Rudd’s California Juniper #1

[Ruddigger]

It does have tighter foliage than some. Being a female tree helps, I think my sparing fertilization and high akadama percentage help too.

I need to go over the whole tree soon and get a new picture for this year.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Yeah, Id like to see a full tree picture now as well. I think you need to create some height difference in the apical deadwood and the right trunk's tenjin naturally looks like the one to reduce to me.

I see what you mean with the lowest left branch... it looks like you can incorporate it into the deadwood there? I think some foliar asymmetry is needed so removing that may require a reduction on the right trunk's foliage also..

Beautiful tree and great work so far. I really like the front you chose. And @NaoTK's pot is great. Maybe I should commission one! Im always impressed with your trees btw. Looking forward to more progress on this.

 

[Ruddigger]

Update.

The right apex was lowered about 6” and the tenjin reduced.


The tenjin on the left was also reduced and the apex lowered about 2”.


The big bend on the back branch is staying in place without the guy wire now. It sticks too far out to the rear still, I’ll replace the long branch with crotch growth eventually.


Close up of the apexes.


The entire tree.


Theres a big gap in the middle now where I lost a major branch last Summer. Theres a back branch on left trunk that I can grow out to fill the visual space.

At this point I’m almost entirely sure that first branch on the left needs to go.

 

[Ruddigger]

First branch removed.



Next I wanted to bend that back branch down even more than I did last year. When I first bent it last year I split the branch and brought it down. What I didn’t do was remove any material in the split, which kept the branch from going down as far as I liked. So today I drilled out along the split and gave it enough room to really bend down.



Before.



After.



And a new full shot of the tree.

 

[WavyGaby]

She's a beaut! Big fan of the red clay pot, too.

 

[Scriv]

Beautiful tree, Rudd.

 

[Japonicus]

Very nice tree @Ruddigger
It's in very capable hands
Is it unwarranted that my only concern is the deadwood contact with the soil?

 

[Ruddigger]

Very nice tree @Ruddigger
It's in very capable hands
Is it unwarranted that my only concern is the deadwood contact with the soil?

Yeah, nothing to be done about it though. Just keep up on the lime sulfur applications.

 

[Japonicus]

Yeah, nothing to be done about it though. Just keep up on the lime sulfur applications.

Are epoxies counterintuitive here? IDK

 

[Ruddigger]

Are epoxies counterintuitive here? IDK

Not necessary, as long as youre diligent.

 

[Ruddigger]

I added some texture to the deadwood. After a rainy week the deadwood was nice and soft, I used a chisel to remove some of it, and then peeled it like string cheese to create texture. I hit it with a torch and a brass brush afterwards. It still needs to be lime sulfured.

 

[misfit11]

It's a really nice tree. You've done really well with it, and it's developed nicely. I think I'd like to see different heights on each of the three trunks. Have you considered reducing the heights of the left and right trunks? Having them at roughly all at the same height (including the deadwood tops) doesn't work as well as I think it could if you made the middle the tallest, the right trunk the 2nd tallest, and the left the shortest.

Just a suggestion. Nice tree!

Cory

 

[misfit11]

Something like this

 

[Ruddigger]

It's a really nice tree. You've done really well with it, and it's developed nicely. I think I'd like to see different heights on each of the three trunks. Have you considered reducing the heights of the left and right trunks? Having them at roughly all at the same height (including the deadwood tops) doesn't work as well as I think it could if you made the middle the tallest, the right trunk the 2nd tallest, and the left the shortest.

Just a suggestion. Nice tree!

Cory

I agree. The middle is actually the tallest. I’d rather grow that apex higher than reduce the others, though.

 

[Ruddigger]

Starting to clean up this tree a little. It put on a lot of density this year, it may be ready for an exhibition next Fall. I’ll post a picture once I finish the whole tree, but here’s an example of one branch being cleaned up. This is the first branch on the left. Ideally I’d like this branch about an inch longer, so clean up was minimal. Mostly removing downward growth and a couple small wires to reposition some extensions.



I’m starting to get some lift to the tips, which is something I’ve been striving for. I dont see many Californias with that kind of nice structure to the branching.

 

[Ruddigger]

All of the raffia, major structural wire and guy wires have been removed. Here’s a shot of that back branch that got the major bend, it’s staying put all on its own now.


And the whole tree after pruning and a few wires on the tips. The bottom left still needs to add some density.