juniperus chinensis keteleeri Experiences?

[Sean M]

Hi all,

I was wandering around my local Big B store today and saw a juniperus chinensis keteleeri. The foliage was the softer type (as opposed to procumbens or squamata).
Just wondering if anybody had any experience with this version as bonsai material?

[Sean M]

Well after the influx of responses on this particular cultivar of Juniper I went out and picked one up to test it out myself. As it is not prickly I am hoping it will make a decent subject.

20130722_161703.jpg

I have found the following:

The Foliage is very soft and easy to work with. I think that it might get a bit droopy if not pinched back.

20130722_161742.jpg

The Branches are quite stiff, and even when bending a relatively thin branch I managed to crack it. (we will see how it responds to healing)

20130722_161641.jpg

It seems to handle Canberra winters (so far)

Apart from these initial findings I will keep adding to this so we can see if it is worth using as bonsai.

[Kyushu Danji]

Might look okay in the pot you made over the weekend!

James

[Sean M]

Is going to need some reduction but yeah the colour would be right.