Juniper with spiny foliage....

Hi all,

I have this tree only 2 weeks, and i would like to try to give him his firs shape soon.



but something disturb me with this Juni, ALL it's foilage is "spiny" as you can see here....





is there something i can do to get rid or to reduce those leaves ?

thank u very much
Efi

I don't think you can get red of this foliage. Some junipers have two type of foliage standard/typical and juvenille.

This is juvenile foliage. Some Junipers are more prone to have juvenile foliage and other will hold onto mature foliage better. One of the reasons that Shimpaku are so popular is their tendency to hold mature foliage.
Having said all that, this plant looks like it might have been recently pruned and this has resulted in the new, juvenile foliage. Also lots of fertilizer can trigger this growth. You can trim this back and you should do so now, but that will continue to trigger the juvenile growth.
Trim back, don't over fertilizer and let it mature.
Note above, some Junipers are much more prone to the juvenile growth and if this is one of those varieties there isn't really a solution.

Hi Efi,

I agree with Billy, but would like to add that juvenile foliage equals stress. Someone with far more experience than me told me not to prune and not to fertilize at all. If you do you will get leggy branches and more juvenile foliage. Let it mature. I would wait with styling too.
Have you dug this one up or did you buy it established already?

Best ...

Gašper

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Junipers are much more prone to the juvenile growth and if this is one of those varieties there isn't really a solution.

Hi Billy,

what do u recommend, to trim or to pinch ?

thx

GašperG wrote:Hi Efi, Let it mature. I would wait with styling too.
Have you dug this one up or did you buy it established already?

Best ...

Gašper

Hi Gasper,
very interesting. thank u for this help.
i'll wait for some other responses, and i'll see what to do.....

BDW - I received it from some friend. he has a lot of Juni trees and he gave it to me to "start" with something....
i guess this tree was on his shelf in his nursery a long time.

thx
Efi

efishn wrote:

BDW - I received it from some friend. he has a lot of Juni trees and he gave it to me to "start" with something....
i guess this tree was on his shelf in his nursery a long time.

thx
Efi

Have you asked him what he thinks of the foliage? What type of juni is it. Might be a variety like that as Billy stated...in that case I guess it is all good

Efi, you really need to start with finding out which species of juniper this is. While, as the guys have said, some junipers have the needle-like growth as juvenile foliage, with other species that is just what they are like. There are needle-leaf junipers like squamata, rigida and some procumbens, and there are scale-leaf ones that have the flat foliage such as chinensis ones - Blauwws, Shimpaku etc. Some junipers (I believe San Jose does this) can have both needle and flat foliage at the one time. You simply have to know which one you have as otherwise you might be trying to get rid of what is actually its natural foliage.

They also have different requirements for styling. A book I really like is the Bonsai Today Masters' Series on Junipers. You can get it through Stone LAntern - the link is HERE

This looks like a variety of J. Sabina called 'Tamariskifolia.'
I have a small one that I have worked on for about 10 years. The awl-shaped (juvenile) foliage has been a challenge for me. I used to pinch it back annually in the late spring, but I think that weakens this tree and contributes to the juvenile foliage response.
I have left the foliage alone for the past two years with the exception of minor clean-up, but I still have the foliage. I have fertilized it heavily this season, but felt that this was necessary because it was looking a little weak last year.
I have learned to appreciate the foliage; it isn't particularly painful to work with, so I have just learned to accept it.

was gonna say looks like sabina. I have a sabina 'buffalo' that looks very similar. I really like em for some reason.

efishn wrote:

what do u recommend, to trim or to pinch ?

Trim, you need to make it more compact, IF this variety will do that. I am not familiar with the variety they are mentioning above, but if they are correct it will not make much difference.

As I said if it had recently had a hard pruning. that would trigger the juvenile growth.

If in fact it is juvenile foliage.

He needs to find out which species it is.

Ok guys , i got you.

i'll go to investigate my friend what species is that.

and then i'll come back.

THX ALL
Efi

efishn wrote:i'll go to investigate my friend what species is that.

and then i'll come back.

Hi all,

just want to say a big THANKS to Fiona for help "behind the scenes" to me, with this issue.

Cheers
Efi

try Juniperus chinensis ‘Pfitzeriana’

e.g. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/juchp.htm