juniper - works in progress

best wishes,   sam


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Nice juniper Sam! What's with the trunk wrapped in plastic????

hi russell

this one is struggling to recover from a long journey barerooted. to improve chances for survival, the trunk is encased in spaghnum wrapped in shrink wrap. new growth is showing at branch tips so its going to make it.

best wishes, sam

If I understand this correctly you are trying to cultivate a Yamidori Juniper in Hawaii? Very interested to see how this goes/.

happy holidays, vance

with adjustments to compensate  for warmer conditions, shimpaku  grow here. sharing some pictures of  others I have.

best wishes,    sam

I am impressed.  There is nothing I like better than to prove you can do something every body else says cannot be done! Way to go!  Really beautiful trees by the way.

thanks vance

happy holidays to you and yours.

best wishes, sam

kauaibonsai wrote:happy holidays, vance

with adjustments to compensate  for warmer conditions, shimpaku  grow here. sharing some pictures of  others I have.

best wishes,    sam

Beautiful trees in a beautiful climate, Im envious as hell!

zone envy works both ways. we wish we could grow cold weather things here, maples, azaleas, white pines, yews, etc.

best wishes, sam

Lovely Junipers!
What are your minimum winter temperatures and for how long.
I am in Africa and junipers grow here too. My min Temps in winter are 6C and for a short period. What precautions do you take with junipers during hot weather?

thank you nell

a cool winter day would be about mid-60F near the ocean where I live. sweater and socks weather for us. "cold" spells usually last for a day or two at the most, followed by the return of normal daytime temps in the low/mid 80'sF. summers seem warmer because the days are longer. daytime temps in the summer actually are usually no higher than winter day temps. during long summer days I move my shimpaku to a location where they they live in dappled shade for most of the day but get a few hours of afternoon sun. from experience, I know that growing the fine needle varieties of shimpaku (itoigawa, kishu) in full sun year around weakens the tree to the point that they die within a short time.. most important too, is not to "pinch " the foliage with your fingers.

I hope this helps. happy holidays

sam

Thanks Sam. I think our winter goes down to 45F so we are colder but our summer this year is so hot...43C which must be over 110F...I am going to put my Itoigawa in the shed then.
Did not realize that Itoigawa is different.

Vance Wood wrote:If I understand this correctly you are trying to cultivate a Yamidori Juniper in Hawaii?  Very interested to see how this goes/.

Vance,

None of these are yamadori junipers. the first couple seem to be Taiwanese or Indonesian import junipers. The last ones, definitely Japanese imports.

Regards,

Carlos

So, you are growing Itoigawa and Kishu Shimpaku in Hawaii. That's a testament to it's hardiness. Do they go through any dormant period at all or do they

accept those tropical conditions? I would think they'd need to rest at some time, unless they come from the Southern most part of Japan or Taiwanese or Indonesian.

Mine are put away for the Winter already. We've had 10ºF already.

Sam
Can you elaborate on the trunk wrapping newly collected or weak junipers?

Thanks Mitch

hello gary

no dormancy for shimpaku in hawaii.  they grow year around.  I believe keeping them in semi shade helps buffer the lack of winter dormancy. kinda like growing tropicals indoors under lights in wisconsin.  so far so good - after several years.

best wishes,   sam

hi mitch

wrapping the trunk of newly planted junipers ( and other trees) that have experienced shock goes hand in hand with regular foliage misting, keeping the tree in the shade and out of the wind. while there is no guarantee the tree will recover and grow, it certainly improves the odds. encase the trunk with damp sphagnum then wrap the trunk with plastic wrap to keep things together. keeps the live vein from drying out.

best wishes, sam

Darling after you told me I(My cook is welding it) started making a shade cloth structure on top. It will be ready today...and tomorrow I shall start on the benches.

good job neli

your trees will thank you for the shade, come summer.

happy thanksgiving

sam

Summer just started here...and I put the shade cloth....and an hour later had hail storm....So it was fantastic. The trees that were not under the shade had all their soil removed from the pots. It was terrible. Had to repot so many trees.

shade cloth just in the nick of time, eh neli !   good job you acted quickly.  the  cloth serves more than one purpose.  starting to work on this juniper. thin branches, make jin, wire.

bet wishes,   sam

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Nice juniper. If it was mine I would compact the apex and shift it a bit to the left (The highest point) Also it is important the first two primary branches to be at different heights. As oyakata said: Juniper comes from harsh environment and that needs to be portrayed.
I am also styling my juniper, but have grown a bit blank. Maybe You can make some suggestions if I post it?

thanks for the input neli,

I appreciate the advice.  yes,  please post your tree.  there are many skilled members who will  offer suggestions.  my juniper was grown as a semi-cascade for many years,  explaining the long branches to the right and  why the canopy appears as it does.  the large jin on the left in its original position,  was elevated about 45 degrees.   to show the movement of the trunk and the deadwood to better advantage,  I chose to change the planting angle.   as a matter of personal preference,  I think the tree looks better.   but as you point out,  there is a inconsistency now with the moyogi shape of the trunk and the han-kengai shape of the canopy.  adjustments to the canopy have begun.

best wishes,   sam

I posted it...Better than staring at it with a blank look. What I want to do to it is just too radical, so before I do that I want to hear other opinions. See if you can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t14620-itoigawa-juniper#150249