GreenGo wrote:

Nice trunk movement. Looks like it has lots of potential. I hope it lives!

oh i know! i seriously just sit and stare at it, i have one angle where i can see it still (can't wait to wire or trim up some more) and i just can't stare at it enough.

Rivka wrote:

GreenGo wrote:

Nice trunk movement. Looks like it has lots of potential. I hope it lives!

oh i know! i seriously just sit and stare at it, i have one angle where i can see it still (can't wait to wire or trim up some more) and i just can't stare at it enough.

Just make sure that you don't.

The idea of putting it out of the rain is a double edged sword. You keep the rootbal drier which is good. But the foliage stays drier too, which is a bad thing in its current state.

I have a recovering pine at home and I covered the soil surface so that rainwater drips outside the pot rim. But kept the foliage in full wind/sun/rain

oh good idea! a loose covering of the "soil" will be just what it needs, thank you, not sure why i didn't think of that.

i know i can't do any real work on ti, I'm actually getting myself some other plants to play with just to keep my hands off it. but i do have a question. it has some large branches that are laying over a lot of other ones, will definitely not be in the final design and i feel are putting a lot of strain on the plant and the physical weight and balance of the tree, is it safe to remove those at all? seems like the tree would be a whole lot better off once it didn't have to support those excess branches.

What this tree needs most at the moment is new roots. Foliage will create the sugars and hormones needed to get those roots. Removing foliage at this stage goes against the plants' needs.

leatherback wrote:

I have a recovering pine at home and I covered the soil surface so that rainwater drips outside the pot rim. But kept the foliage in full wind/sun/rain

Thank you again for this tip! I covered the soil loosely right after you posted this and left it out in the weather, and it seems so much happier!! it's holding it branches more aloft. and I have a lot of fresh tips showing.

crossing fingers for you!

well, good news to report, the juniper is doing great and our mild winter was easy on everything and spring is starting its dance around here.
Actually had an arborist out here last week because I had an invasive tree to take out and some monster firs to care for and he took a look at it and mentioned that it looked like it was waking up and had really robust even growth. keeping the pot shielded from the bulk of the rain was a great move, it stayed evenly lightly moist and the top still got to be in an area where it got bright light, fresh air, and clean rain.

I took some time and went in and cleaned out all the dead twigs and needles and the branches that clearly crossed over and tangled things, just the minimal basics. It is utterly beautiful even if it has years to go. This is likely the only real work I will do on it this spring, thankfully I have many other plants to entertain myself with.

**the white chalk is marking the natural existing Jin that was there when I got the tree in the fall, some of it has clearly been dead for more than one season. none of it is fresh or made by me, there was so much there, there is no need! (though I can see where I might possibly do Shari a few years down the road.
I was marking it to get a feel for how much there was since each branch, both live and dead wrap around and thru each-other so much, it gets pretty convoluted.

very cool. Let it go through a good round of growth and in summer, assuming good extensions are building you can give it an all-over trim to ensure you keep inner growth and lower branches rather than just the top pushing.

This will be a special tree!

wondering what is healthier for this tree, to leave it alone at this point until its summer rest, or to clean and treat the existing deadwood Jin now to prevent water damage. I'm guessing that which hoe dense and wrapped around itself that this was growing in the ground, that the inside barely got wet ever. so all these dead beautiful branches are likely getting water for the first time in years. I know making Jin can be stressful, but what about if it's just cleaning naturally occurring dead wood that has been like that for seasons? Might the safest thing to do, do get the bark off it so it can stay aired out and start preserving it?

Leave it alone. All the scraping and pulling puts pressure on the roots. Give it time to settle in first. As said, if the tree shows good growth by the end of summer, you will have new rootsformed and you can do some things.