What sort of damage have I done to my Juniper?

[bon zai]

Hi everyone,
First time poster here so please excuse my naivety.

I have a Juniperus squamata bonsai still of average age/size...Yesterday I got a little carried away, mainly due to my inexperience but by reading books on the benefits of pruning/pinching'.

I trimmed, pinched and pruned a section of my bonsai in a way similar to Hedge trimming. My intention was to remove the growing buds in the hope of focusing nutrient attention elsewhere but I now understand I have gone about it the completely wrong way.

Luckily, this was not done to the complete tree, but I'm now paranoid that I have done more harm than good and that the tree section may die.

Unfortunately I do not have pictures at the moment, but can someone please explain the consequences of my actions? A few questions I have in mind:

• Will the 'branch/needles' die form my butchery?
• Considering I cut the buds/ will they ever regrow?
• What can I do to repair this?
• What are the best cutting techniques for my type of bonsai and when/how should this be done?

Once again, please excuse my naivety, I'm hoping I haven't destroyed my tree

Thanks

 

[Dav4]

Honestly, unless you removed all the foliage from the hedged branches, your tree will be fine. I've got a squamata and I let it grow wild then cut it back pretty hard (hedge) every year or two to keep its pads in shape. I think for trees early in development, you'd be better off wiring out small branches to build structure then hedging, but I think a healthy developed J. squamata can be hedged periodically...just my experience.

 

[bon zai]

Thanks for the reply, that certainly eases my mind a little!