AusBonsai

Hi all, I have a few Squmata and have always pinched them by hand to maintain compact growth. I have been told that it is ok to trim them with clippers. So what is best ? To pinch or to trim .
Many thanks Bonsaiboy50

I believe it is best not to pinch junipers, you are far better off pruning them. This technique was taught to me by Boon, the best part is that you do not get the 'poodle juniper look', most juniper bonsai have.

First, you have to create scaffold branches. These are then headed back (trimmed with sharp fine shears) to maintain the outline. The 'structure' is generated this way. The problem with pinching is that it is an indiscriminate process. What you get is an eternally rising pad of foliage that soon creates an area dark dead undergrowth. You might get an OK 'pad' every few years, but you then spend the rest of the years undoing what you just did to lower the pad.

The above mentioned technique is to treat the foliage areas more like the ramification of deciduous foliage areas. That is, the deliberate structuring of secondary and tertiary branches and twigs all the way out to the final leaf. Have you ever seen a well ramified Trident maple? They are breath taking. Even when in foliage you can see the entire structure of the foliage area. It seems an almost endless forking of tiny branches finishing in a flurry of minuscule leaves. In junipers you accomplish this not by pinching, but by deliberately selecting each green shoot using sharp fine shears, either keeping or removing the shoot by cutting it off at its base. No pinching.

Now this may seem like a daunting task, and in fact it is. You start at the primary branching and follow out to the secondary branching where you begin to encounter green shoots. Most of the time the small green shoots in the axils of the branches is removed to maintain the fork. As you get to green shoots and wood that has just lignified (browned), you begin the process, left-right-left-right- up, left-right-left-right-up, or whatever pattern works for you. This is repeated for every foliage area of the tree. Rather than indiscriminate pinching that is mindless and leaves a cushion, you get a structure that you can see through that is light, delicate, and most importantly - maintainable. Foliage area extension can be controlled by simply pruning harder to head back to secondary branching and thus shortening the branch with almost no adverse consequences. Trees treated this way can be shown every year, once at the tertiary branch stage.

Thanks Scott.

That is really really informative and i will find that extremely useful this season.

Thank you so much for the time to jot it down.

Dave

Thanks Scott for your detailed drecription. I will try it when i prune them this year.
regards Bonsaiboy50

keep in shade after prune.
the sun might cause the pruned tip to go brown.

Why does it matter if the pruned tip goes brown?

If has only been trimmed by pinching then it is probably not show ready.

I have a very different opinion, I pinch hard and often shears are only used for twigs which are too big to pinch. My foliage pads are not "eternally rising" and internal areas do not exist because I like to keep the foliage to a minimum.
My junipers are mostly squamata and I do believe that different species of juniper need to be treated differently, style and species need to be considered before you make a recommendation to pinch or cut

Hi Scott
Can you please get some pictures of your foliage control method and post here?
I have heard this before in several places and are very interested.
Nothing shows the techniques better than a photo or 3

also what other Juniper would you suggest treating the same? Procumbens?

Ken

I always use the pinching technique as this prevents the tip browning which you get when pruning with tools. it has nothing to do with being in the sun, its to do with the way junipers grow. notice when the tip is pinched out the remaining leaflets are not damaged, and the centre of the bud is opened up allowing more sunlight in thus quicker regeneration. Where as when cut all the leaflets are damaged which causes the browning tips and the centre remains crowded retarding new growth. Hope this explains why pinching is a much beter and prefered method to remove growth from junipers.

chris

Just thought I would bump this and add this article in case anyone hadn't seen it:

http://crataegus.com/2012/08/26/how-to-pinch-junipers/

taken from Hugh Grants blog:

http://www.bonsaievolutionstudios.com/blog/page/3

It definitely backs up Scotts post (which ill be using come spring/summer).

It does seem like the traditional "pinching of Junipers" is an old misinterpreted technique......

Thoughts?

I think the term cutting has been misinterpreted here. When cutting/pinching juniper you cut back to another side shoot. You don't cut the actual green leafy part of the foliage only the main extension. It's no different in basic theory to ramifying broad leaf or deciduous trees.
There are no brown tips because you are cutting the shoot not the scale leafage.

hugh grant wrote:I think the term cutting has been misinterpreted here. When cutting/pinching juniper you cut back to another side shoot. You don't cut the actual green leafy part of the foliage only the main extension. It's no different in basic theory to ramifying broad leaf or deciduous trees.
There are no brown tips because you are cutting the shoot not the scale leafage.

Yeah ok, so you should completely remove SOME shoots to create a spaced out pad like a deciduous tree and NOT pinch/cut EVERY shoot end?

This makes sense to me.....

dominent extension shoots are cut.

I think you showed me this in person! My memory is a piece of garbage....

Thanks again mate.....

Gerard wrote:I have a very different opinion, I pinch hard and often shears are only used for twigs which are too big to pinch. My foliage pads are not "eternally rising" and internal areas do not exist because I like to keep the foliage to a minimum.
My junipers are mostly squamata and I do believe that different species of juniper need to be treated differently, style and species need to be considered before you make a recommendation to pinch or cut

QV Juniper pads.jpg

foliage 2.jpg

OK
That is what I thought a few years ago,
my Ideas have changed

It is not often that you get a chance to tell yourself you disagree.