Bonsai Tree Care

Shaping a Juniper Bonsai Tree in the desired Bonsai shape is quite difficult. This is why this plant is not recommended to the beginners. In order to practice, you should get first some nursery trees, 50-70cm height. Yamadori from a rocky soil will be far more difficult to grow since they do not have a main root. The older plants need a lot of space. More, you should not take the plant from their natural environment, since it is an endangered species.Soil:
All the Junipers need is, usually, a mineral soil that is a mix of river sand, pounded brick and volcanic and quartz sand. You can add some medium concentrated Japanese clay. All the mineral soils must be mixed with 10-30% of rubbly compost. Below the soil, you should add a drainage layer of around 1inch/2cm of gravel. The height of the pot should not be more than 1.5inch/4-5cm. If possible, use non-enameled pots.

Fertilizing:
Use mineral fertilizers for the younger Junipers, in small amounts. You should do the fertilizing starting with April and until September. The organic remains of the fertilizers may be allowed to remain in the soil of the plant, but only in small quantities.

Winter:
The junipers that were planted in big, spacey pots may be kept outside during the winter, provided they are stored in a protected environment. In the period from December till March, the plant should be covered with a transparent plastic foil with little holes for airing.

Wiring:
First time, the Juniper should be bent and wired, shaped almost on the braking point. You should use aluminum wire with copper cover (1-6mm diameter). The plant must be kept tied all year. Actually, the wire may be on the plant almost until the third year. It is better, though, to tie the plant from 2 in 2 years. This way, there will be no visible scars on the Bonsai stem.

Cutting the branches:
The young branches and stems may be cut anytime during the year. You don’t need to cover the cut spot, since it will cover itself with resin. Sometimes, some young stem will grow uncontrolled. You should cut all these so that the shape of the Juniper Bonsai stay clear defined.

Cutting the young stems:
The new stems should be ripped with your hand as soon as they appear. 4 weeks later, you should do this again. During next months, on the spot will be formed a dense formation. The stems that have already some wood fiber should be left growing.

Placement:
The Juniper needs a lot of light. If you don’t have enough room to offer them, you should not use Junipers for Bonsai. The sunlight must be present in the room from the dawn till the sunset in order for the tree to grow healthy and strong. Putting them on a higher place will help create a good looking cornice.

Transferring and unburying:
The pant may be unburied from the end of March till the beginning of April. Actually, as a starting point, you can take the moment the soil is starting to thaw. Transferring should be made in January because you will need March and April for other related works. If you move a plant to another pot during the winter, you should be very careful not to let it freeze. If you move it to another pot in the autumn all you have to do is make a cut in the root in order for it to absorb more water.

Style:
You can achieve almost any shape with the Juniper. Mainly, you should try the more dynamic shapes. Still, you should always remember: do not overdo it! You can achieve some effects that will look strange to say the least (an unnatural shape).

Watering:
With the exception of May (when the plant grows very much) you should keep watering at a low level. The quality of the water is not too important: just don’t use water that is very rich in lime. You should check, from time to time, in the winter, if the soil of the Juniper is not too dry. If the temperature goes over freezing point, you should water the plant. The plants that are always green should be watered during the winter, either.

We hope that you will find all this information attractive enough to try and create a Juniper Bonsai tree. When you do, please, do not forget to send us pictures.

We recommend:
1. Starter Kit, including Juniper
2. Small Cheaper Juniper
3. “Karate Kid” Style Juniper

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