Nine Years With a Procumbens Juniper

This procumbens as with all procumbens, if fertilized good will grow very fast, and before you know it they've lost most of the refinement you put into it and revert to looking like a bush again. This procumbens has been through quite a few trimmings because of this.

The first pic is at purchase in 2002.



This second pic was probably the best it has ever looked at about 4 or 5 years later.


But then as time went by and more in depth work on other trees, this one was overlooked and allowed to get out of control as I mentioned earlier.


A recent trim and it still was not what I was looking for.


Finally the latest work and hopefully I can keep this one in check as I have thinned out my collection to some degree.

Thomas,

Procumbens or Procumbens nana? I am thinking it's nana.

Kind regards,

Jose Luis

You know, I never did know the difference between the two, but most of the procumbens sold around here in the garden centers , which is where this came from, are nanas.

I think all of these are forms Juniperus chinensis, and procumbens with or without the nana are trade names.

It looks more like Juniperous chinensis as what Billy indicated. Your third photo shows quite obviously.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:I think all of these are forms Juniperus chinensis, and procumbens with or without the nana are trade names.

Nope, I am afraid you are wrong. I have seen and worked with both and Juniperus Procumbens nana is clearly a dwarf variety. Also, nanas have the ability to produce mature foliage when exposed to hot and humid living conditions. Regular Procumbens does not.

Juniperus procumbens is what is known in Japan as Sonare. It has thick needle- like foliage that us twice the size of a nana.

Kind regards,

Jose Luis

Hi Thomas,
I am fairly new to Bonsai (a few years) and I work with a lot of procumbens nana (and other junipers) here in Southern California. They are easily found and affordable. I am a fan of your work and style. Keeping these guys in check is an ongoing job. I like your styling technique, keeping minimal space (but just enough) between the foliage. Keep up the great work and posts.
Tona (Steve)

There are many variations of Juniperus chinensis. The procumbens and procumbens nana are all cultivars of Juniperus chinensis as is Shimpaku. It would be interesting to develop a list of Juniperus chinensis cultivars.

From Wikipedia

It is a popular ornamental tree or shrub in gardens and parks, with over 100 named cultivars selected for various characters, such as yellow foliage (e.g. cvs. 'Aurea', 'Tremonia'), permanently juvenile foliage (e.g. cv. 'Shoosmith'), columnar crown shape (cv. 'Columnaris'), abundant cones (e.g. cv. 'Kaizuka'), etc. The cultivar 'Shimpaku' is a very important bonsai subject. It is not native to the U.S. and should not be used in natural plantings.

The hybrid between Juniperus chinensis and Juniperus sabina, known as Juniperus × pfitzeriana (Pfitzer Juniper, synonym J. × media), is also very common as a cultivated plant. It is only ever a shrub, never a tree, making it suitable for smaller gardens.

I think the taxonomy of J. procumbens ('nana' and otherwise) is somewhat in dispute. Maybe Iris is more up to date than I.

FWIW, here is what Wikipedia says: Juniperus procumbens is a low-growing shrubby juniper native to the southern Japan. Its status as a wild plant is disputed; some authorities treat it as endemic on high mountains on Kyūshū and a few other islands off southern Japan,[2] while others consider it native to the coasts of southern Japan (north to Chiba Prefecture) and also the southern and western coasts of Korea.[3] It is closely related to Juniperus chinensis, and is sometimes treated as a variety of it, as J. chinensis var. procumbens.[2][3]

J. p. 'nana' is a mere cultivar -- a human construct.

Thanks Tona (Steve),
I appreciate the nice comments. Yes you are right about having to keep up with them, especially when I'm having to water my trees 3xs a day because of this gosh awful summer we had this year. It took everything I had to go out just before dark while it was only 100deg instead of 105 or 107, just to work on this guy. If you don't open them up they get a lot of useless foliage deep inside where the sun can barely get, and the tree looks kind of scrubby that way. But the work is done on this one now and I have another that I also had to work on, hopefully I'll post it soon.

Thomas,
I know what you mean. It's been as hot as 110 here in the Southern California desert (Santa Clarita) and I'm out 3x a day watering also. 103 today. So far so good, only lost one tree that was an air layered juniper that I likely cut off too soon anyway.
Steve