Juniper Hedge

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Akhi
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Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

Hi Just looking to dig up a “Hughes” juniper hedge later tomorrow. Anyone have any tips on what I should and shouldn’t do to ensure they survive. I have killed way too many junipers hence any advice will be much appreciated.
Also has anyone used Hughes juniper for bonsai? Searches didn’t yield much at all.. as it’s a ground cover type juniper I was thinking of creating cascading or semi cascading bonsai out of them.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by shibui »

I don't know 'Hughes'.
Junipers seem to need plenty of foliage to help them recover from transplant so don't go overboard with pruning the tops. Especially leave some growing tips even if that means leaving some really long branches.
I know many collectors like to retain as much of the field soil around the roots as possible but I have much better success if I shake off as much field soil as possible without damage to the roots. Soak and wash gently if the soil is hard or clay. Garden soil can cause many problems when used in pots which is why I prefer to replace with good potting mix at transplant. Seems to work for me.

A lot of northern collectors no put collected trees into plastic bags for recovery. I think that may be worth trying with junipers, especially at this time of year.
Whenever I have a few trees and not sure of the best method I like to try something different on each to see if one may be better. Please take photos at each stage to show how much root and foliage you cut and your potting and recovery methods so others can learn from this.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by treeman »

I concur with Shibui. Leave the long growing tips and remove as much field soil as possible. (Different treatment than pines)
When I dug up some advanced junipers a few years back I did that as well as prune some of the damaged roots and planted them all in a pure course acidic sand bed in full sun. With pure sand you can bury them quite deeply and water whenever necessary without worrying about any rotting and but the roots must be clean and the sand devoid of any organic matter. In other words you need to treat them as large cuttings. If they are promising specimens it would be a good investment to buy a couple of metres of sand and prepare a bed especially for the junipers. Once they are re-rooting, you can safely pot them up. You can re-use the beds for other purposes later.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

Thanks 🙏🏽 a lot really appreciate your taking the time. Will upload pics as I go. It a wintry day tomorrow in Melb so fingers crossed.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

‘‘Twas the coldest day in a long time but not to be deterred I headed out with shovel and cutter in hand to dig up the hedge. When I got there it was a dampener the hedge was not pruned regularly by the looks of it and had looooong limbs which had been let to run. Result... strong trunk but limbs as long as 2-3 metres long and a whole lot of dead foliage in the center where the trunk is.
Was going to walk away but then thought about all the projects I had read about on this forum about trunk being important, carving and crafting so thought of giving it a shot anyway.
So in went the shower on that rainy cold day and out cam the 5 junipers...
The junipers are of a ground hugging growth behavior so if I decide to retain the foliage might well be a good candidate for bonsai.
I decided to only do cleaning of the ‘trees’ and not cut any major growth even if I thought it was overcrowded. Want to see how many survive first and then get to structure and development...much like Covid 19 as long as it lives there is still a future :-). Had to prop it on a ladder to get under the canopy and ended up using a half used bag of potting mix to balance the trees...
Stuck to you advice didn’t tip cut or anything, thankfully all the 5 trees had reasonable roots close to the trunk. Only cut the thick roots anything long and fibrous left on its own. This meant however that I had to wind it into the pots...
Soil mix I just wasn’t prepared for such scale...only ever done small trees as you can see from my posts only ever did two trees which were big and even that dealt with those on two separate occasions. So it was a compromise here basically blended a cheap soil mix with a potting mix with coarse sand from Bunnings... I know a lot of you will shout at me for that.. but I needed a lot of it to fill five big pots..( run out of space in the small yard I have..
I had started at ~9:30 and after a few cups of coffee and al lot of help from my little helpers..I am now the proud owner of straggly juniper ‘Trees’.
EADA2D91-B8FE-485A-BD79-33E02A78F9E6.jpeg
CA4CCBC8-7719-4172-B94A-1718CC960BDB.jpeg
0BDE2DB5-B287-48A7-BE89-A372AAFE8432.jpeg
8815D1A5-8DBF-42F6-AF84-A24C31EC752F.jpeg
7F44DBD5-78E3-4A11-ABAC-982ED84AE57D.jpeg
C6B44A32-09F6-4660-9BE9-83E9F269353D.jpeg
I have left these exposed to the elements as I don’t have any other choice...hopefully they survive...hopefully there is enough root mass there to support the leaf canopy...in a years time I will get to structure and until then it’s survival and growth...
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Brekel »

I love the one in the second shot.
Hope they survive and do well :)
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by shibui »

Long, bare branches are absolutely normal for prostrate junipers.
I also smiled at the 'wasn't prepared for such scale' comment. That's also pretty common. I reckon collected trees must expand after you get them out of the ground because very few of mine have ever fitted into the pots I had ready either :palm:
When/if they start growing there's every chance of new shoots on the bare parts now they are getting some sun.

Look forward to seeing updates as anything happens with these trees.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

Been three weeks now, did a bit of a clean up last week cutting off broken branches and the main leads not anything drastic, just to balance the pots to be honest.
I had them all in relative shade; is it a good time to place in the sun or should I leave it till spring?
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Daluke »

Sun is no problem. In fact it needs it.

It’s the wind you need to worry about.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

Ok thanks will get it out in the sun tomorrow then. Pretty windy today.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

One year on... nearly ...two of the five became driftwood material for the aquarium and the three which have survived look straggly but have had some fresh new growth. Didn’t fertilize apart from one mid year fert application. Any suggestions to get this to be healthy and workable welcome :-)
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Stu »

I'd wait for another year and increase your fertilizing this coming season until they show lots of healthy growth. Use the time to plan what you might be able to do with make of each one and learn a bit about their requirements. Good luck. :cool:
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Akhi »

Thanks Stu, what fertilizer would you recommend? I just fertilize my bonsai with the regular ferts which I guess are not the best for these junipers. I am in Melbourne for context.
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by Ryceman3 »

Akhi wrote: March 30th, 2021, 9:26 am Thanks Stu, what fertilizer would you recommend? I just fertilize my bonsai with the regular ferts which I guess are not the best for these junipers. I am in Melbourne for context.
Regular fertilisers are perfect for bonsai... there is no reputable product that is “bonsai fertiliser”... bonsai are just plants, they need the same stuff as other plants. There are lots of brands/kinds... Powerfeed (liquid), Osmocote (slow release) and Dynamic Lifter (pelletised) are just 3 but get whatever you like and follow the instructions to apply. You should be fertilising now (autumn) and that will put you in a good position for solid spring growth.
Plenty of sun... lots! and make sure they are watered effectively. Get those things in order (along with fert) and things should start developing.
:beer:

PS: change your location in your profile... right now it says Adelaide... ;)
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Re: Juniper Hedge

Post by shibui »

I agree with R3. Bonsai are plants and they are happy with any fertilizer designed for plants.
These have had plenty of time to recover from transplant. I would suggest they are probably not looking really strong because they are starving. Start feeding now.
You can also feed evergreen plants in our climate right through winter as they never really go fully dormant. I drop back to monthly applications through winter.
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