Juniper Air Layer Advice for first timer.
Posted: June 26th, 2018, 12:16 pm
Ok. I have been quite for a few years. I had been collecting some stock to learn and play with however I changed jobs. As things like this do my free time got changed severely, add to that my first kid came along. Long story short, leaving bonsai stock in care of the other half results in a lot less stock
So I started saving, regrowing and rebuilding. Its been fun and I have learned a great deal. I even have a heap of seed I plan on trying to grow some trees for the yard, bonsai and for some mates, just to experiment etc.
But I am still very inexperienced. However I want to keep trying and nursery stock down here is very very limited. So to the air layer.
At my work we have this bloody huge sprawl of green out the back that is incredibly healthy. It is a scale juniper, pretty common. It won't make amazing bonsai but it will make amazing learning opportunities. If I took a punt on size it is around 4-5 meters long, 2-3 meters wide and around 1.5 meters tall. It is incredibly healthy and looks solid. The boss has said I can do what I want with it. Magic.
I went in on the weekend and slowly started pushing, pulling, pruning until I could get an idea on what I wanted to do. I have found an awesome area to try to air layer. i still have to prune back a bit to get a better idea but it will give me options for jin, styling and general wiring and learning. I doubt this will make a great bonsai, which is why I am keen to try stuff.
I have been reading up about air layers, the biology behind them, and I feel confident I can get this done. The plan is to start the air layer around August/September depending on the weather down here. I was hoping to start it just as new growth appeared, or prefereably just before. The air layer is towards the top of this particular "bush" so I have no fear of killing the rest of it. There is more I can do in years to come as I learn. However there is one thing I am really uncertain of.
How much foliage do I leave above the air layer? I understand I need more healthy growth and essentially new growth to make it work, however the trick is then the balance between enough foliage to promote the growth of the roots, but then not too much for when I seperate the layer for the new roots to support. I know this will revert back to immature needle growth pretty quickly, and that is fine as I am trying this out. But if I can attempt to do it, I might as well try to do it right.
There is a LOT of foliage on this one, so I could get brutal. If it helps I can try to get some pics of it over the weekend as I plan to come in and do some basic pruning around the area to help the canopy remain green without a "empty" spot when I get rid of (not that its important). This will also give me a clearer access and a better idea.
Is this kind of a "experience needed" type question?
So I started saving, regrowing and rebuilding. Its been fun and I have learned a great deal. I even have a heap of seed I plan on trying to grow some trees for the yard, bonsai and for some mates, just to experiment etc.
But I am still very inexperienced. However I want to keep trying and nursery stock down here is very very limited. So to the air layer.
At my work we have this bloody huge sprawl of green out the back that is incredibly healthy. It is a scale juniper, pretty common. It won't make amazing bonsai but it will make amazing learning opportunities. If I took a punt on size it is around 4-5 meters long, 2-3 meters wide and around 1.5 meters tall. It is incredibly healthy and looks solid. The boss has said I can do what I want with it. Magic.
I went in on the weekend and slowly started pushing, pulling, pruning until I could get an idea on what I wanted to do. I have found an awesome area to try to air layer. i still have to prune back a bit to get a better idea but it will give me options for jin, styling and general wiring and learning. I doubt this will make a great bonsai, which is why I am keen to try stuff.
I have been reading up about air layers, the biology behind them, and I feel confident I can get this done. The plan is to start the air layer around August/September depending on the weather down here. I was hoping to start it just as new growth appeared, or prefereably just before. The air layer is towards the top of this particular "bush" so I have no fear of killing the rest of it. There is more I can do in years to come as I learn. However there is one thing I am really uncertain of.
How much foliage do I leave above the air layer? I understand I need more healthy growth and essentially new growth to make it work, however the trick is then the balance between enough foliage to promote the growth of the roots, but then not too much for when I seperate the layer for the new roots to support. I know this will revert back to immature needle growth pretty quickly, and that is fine as I am trying this out. But if I can attempt to do it, I might as well try to do it right.
There is a LOT of foliage on this one, so I could get brutal. If it helps I can try to get some pics of it over the weekend as I plan to come in and do some basic pruning around the area to help the canopy remain green without a "empty" spot when I get rid of (not that its important). This will also give me a clearer access and a better idea.
Is this kind of a "experience needed" type question?