, where I am most of the bonsai soils are not readily available and if they are they are ridiculously expensive. The pot does have drainage holes (made sure of that) and there are rocks at the bottom of the soil for added drainage. The pot it is in would most likely shatter where I live outside in the winter (outside can frequently get to -15F / -26C).

- Can you clarify what you mean by a 'proper training pot'?

- I'll fix the profile thing thanks for that tip.

 

[Paradox]

Hey thanks for the quick response.

- In regards to being inside, it has been inside since day 1 and it is now growing, just slowly...could it live outside Spring-Fall and inside in winter?

- Yes, the soils is potting soil, it's all I had available, where I am most of the bonsai soils are not readily available and if they are they are ridiculously expensive. The pot does have drainage holes (made sure of that) and there are rocks at the bottom of the soil for added drainage. The pot it is in would most likely shatter where I live outside in the winter (outside can frequently get to -15F / -26C).

- Can you clarify what you mean by a 'proper training pot'?

- I'll fix the profile thing thanks for that tip.

No it won't live outside in spring-fall and inside in winter. It is a temperate tree and it needs dormancy which means a few months of temperature below 40-45 degrees depending on the species. It might last a year or two but will weaken and die over time without proper dormancy. It would be like not allowing you to sleep.

Potting soil will stay too wet for a juniper. Conifers do not like what we call "wet feet" ie soil that does not drain well and stays wet for days which potting soil does.

Yes bonsai soil can be expensive but you only need to repot every 3 to 5 years. There are very few hobbies that aren't expensive these days unfortunately. One way to control costs is to keep only the number of trees you can afford to support.

A proper training pot is a pot that is shaped like a bonsai pot but are typically deeper and wider than what the finished pot would be and are usually plastic. Something like these:

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

You just need to get the right size for your tree to start. You don't want to remove more than a third to half of the root mass on that first repot.

Some people also build pots out of wood.
Others use pond baskets of appropriate size but you really need to watch that the soil doesn't dry out too fast with those.

True bonsai pots are high fired when made and should not crack when freezing. Also snow is a great insulator.

If you want to have trees inside in winter, I would suggest trying ficus bonsai that can Iive inside all winter under supplemental lighting