I am starting to design a (young, 30-40cm) Common Juniper. I decided to try create a tapered trunk by chopping off the top. Unfortunately, the lowest branch is about 10cm up. So I’m considering whether grafting a sacrificial branch lower down would work. Do you think I have any hope?
Unlikely. Junipers strength is in the foliage and not the roots. If you remove too much foliage they will die. This is true even in the wild. If you trunk chop them they will not regrow new foliage the tree will just die.
Oh, I had no idea. Is this true of many other ‘common’ species used for bonsai?