AusBonsai

This is a Juniperus chinensis 'Sargentii' that I bought in October 2003 from the Bonsai Society of Victoria show. The tree had been heavily attacked by red spider mites at some stage prior to my buying it, as a result it was reduced to clear. The tree was marked 1989 making it 14yrs old at the time.
As you can see the crown needed some attention, the branch placement and some of the angles were less than desireable but there was a decent tree in there somewhere. The placement in the pot? Hmmmm....

By summer the tree had improved a little, but the foliage was still very sparse. I had wired the branches and had been able to lower the first branch a little. Thee tree at the end of winter Work on the tree progressed and gradual improvements were made. I sold a large number of trees in December 2006 prior to my big move out of suburbia and into the Yarra Ranges, the Sargent Juniper was among the trees sold, by then it had filled out quite well and was repotted into a more appropriate pot. The buyer has the tree back to me on a yearly basis for rework and repotting, the tree fills its pot with roots and tries to climb out every October which is pretty remarkable vigour for a Sargent Juniper, it's become my job to reduce the rootball by 40-50% every spring.

So here is the tree in October 2009 as it arrived at my nursery.


And the tree with the restyling done.
The biggest task now is to get the trees owner to pich the folaige pads at least occasionally I wouldnt mind if there was a little branch separation maintained
We will see in 2010.

Cheers
MM

Nice improvement mojo, great when the tree is healthy

Nice tree, as you say it would be nice if it were maintained. You have certainly improved it from what it was to what it is.

I have a cousin who bought tree's and hoped I would do the work.
He is now asking me to sell them as he is moving to an apartment says nothing will grow on the Balcony coz its too windy and salty.

It amazes me what people do with good tree's

Thanks for posting Mojo, Pup

thats an amazing growth rate on the roots there mojo. and the tree has filled out very well over the years. is the sargent juniper similar in growth to the shimpaku? in the sense of the foliage and such? and how flexible is the branching?

thanks


jamie

Thanks Bodhi!

Pup, if only the tree was developed along designed lines for the 11 months of the year that is not in my care! The same client has 3 Radiatas in the 30yr old bracket that he just waters and whacks osmocote on and then sends them up here to "rehab". Oh and he has a distressing habit of repotting his trees on a whim, thats always good for a giggle .

Jamie, It can be argued that Sargent Juniper (J.chinesis 'Sargentii') and Shimpaku (J.x media 'Shimpaku' or J. chinensis "Shimpaku') are one and the same, there is not a great differnce really. The differences that I notice most that Shimpaku has rusty hues to it's floiage in our cold winters and that Sargents begin growing a little earlier, but these subtle differences can be explained by different geographical ranges of the parent trees. The cuttings that I have grown from this tree over the years have been very root vigorous and simply bolt along on the 3 essential elements on offer up here in the hills: Charlie Carp, Diatomite and most importantly fresh water.

Cheers
MM

sounds like a good stock to have mate i wonder if you know where i am going with this.................................

have you got any tube stock of cuttings of this sargeant then??? and would you be willing to post them to me? pm me if thats all good for prices and such

appreciate it mate

regards jamie

'Tube stock' means to me 'underground railway rolling stock'. Could someone clarify the meaning in Jamie's post? Sorry to be an ignorant numbscull.

stymie wrote:'Tube stock' means to me 'underground railway rolling stock'. Could someone clarify the meaning in Jamie's post? Sorry to be an ignorant numbscull.

G,day Mate.
What we call tube stock is Cutting's and in some cases seedling's that have been grown in a pot that is more like a tube than a pot.
About 2 and a half inches tall by about 1 and a half wide. Hence the term tube stock in some cases the tube can be deeper and more square.

I hope this clears it up for you mate. Bloody Colonialists Pup