Dug up a landscape Chinese juniper on April 4 2021. Have been working dead wood and splitting live vein from dead to give the branches motion. Pretty good back budding so elected to take it out of the galvanized wash basin and put it into a mica pot. Photos of collected tree and process to repot.
Selected initial front and angle in the wash basin.
Good color and new growth starting, so removed from basin and prepared my largest mica pot.
Lots of foliage left to grow roots. Will need to adjust angle once healthy and after initial styling.
Good problem that there are lots of roots! Built a sphagnum and akadama wet wall to lasagna roots on the back side. Hope for the best. Protect from wind and freezing temperatures.
Two years in the collection container. Lots of fertilizer and plenty of sunshine. Wintered outside in my cold storage structure.
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That’s really cool and has a lot of neat features to enjoy!
Did you have any big take aways or learn anything from the collection process? Looks like you did it smoothly!
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I did not have a wooden grow box prepared so I put it into the wash basin. I think a custom made box would have been better,… and a lot lighter and easier to move!
Very happy with the roots close to the trunk. Years excavating around the base and filling with sharp granite and pumice seemed to expedite the small root formation. I do not know how to graft the long leggy foliage closer into the middle of the branches, so am bending the branches into the center after splitting away from dead wood. Thank you for watching me learn and grow!
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So… one large very straight branch has been used to help grow roots in the bonsai container. It is too straight and draws your eye away from the base and deadwood features. My solution is to split the branch, apply a 6 ga wire spline, raffia and bend it forward and up into the canopy.
I have secured it with two stainless steel guy wires and will watch this fall and into the summer to see if the technique has damaged the life lines. My experience is that junipers can look healthy for months before showing signs of damage or ill health. The guy wires are painted yellow in the second photo.
The remaining straight branch will remain until I am sure the technique worked and there is foliage to build the structure and secondary branches.
Hope it stays green for the next 5 years??
