Monster juniper yardmadori

[aml1014]

Today my friend and I went and dug a couple landscape junipers. The owner (his aunt) said the house was built in 45 and it's still the same landscaping which I definitely believe, so this tree is aged at about 70 Years old. It looks like it's in a small pot but I got a large set beautiful feeder roots so I'm not too worried. It's got a long time before it's anything but I already love it. It has about a 10 in trunk above soil now but some is buried to keep roots moist. I plan on doing grafting in spring 2017, that is, if it survives.
Thanks for looking.


Aaron

 

[0soyoung]

Wow! There's a lot of bending and/or grafting in your future

 

[aml1014]

Wow! There's a lot of bending and/or grafting in your future

I plan on a good bit of both

 

[Nwaite]

Nice fund ! Good luck with it!

 

[aml1014]

Forgot to add there are 12 of these beasts we are gonna dig throughout the winter we are splitting 50/50 so by spring I'll have 6

 

[Eric Group]

Wow! Big ole tree...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good luck. Keep all the foliage, and pot them into the smallest wood boxes you can stuff them into, using aggregate, not organic soil, and your survival rate will improve. Mist the,mseveral times a day for the first few months. Not sure your climate in ABQ, but spring is usually better than now for collecting.

 

[sorce]

And.....
I never done it, so no pros and cons....

But folks sometimes wrap the trunk in wet sphagnum.
I feel this should be investigated for use in your climate!

Hold out till spring if you can!

Sorce

 

[aml1014]

Good luck. Keep all the foliage, and pot them into the smallest wood boxes you can stuff them into, using aggregate, not organic soil, and your survival rate will improve. Mist the,mseveral times a day for the first few months. Not sure your climate in ABQ, but spring is usually better than now for collecting.

Unfortunately the first week of March a tractor will be tearing up anything we can't so we've gotta do them in winter and hope they live.

 

[sorce]

The last week of February it is then!

Sorce

 

[aml1014]

The last week of February it is then!

Sorce

That's probably when we'll do the really nice ones, but I think with some good after care they'll be fine junipers are so insanely hardy here.

 

[Dav4]

Make sure you're keeping all of the collected ones out of direct sun until they show signs of growth, ie., the growing tips turn a bright green. Mist as Brian mentioned. Pumice is apparently the best substrate for recently collected conifer stock, but any aggregate soil is better then not. Looking forward to seeing the "nicer" ones.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Second keeping all foliage I do. This one lowest side trunk you cut off could have been great 2 trunk tree.

 

[Andrew Robson]

I don't see any of the current branching usable. Looks like a big grafting project to me! Has a nice trunk down low, so with some time and hard work you could end up with a nice juniper in about 10-15 years. Keep everything for now until it recovers!

 

[aml1014]

Second keeping all foliage I do. This one lowest side trunk you cut off could have been great 2 trunk tree.

I agreed when I saw it but once I got in there that trunk was already dead I left it a couple feet long 1. to carry the tree and 2. For a nice jin someday.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Wow! There's a lot of bending and/or grafting in your future

and carving!

 

[aml1014]

and carving!

The crazy part about this tree is that the lower and middle branches are dead and the entire top is supported or 2 living veins, so once I get it healthy and can establish the living vs. The dead I'll be grafting and definitely lots of carving.

 

[aml1014]

Question about misting this guy. Is it okay to mist when it is freezing?

 

[0soyoung]

Works for citrus trees.

 

[aml1014]

Only 6 days and I'm getting signs of happiness, I'm getting random areas like this. It's juvenile foliage but it is alive haha