Shimpaku and Chinese Juni the same?

[RevoEvoS]

Want to know whether Shimpaku and Chinese Juniper are the same?

[shibui]

I believe so.
I was told once that 'shimpaku' is the generic term for all junipers in Japan but not sure if that is accurate or not. Here in Australia 'shimpaku' certainly seems to mean Juniper chinensis and more particularly the varieties that have compact foliage suited to bonsai. Remember that common names vary from pace to place and person to person so one person's shimpaku may be different from another.
Japanese bonsai growers know there are lots of different varieties of J. chinensis because they have been isolated on different mountain tops for many thousands of years each population has evolved slightly differently so there each mountain has slightly different colours and foliage types. I have read that 'Itiogowa' (presumably from Mt Itiogowa) is the most suited to bonsai having more compact growth. Not sure what variety we are growing here but I assume that whoever imported it will have picked a good form for bonsai.
There are other J. chinensis types that are sold in nurseries as garden plants but usually with more open foliage.

[treeman]

Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis) in its ''classical form'' is a huge upright growing tree which is/was planted around temples etc. There are specimens with 2 metre trunk diameters! The ''Kaizuka'' variety is something like this.
As shibui mentioned, the chinese junipers we grow for bonsai are probably a sub species (var sargentii?) which is basically an alpine plant.
The variety called Shimpaku sold here is known as "Kishu shimpaku'' and there are others. ''Itoigawa'' is considered the best for bonsai as it has very fine foliage but not yet available in numbers here. I also have a ''blue leaved variety which is very good. It has foliage similar in texture to Kishu (perhaps a little less course) but has the advantage of growing twice as fast.
Jow posted a very inertesting history of shimaku a while back.....

[Ryceman3]

Done a little research on this of late and can't really add much to the first two reply posts other than : I agree!

It seems Juniper Chinensis var Sargentii is commonly referred to as Shimpaku from my research but there are many variations to Juniper Chinensis and not all are as suited to bonsai. (Like shibui said, nursery stock may say J. Chinensis, but from a bonsai perspective, it may not be what you're expecting)
I'm not saying you can't bonsai them, but I guess if you see images of "shimpaku" on the Internet and pick up a J. Chinensis from b@nn1Ng5 or wherever to replicate that, you might be a little disappointed. So, if you want Shimpaku that's bonsai appropriate, probably safest to get from a reputable bonsai retailer That's what I just did!

[RevoEvoS]

Well I bought 2 starter from Bonsai Art at Belrose and its exactly like the one you see on YT, guess it was from cuttings that they made cause the trunk was roughly 0.7cm in thickness. However I got another Juni that doesn't have pointy needle but round type needle only. Is it best to start training and bending/twist the branches or wait till its roughly 20cm in height?