Juniperus communis shohin

I found this Juniperus in Sweeden in may 2005; it was a meter tall, and grew in a hole, in a huge stone.
Cut it back to shohin sice.

This is from the summer in 2007...some of the roots had died back...I made the deadwood like this.

This is the spring 2010.

This is now, 2013.
I have been able to turn the crown a little, and repot in a new angle, giving a better view to the live veen on the backside...in the beginning was the veen flat, now it has rounded a lot, and is a coulpe of cm. wide.
The tree is standing 19 cm. tall.

Kind regards Yvonne

I have told you before, beautiful tree.
I own lover of communis very difficult tree in pot

Jeffrey

yvonne thats a very nice tree i like the pot its in too. you don't see to many for that species around my way

dre wrote:yvonne thats a very nice tree i like the pot its in too. you don't see to many for that species around my way

You don't see too many of this tree around anywhere. From what I understand they are difficult to cultivate in pots and are easily killed. I find this rather odd because it is also the only conifer pretty much the same all over the Northern Hemisphere.

Vance Wood wrote:

dre wrote:yvonne thats a very nice tree i like the pot its in too. you don't see to many for that species around my way

You don't see too many of this tree around anywhere. From what I understand they are difficult to cultivate in pots and are easily killed.  I find this rather odd because it is also the only conifer pretty much the same all over the Northern Hemisphere.

i have one i've been working on for three years now after all the research and things i've done to the tree comes down to timing and not cutting of to much foliage at once so if anyone is going to add one to their collection just be very patient and don't push the tree too hard

I read somewhere that J. communis is considered the commonest woody plant in the world. God must love it as he loves the poor, according to Lincoln. However, the North American one is a different variety, var. depressa. I've seen pictures of them in Europe from time to time, but you almost never see them in the American shows. I think we've had one or two in the Nationals. I believe Marty Schmalenberg has one.
Pauline Muth says they grow in the Albany area, and the people there collect them. There used to be some beautiful ones west of Watertown on Rte. 12 next to a tract owned by the Nature Conservancy. Probably all built up now. I collected some small ones, but they were not very appealing, and very prickly, so I put them in my foundation planting. They are still there, nothing bothers them, but branches die from time to time.
Iris

Many thanks for the nice Words from Jeffrey and Dre.

Communis is giving collectors a really hard time, as they easily die...Is it because of a fungus?...I dont remember.
But this one have given no troubles...it is pruned and repottet every year...not one branch has died back.
I guess I am Lucky.

I keep the young growth comming from inside the crown, and do what I can to avoid " spaghetti"...the small tree has a main trunk, with branches

kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Many thanks for the nice Words from Jeffrey and Dre.

Communis is giving collectors a really hard time, as they easily die...Is it because of a fungus?...I dont remember.
But this one have given no troubles...it is pruned and repottet every year...not one branch has died back.
I guess I am Lucky.

I keep the young growth comming from inside the crown, and do what I can to avoid " spaghetti"...the small tree has a main trunk, with branches

kind regards Yvonne

If your practice is to repot it every year, and I do not fault you for doing so, that could be the reason why you are having success with it. I am curious to a fault, I do not accept what people say, or boast, readily. I want evidence, and for extreme claims I want extreme evidence. However; in the case with this tree, understanding that many people growing this tree fail, and the standard practice is to repot Junipers every three or four years, but you repot every year, I am drawn to consider the things you do differently as being the source of your success. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Hi Vance

I cant say what does the trick...but yes, I am repotting it every year, in one part cocopeat, and part lecapeals...it is actully the easiest tree I have.

I used to have one more for many years in my younger days, ( treated the same way) but replanted it in the nature again, as I did not really find the bonsaipotential in it.

Kind regards Yvonne

Thank You for your reply.

Yvonne,

I wanted to say thank you.
Your work is excellent, and I admire the results you are getting with leca pearls and cocopeat, it is very inspiring.

http://www.leca.ae/

So much so, that I have located some to run tests against my crushed sifted porous brick.
I will let you know with time how it goes.
You are also getting results with the ball-bearing idea [ as outline by Ms.Cohen].

Perhaps you have a nice simple soil mix optimum. Air space, water retention, freely draining and the cocopeat [ in my climate ] turns to compost.
Cocopeat is supposed to be fairly rich in K [potassium ]

Anyhow thanks again.
Happy New Year!!
Khaimraj

The cocopeat becomes compost here in Denmark too, witch is good...cocopeat can hold a LOT of Water, this is why I use a little fresh peatmoss as a bridge between the drainholes and the table the pot stand on, it give perfect instant drain in the pot...without will my trees soon drown, I fear.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:The cocopeat becomes compost here in Denmark too, witch is good...cocopeat can hold a LOT of Water, this is why I use a little fresh peatmoss as a bridge between the drainholes and the table the pot stand on, it give perfect instant drain in the pot...without will my trees soon drown, I fear.

