Grafted san jose juniper

I acquired this san jose juniper from my teacher, Colin Lewis, back in the winter of 2005. It had been collected about eighteen months prior. The only work I had done that time was to prune unwanted branches and expose deadwood.

With this san jose, the foliage was too far from the trunk for a compact design. It was also a mixture of juvenile and mature. The goal was to graft blaauw's foliage closer to the trunk. The blaauw's would give a nice color and have consistent mature foliage.

I left the tree alone for an entire year to allow it to build up strength. In February of 2007, I grafed about 25 to 30 shoots. As this had been my first grafting experience, I lost about two thirds of the blaauw's shoots. in February of 2008, I replaced many of what was lost.

During the summer of 2007, I placed the plant into the larger container, to encourage the shoots to push hard. In 2009, I began removing the san jose foliage gradually over the course of the growing season. Last month, I felt confident that the blaauw's shoots would survive on the san jose stock plant, so, I pruned away what was left of the original foliage. As the sap lines continue to consolidate, the deadwood revealed is amazing! I'd like to reduce the pot size, as this one is so damn heavy.

Bravo on your approach. I believe so many more trees, especially conifers, would be much better bonsai in the long term if grafting were used to put foliage closer to the focal point instead of excessively bending the branches. It really is a matter of patience - grafting is a longer approach but usually results in a better tree. Some of these yamadori trees we see would be better bonsai if the styling of the branches did not look like the wires behind my stereo cabinet.

Can you show with lines where you put the grafts? Did you graft branches any close to the trunk - looks like all are at the ends of the whips.

Hi Rob

Here are some old images that may show what you want. You can also look at the third picture above. I've also included one shot last May that has the san jose foliage before reducing it.

Looks like a fabulous start to a tree with a real future.

I second Rob; it's great to see someone taking the quality approach over that of the quick result. Can't wait to see it in the future.

Hi Peter,
Nice material! I was just curious what method you used to graft the new foliage on? I have been thinking of doing the same thing on a Juniper I have. I traded a stand for a Juniper with dead wood that I did some carving on, but the tree was once really long and was bent round and round. Nick suggested I graft some shoots on to get the foliage closer to the trunk. I also just grafted a shoot on a Pine so we will see if it takes.
I can show you the Juniper when you are here for the Sandro event!
See ya soon,
Geof

Hi Geoff

The method I used is either called bud grafting, or side-veneer grafting. It's explained in a book I use for reference called "The Grafter's Handbook" by R.J. Garner and published by the Royal Horticultural Society. Here are a some examples of how the grafting was done.

if the styling of the branches did not look like the wires behind my stereo cabinet.

Good to see it's not just me who suffers with excess cables!

Nice one, Rob. That little gem made me chuckle for ages!

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the close ups. This is the same method I used on my Pine. I have heard of using the spagnum moss to keep the shoot moist did those shoots take better than others? Or was it more hit or miss?
Geof

Peter,
This is the Juniper I may do the same thing to.

Geof

Hi Geof. it was mainly hit or miss (with cambium). If that's a scopulorum, you may want to try itoigawa foliage since it's better in our climate. You might want to use kishu shimpaku, too, since the color would be closer to the original. I find rocky mountain foliage to be problematic with phomopsis tip blight in our wet, cloudy weather. With side-veneer grafting, keep in mind that the phloem layer for rocky mountain juniper is somewhat thick.

Yesterday, I spent some time cleaning up the exfoliating bark with a pick, rather than brushing. This is looking nice

Great tree Peter. Wonderful character. When are you hoping to give it it's first styling?

Thanks Will. I've done some directional wiring last year. I'll probably do more later this year. As the grafts grow out, I'm sure there will be some to remove. I've also grafted two more shoots last month that are in ideal places. Hopefully, they will take.

I've finished all the work I care to do this season (exposing/cleaning/bleaching deadwood, wiring). Now, I just need to find the right pot. Would IBC members have any ideas? Thanks

Have you removed the tape and wire around the graft? If you have can you show us a close up picture of the graft? Im curious to see what the integrated structure looks like after the graft takes. I've never graft before so am curious.

Thank you. Good luck with the tree.
Luc

i would contact vic over at erin pottery and get a custom pot for the tree. he's making one for a larch i have. great work

luc tran wrote:Have you removed the tape and wire around the graft? If you have can you show us a close up picture of the graft? Im curious to see what the integrated structure looks like after the graft takes. I've never graft before so am curious.

Thank you. Good luck with the tree.
Luc

I had planned on replying to your questions earlier, but, I forgot. I'm sorry....

anyway. here's something that can be helpful to you. The first image is of a grafted blaauw's shoot about a year after applying it to the san jose rootstock. the callus is at the base of the shoot. The second image shows a freshly stripped blaauw's shoot. As I had more than enough grafts on the juniper, I didn't need this one. You can see the graft seam between the old and new jins...

Hi Peter,something like this
Gr Ed

Hi Ed. that's a great shape and color. however, the roots of my tree will not allow it to fit in that shaped pot.

Awesome Job Peter! I love it! Also curious, does that line where the graft was put (pic one) go away with time?

Here are the most recent shots of graft unions I have. They were taken in 6/11. The first image is an update of the live shoot posted earlier. You can see that the transition from the san jose stock plant to the blaauw's shoots are quite smooth. That is achieved by reducing the san jose foliage gradually, rather than in one abrupt pruning. Otherwise, you'll get noticeable bumps.

I am very impressed with what you have done with the tree. Great Job

Waouh, perfect, good job!!!

Wow it looks amazing as if it was always there. I cannot see the graft at all.

Luc