pruning shimpaku

[GreenThumb]

I had a lovely pre bonsai delivered from shibui bonsai last week, and just wanted to confirm that I can prune and start shaping shimpaku at this time of year, so long as I don't hit it too hard. It has loads of potential with the curl in the main trunk. I am tempted to put it in a big pot and grow it on for a couple of years before finishing it. Thanks in advance.

Jake

[kez]

Hi Jake,

Some exciting stock there. You should have no problems doing some work on this tree at the moment, the key with junipers is to go easy though. As a rule you should never remove more than 30-40% of the foliage in one hit as this is where they draw their strength.

Also remember to reduce watering after work as they will need less water due to reduced transpiration on account of the reduced foliage mass. Some say to reduce roots and foliage in equal measures but I can't comment as I have never done this when working junipers.

Best of luck and keep us posted

Kerrin

[shibui]

Your juniper has lots of sacrifice branches to try to get more rapid trunk thickening but you can prune juniper at any time of the year. Sensible pruning now will help you see what you have and allow you to direct further growth.
I think it needs more trunk thickening too and a good sized grow pot would be appropriate if you can contain yourself but these are reasonably slow to thicken and maximum thickening occurs when there is lots of foliage to feed the tree so although you can prune now you will need to allow it to grow wild again to get significant thickness.

Hard to be specific but low sacrifice branches will thicken the lower trunk ( below the growth) and higher growth will thicken the entire trunk below where you allow it to grow.

Have fun.

[GreenThumb]

Thanks for the replies (and supplies shibui). Minimal pruning to train the core shape a bit further and off to a big pot it is for a couple of years - I think this one is worth playing the long game on. The curl you developed I have seen on a couple of large shimpaku and it looks so much more impressive with a thicker trunk. I might need another more mature tree to tinker with sooner rather than later though....

[GreenThumb]

I trimmed some of the dense inner foliage to show the shape of the tree, it definitely needs growing on in my mind, I was thinking it lends itself to semi-cascade, but interested in members views.