Kind regards Yvonne

Drown is maybe a too strong word...but I believe not all water leave a pot after watering...I have seen examples from glasspots...the spagnummoss drain out the last clear water, that otherwise will stay in the pot no matter how welldrained and open the soil is, and leave the roots in the bottom welldrained too

 

Morning Yvonne,
Happy New Year !!

Understood.Thank you.

a question, what is you weather like where you live?
Is it humid?
Rainy?
Do you water twice a day?
Exposure - Full sun or other ?
Breezes ?
Trying to understand how wet you keep your normal trees.
Thanks for your patience.
Khaimraj

Hi Khaimraj

We have all the weather you are talking about..please Google...the summer can be very short, but some times is it quit nice and long. Temperatures in the summer is beween 20 and 30 degrees.
In hot weather am I maybe watering two times a day...shohin in very small pots, and trees in very strong Growth....the trees like fairly dry, but humid soil...the fresh peatmoss does a realy good job regulating.
One year I tried without, just to see if it was true..wanted to do it like everybody else. Soon I saw my trees was not doing as well as they used to, so I went straight back to using the moss...theese days can I see if a pot has lost the mossconnection to the drainhole...the tree is not happy.
When this is said, do I also keep the pots shaded, to keep the soil cool, the crowns are in full sun all the time.

Kind regards Yvonne

i have a very old juniper communis - centuries old on the hill before it was collected at best guess - and it behaves the same as my japanese needle junipers ( J. rigida). they love humidity, they love moisture, they are a totally different tree to any other juniper species. My rigida is much easier and predictable to work with when it comes to feeding and pruning but that is because there is decades of documentation and growing experience with the species. I think because many communis die off after collection and those that survive need horticultural ability to keep as bonsai they will always be a niche species rather than a mainstream popular one.

The best way to cause brown dropping foliage and eventual branch loss is to use large free draining soil particles. The trees are very happy and easy to grow if they never dry out completely - the bark and composty bark in Yvonnes recipe will be keeping the conditions perfect. I use a high percentage akadama with fresh sphagnum moss layered through to get a similar result. It makes sense that Yvonnes tree is repotted annually too- it is shohin sized so will only be in a small pot with limited room.

I think many hobbyists like to standardise their bonsai hobby - buy one set of components to mix up one soil blend, use one fertiliser, do all the repotting in one go etc so trees that require unique care and consideration are often not managed properly

cheers

Hi Marcus

Thanks for your reply...but did you read my last reply? How I use spagnummoss between the potholes and the table, to make a bridge for the watering water to run out? also the last 1/3 to 1/4 that basicly remain in the buttom part of a pot after watering.

I must confes I basicly use a standardsoil for my trees, and stick to this... for the pines is it a slightly difrent story....

Kind regards Yvonne

Very awesome foliated friend Yvonne, thanks much for sharing. And thanks for the info all who have given such.

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:But this one have given no troubles...

... as to this; a little belief have been cultivating, that as well as horticultural experince and knowledge, intention and comunication play a part aswell.

Much Thanks Yvonne,

I was more interested in your micro-climate, not really the climate of Denmark.
Helps a great deal.
Later.
Khaimraj

yes Yvonne i read your reply,

you use sphagnum moss to let the water out of the pot, i use it to keep the water in   

it is the close proximity of needle junipers to sphagnum that keeps them happy

best regards

Many thanks to all 3 Guys   

The comunication, the counitation, oh dear   ....all my other trees do also love the fresh peatmoss a lot   .

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Many thanks to all 3 Guys   

The comunication, the counitation, oh dear   ....all my other trees do also love the fresh peatmoss a lot   .

Kind regards Yvonne

Khaimraj.... I do not study the micro-climate, I just see if my trees are happy.

Marcus...I am not having spagnummoss in my pots, it is under, like I have described .

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, did you say your summer temps are between 20 and 30 degrees?
Wow that is cold for summer, here in New Orleans that is the coldest winter temp!

I suspect Yvonne is talking celsius here - goodness, it isn't even that cold in Scotland.       Yvonne?

wlambeth wrote:Yvonne, did you say your summer temps are between 20 and 30 degrees?
Wow that is cold for summer, here in New Orleans that is the coldest winter temp!

I see you haven't been here long. You need to get used to switching back & forth between inches & centimeters, kilos & pounds, Celsius & Fahrenheit. Actually she said her summer temps are in the 70s & 80s. There are conversion apps right online. I keep an 18 inch-50 cm ruler on the computer desk. I am looking for a small thermometer. All these measuring devices come with both scales nowadays.
Iris