Rescued Juniper

Here is a large Juniper that I rescued from a construction site close to work. The workers thought I was nuts... trying to uproot this monster in business casual attire right after it rained. However, I did not forget my spade, pick-axe, a lopper, and a pair of old sneakers to do the job with in the wet mud. I was being eyed upon with my toys as if I was in a zoo on the other side of the cage.

Well, it was either now or never for this tree because it was soon going to be uprooted by a small crane and into a dumpster. Take a look and let me know if the effort was worth it... I think it has a lot of potential.

Dimensions: 27" height, 6" base, 4.5 feet canopy

Side 1:



Side 2:



Top view:



- S

Absolutely, was it worth it. Great movement and has a real feel of yamadori.

Worth every sideways glance and ounce of mud on shoes and khaki. Excellent piece and good luck with it; keep us posted.

lovely tree, with great potential...worth every drop of sweat shed

It is a nice one! I'm eager to see if it lives. We've been trying to dig those landscape junipers for years down here and no has been successful. Maybe it's our soil.

Thanks guys.

Russell,
I am hopeful about it's survival because to my surprise I managed to get around 95% of the root mass which was in a large compact ball around the base. It had two or three long ropy roots growing deep into the earth that was severed cleanly.

Another reason why I am hopeful is that it rained the day before and the day I collected it. So it was well hydrated reducing the stress of collecting. Not to mention, it has rained since then almost every day in Chicago... which is kind of helping the tree stay hydrated.

- S

Suburbia

I just dug a landscape juniper two months ago, everyone said it would most likely die, but i too had most of the rootball intact. It has survived so far! Good luck! This is a rather obvious statement but, finding one with the roots intact seems to be the only chance of survival, too much major cutting must be what harms the others.

Arno

Suburbia--you ROCK!

One for having saved this ancient beast from the dumpster.
Two for having the guts to do it..
Three for being prepared with loppers and equipment!

They may have been looking at you like you were crazy but I bet you were smiling (at least on the inside)

that's a nice grab. If that green stuff on the soil surface is fertilizer, I'd remove it. you don't want to burn the roots while they are acclimating to pot cultivation. When the new growth starts to show, then, I'd feed, but, mildly. As I'm on the conservative side with my collected material, I like to give them morning sun only for the first year. and be light on the watering. In the future while you are studying your design options, you might want to look at the inverse taper and start this as your new base, either with grafting juniper roots, or layering. I also see wonderful deadwood on yours. Wait until the second year before exploring it. You don't want to be bumping the tree around in the pot since the tree is putting out new roots. just some thoughts.

Hi Peter,

I value your experience and so I'll get rid of the fertilizer for now... and yes I agree on the watering, however I don't have much control on the rain. The tree+pot is anchored to the ground, so it cannot be moved (not to mention, the tree is HEAVY).

As for design suggestions, I would love to get some ideas and virtuals from everyone. I have started playing with pictures of this tree trying to create virtuals, but the shape is so unorthodox that although anything is possible, it is tough to come up with a good design.

You can't tell from the picture, but there is some shari around the base going upto the first bend... so I am not going to do anything for the reverse-taper for now. Maybe a convincing virtual will change my mind.

- S

Personally I would concentrate on the tree's survival and leave any styling suggestions for the near future, when the tree will be established beyond any doubt. (but this is only my personal opinion)

I agree Stavros... that is why I am playing with virtuals and not designing the actual tree. However, to maximize the potential of the design, I would love to get as many inputs as possible.

- S

So far, this is the best I could do:



- S

If you can take some nice straight on photos of that tree and post them I can noodle around with them on photoshop as our discussion warrents, I love fooling around with virtual trees, excellent practice!

If you can have someone hold a blank colored sheet behind the tree while you photo so much the better (I often enlist my girlfriend for a similar function)

An I also agree, just get it to live, get rid of fertilizer and remember that Junipers can take in a tremendous ammount of water through thier needles, such that if she gets a good hosing (fine spray of course) here and there throughout the day it can be a great help!

Great potential in this one. I find that the biggest cause of landscape junipers not surviving after collection has more to do with a. to much water after collecting and b. trying to design too soon. I always wait at least two years before starting to style. Good luck with this one , it can be an awesome bonsai.

Hi! All!

And the collector of course!

I would cut back on foilledge,....not drastic but its to dense now i would say....

grz from holland!

If there is anything I have learned from experts scolding me in the past is to leave as much foliage on newly collected trees as possible. The more the foliage, the greater the root growth and ofcourse the survival rate.

When it comes time to design the tree (after one or two growing periods - depending on the vigour), then yes... a lot of the foliage would be trimmed to create pads. I will have an expert from Chicago work on this tree.

- S

I just noticed fresh new growth on the tips of the scaly foliage. I am soooo excited... but still very cautious. I think misting the foliage atleast twice a day might be doing the trick.

- S

Good News!

Yeah misting helps take some strain off the root sytem after a trauma like that, I've always misted juniper for a good month after I do root work and It definately seems to help!

I have been giving this a lot of thought... I don't think there is any space on my benches for this Juniper. It is just too big.

So, I am putting this tree up for trade or sale. Needless to say, I am going to keep it this year through winter to make sure it is healthy enough to keep my reputation.

Anyone interested can PM me... ofcourse, locals only. I wouldn't dare take the headache to ship it.

Thanks,
- S

Here is another angle the tree might look good in (I finally got the whole tree in the picture).



And here is a virtual of a possible future.



Although I would personally prefer cascade, this angle balances the weight towards the center and will be a lot easier to maintain and repot in the future.

- S