I may be able to get my hands on a few field grown Sargents that have really nice trunk movement. I’ve heard they couldn’t be more different than shimpaku in the sense that they don’t respond well at all to bonsai techniques, and are not worth the effort. On the other hand, I would love the design practice on larger trees, not to mention the urban yamadori rehab experience.
What has been your experience with Sargent junipers?
For my purposes, what do you all think - go or no-go?
This Sargents juniper from the 2015 Kokufuten was just posted on the BSOP Facebook page, Based upon this it looks like they can be used to make a good bonsai. Even if you have trouble with the foliage in a few years after you get them well established you can always graft with one of the Shimpaku varieties.
Sargentii otherwise known as Sargents is a Shimpaku variety as I understand it.
Any Chinese juniper (juniperus chinensis) with scale instead of needle like foliage is technically a shimpaku variety.
It will have coarser foliage than itoiagawa and maybe slightly coarser than kishu but closer to kishu. More suited to a weathered look than Itoiagawa.
No need to graft unless you really prefer itoiagawa foliage which I personally do not.
I have several growing next to a kishu and honestly if there’s a difference you’ll need a magnifying glass or many years of growing them side by side to identify IME.
@martyweiser This tree is ok I guess. 
Funny. I knew the piece of history that Charles Sargent imported a lot of them and the variety was named after him. I had an affinity for this tidbit because of his affiliation with the Arnold’s Arborateum, where I spent many hours walking with my wife back in grad school when she was pregnant with our first daughter. It’s an incredible place.
I’ve done some more research as a result of this post. I didn’t quite connect that the yamadori craze that targeted this variety in Japan actually took place a few decades later after Sargent’s identification of a unique variety. I erroneously thought that sargentii was some kind of American cultivar after the initial trees were brought over. Can’t wait to confidently dig in!
Sargentii . Is shimpaku juniper . Or Chinese juniper. Sargentii . Shimpaku. Named after the botanist . That discovered and recorded it , shimpaku is a named cultivar . Or better put . Was discovered to have unique enough. Characteristic.. to be classified as a separate distinct sub species or cultivar of Chinese juniper , found on the Japanese islands . Kishi and itagawa . Are regional variations of . Shimpaku. Having recognizable differences . But not unique enough or at least not recognized. As a sub species or cultivar . Both are hardly referred to outside the bonsai world , All make and are heavily represented . In the bonsai world . I would not hesitate . To have the opportunity to acquire . Field grown examples . All are fairly slow growing . And difficult to increase trunk size . Hence the value of large versions.
I just got my catalogue book from this year’s Kokufu and it is wild how many Sargent junipers their are. I would say the vast majority of junipers are Sargent, and only a few are rigida, from what I’ve seen so far.
Cool to know Sargent ~= Shimpaku - I was wondering about that since its not evident in the book and I hadn’t seen them under that name before.
In one of bjorns vids he was saying the rough translation of shin-paku is “new tree”. But if you look more closely at the kanji, shin-paku better lines up with -“true tree”. It’s essentially like an honorific for what is considered the “best” bonsai material, which aligns with your observation that there were so many in the prestigious competition.
He then went on to say that anything other than shinpaku is referred to “American shinpaku”, whatever that means. Doesn’t sound totally accurate to me. 
À good question though. What do Japanese artists think of the species that we celebrate in the mirai community: Rocky Mountain juniper, Sierra, California, Utah, limber pine, Scott’s pine , ponderosa, all those great expressive NA trees!
The Chinese juniper . Is a scale foliage juniper . Sargentii or shimpaku . Is the version or cultivar found on the islands of Japan . It’s heavily represented in bonsai . Mainly because of the fantastic materiel . Collected in the mountains of Japan . Rigida is a needle juniper . Or sharp needle juniper . Basically a different tree . Related to other needle junipers . Like common needle juniper others . Many bonsai are other junipers that . Have had better foliage like shinpaku . Grafted to quality collected trunks . For better foliage and better placement . Many quality needle junipers bonsai exist . Personally a favourite . They look closer to a full size pine tree . In miniature than an actual pine tree. Just my opinion . As for the bonsai masters of Japan . They used and use what’s available . In Japan . Look at the work and words of Ryan . He is dedicated to applying bonsai to native material . He is not the first to do this . Mainly because . Good material can be found everywhere on the globe . I am confident the bonsai masters in Japan ( where collecting from the wild is now banned ) would be ecstatic about the material in North America . And other locations . And would consider the Rocky Mountains of North America . The gold mine of collecting . Areas . By size alone its wealth of quality trees . Had barely been scratched .
