I could use some advice on styling this juniper. I did the initial styling in spring of last year, before I started watching Miria. I may have taken too much off the inner branches. There are 2 junipers and was wondering if they will fuse together. But styling is up in the air. I was trying to develop pads and cense it won’t back bud not sure how to hide the leggy branches. Thanks in advance.
I picked up a few junipers in my first year. I waited until this time last year and re-potted them into good soil. This is my first step with anything picked up and in soil that is not idea. You might also find things hiding under the soil as I did this year with an elm. So I would first look at repotting if it were my tree.
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I was planing to root prune this spring and put it in a training pot, but a few people have suggested that the two should be separated. I kind of like the shape they are together. So my main question is will they fuse together to form one larger trunk, ( if I scrape the bark between them, or just tie them together?). If I do the roots can I style the foliage or should I wait an other year.
Yes they will fuse in time.
If you plan to do heavy root work then leave the foliage alone. Juniper strength comes from the foliage and they would need it to recover. Since the seem young 6 months of unrestricted growth should do it, if you’d like them to fuse well then let them grow after repotting for at least a year.
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They will fuse together but it will take a good few years. You could try grafting them together in the same manner as Ryan grafted the ‘juniper grafting strategy’ film.
Doesnt matter IF they are two. Two trunk bonasi design…
Is that wire on the surface?
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I would…
Do the two trunks wiggle independantly? Have you dug down to see if the tree isnt ONE trunk lower down? Nurserys usually plant cuttings real deap… and usually only one transplant per pot.
Use a chopstick and take off the top inch or so of soil. Isnt going to hurt the tree. You will remove it next repot anyway. Dig down to the first roots. Save the moss; and replace it on the rootage afterwords.
Bonsai On!
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They do wiggle independently of each other, I do believe they are two plants. I put the wire there to hold them closer together. I took 2 1/2” of dirt off the top I might be able to go down 1/4-1/2” more. Would I try grafting after repotting this spring or let it recover till fall or following spring.
You can graft them together when you repot it.
Just let them recover after.
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I wrapped a piece of rubber around a set of trident maple trunks I grafted together and then wire around that. The goal was to hold them tightly without getting wire scars. Raffia would probably work as well, but it might constrict the outer growth before the graft takes.
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Another option which I have used on a Brazilian rain tree is to bind the trunks together with parafilm or other grafting tape, and then bind them together more securely with electrical tape. The parafilm prevents the electrical tape from attaching to and marring the bark. The electrical tape holds the trunks together very tightly. Then just watch for constrictions that might wind up with causing an inverse taper. The pic belows hows how the trunks came together after a single growing season. I am going to repeat the process next year to move the connection a little further up the trunk.
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I was wondering if grafting tape would work.
Not by itself. But reinforced with electrical taper will apply effective pressure to the trunks or branches you want to graft together.
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