Parsonii questions

[StickyGecko]

Hi everyone. I’m in zone 6b/7a, western North Carolina, essentially the Great Smoky Mountain national park is my neighbor. Super new to bonsai, but spent days familiarizing myself with videos and articles. I did get a small tree from a bonsai nursery Saturday, but yesterday I went to a local nursery and picked up a common and a parsonii juniper to have some to really get my hands on and try different things with.

This is the parsonii now. It was all “matted up” (for lack of a better term) at the at the gnarly part of the trunk and had obviously had a decent amount of branches cut at some point. (I’m fully prepared to hear if I butchered it lol, but that’s really what I brought it home for.) I did repot and trim roots. I put it in a soil mix I picked up from the bonsai nursery. My question is, would that small,bushy branch(pink arrow) growing off of the cut end grow to be a continuation of the trunk? In my brain I’m considering leaving that as the only foliage and starting from there. (Cascade crossed my mind if I were to keep and wire the longer branch on the opposite side as well)
I’ve also marked a branch that’s pretty much a 90 degree turn, I’m wondering if that is better to work with? Any and all advice welcome, I’ll probably be a familiar face with all the questions I have TIA!

 

[leatherback]

Put down your scissors and back away NOW! Hands where we can see them.

You are killing the tree. Do not do all this work in one go unless you are VERY familiar with what you are doing. A repot and a serious prune in summer is often enough to end the life of the tree. So do not worry about what else to remove. For the next year you are done with this tree.

 

[StickyGecko]

Thanks for your reply lol I was aware that the repot is totally against all advice, and I don’t plan on doing it again. I just picked these up cheap to experiment/get hands on with while I let the one from the bonsai nursery grow. I will leave it be, just keep it watered and fed and let it grow if it decides to do so. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

[Attmos]

Thanks for your reply lol I was aware that the repot is totally against all advice, and I don’t plan on doing it again. I just picked these up cheap to experiment/get hands on with while I let the one from the bonsai nursery grow. I will leave it be, just keep it watered and fed and let it grow if it decides to do so. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned this year. Spring and maybe autumn for serious work.... "never summer" which was my motto when I lived in Vail.
The maples I defoliated at the beginning of June might still be alive, but it's doubtful they'll recover. Strangely though, I was able to root a few cuttings during the hottest time of the year... lol

Anyway, lesson learned, don't stress a tree at the peak of heat.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Junipers keep their strength in their foliage. By cutting off a majority of the foliage you wont have energy to generate roots, and by cutting off a lot of roofs in mid summer, the tree is going to struggle to stay hydrated and put on new growth.

It may take a couple years to regrow/gain strength back.

 

[StickyGecko]

I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned this year. Spring and maybe autumn for serious work.... "never summer" which was my motto when I lived in Vail.
The maples I defoliated at the beginning of June might still be alive, but it's doubtful they'll recover. Strangely though, I was able to root a few cuttings during the hottest time of the year... lol

Anyway, lesson learned, don't stress a tree at the peak of the heat

 

[StickyGecko]

I’m going to have to start mapping out all the saplings on my property, can’t imagine what spring will bring.

 

[StickyGecko]

Junipers keep their strength in their foliage. By cutting off a majority of the foliage you wont have energy to generate roots, and by cutting off a lot of roofs in mid summer, the tree is going to struggle to stay hydrated and put on new growth.

It may take a couple years to regrow/gain strength back.

I honestly only trimmed some length off the roots and untangled them a bit, it wasn’t as badly root bound as the other. (I did not cut the others roots)