Michael T : Juniperus chinensis prostrate aurea

[Michael T]

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Species name: Juniperus chinensis prostrate aurea
Original height of stock: 44 cm
Source: Garden centre
Cost: $15

I like this juniper because its needles turn to a golden (yellow) colour in the sun and that is why it is called 'aurea'.

[Michael T]

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This is as far as I can go with the plant. It has been pruned to below the shohin height and pulled down by the wire on the stem. The idea is to make it bend somewhat in the direction I wanted. When released from the wire in spring, it will spring back slightly upwards and that's what I hope it will do otherwise it does not really matter. I can make accommodations for it.

[Michael T]

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I expect to see some movement in this juniper during this month. It is still hooked onto the rim of the pot. That is to hold it in place in that bent position. Still a long way to go.

[Michael T]

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The plant has grown quite a number of secondary branches. A lot of pinching back of the secondary branches were necessary to take it back to a more define shape. Some of the primary branches are weak and makes it very difficult to wire especially those at the apex. I hope it will bush out well again.

[Michael T]

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This juniper has a different growth habit than the J. chinensis 'Sargentii'. This golden juniper has a lot of juvenile foliage and I am not sure when the adult foliage will grow. That is why I said that it is different from the growth pattern of the JCS. It is quite difficult to style the apex now as it hasn't enough branches in the right direction and they are relatively weak. Plants in Canberra has a relatively short period of growth compared to the warmer parts of Australia.

[Michael T]

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It has grown a little since the last posting. However some of the branches and the apex isn't well developed as the growth was slow.

[Michael T]

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This plant has beautiful ‘golden’ foliage when exposed to sunlight. In the shade it is more green. The future outlook of this plant is a slant trunk toward the right. The ‘pads’ on the tree will be allowed to become denser, but again stressed that the ‘pads’ will not be allowed to grow too dense as it will overpower the tree and gives it the ‘heavy head’ syndrome. Again, because of the slow growth period in Canberra during the cold winter, the foliage has not padded up much. In fact it hardly shown any substantial growth at all. The apex will be made more rounded in future to give the appearance of an old tree.

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