Juniper Cascade, tips?

[Scooter_M]

Hey Guys,

I've got a Juniper that when i brought it had a natural cascade already starting to form. However I'm pretty sure im doing the wrong thing trying to keep it going. I've been encouraging it to grow down with wiring, and even hanging a weight, however obviously tree's dont generally grow downwards i've found out, so its starting to get growth in other directions, rather than the downwards slope i want.

Whats the general way you get a cascade to happen? I've seen Lots of techniques, not necessarily for cascades, about planting them on angles, getting the pots on their side etc.. Is this a matter of getting in a position where its actually growing Horizontal, then at some point just flipping it over?

Cheers..

[ADO]

hi Scooter

you'd probably get more responses if you posted up some photos. I'd be happy to help if I can see the tree from a number of angles

[Scooter_M]

Hey guys as requested, sorry for the low light. You can see quite clearly the angle at which im trying to get it go go one, from the front picture, i want it to continue down, and to the right. I was going to go for a top branch, almost a second tree sort of thing, but the dog decided to see what it tasted like, and now the top is starting to die.. so ill prob have to strip it back, maybe make a jin out of it.

Front

Front real.jpg

Side

Front.jpg

Rear.

rear.jpg

Cheers all!

[shibui]

Growing cascades can be difficult if the tree is a natural upright grower. The most vigorous part is the highest part and the lowest point is the weakest so you really need to prune properly to force the tree to keep the lower part alive and healthy. That just means regular pruning - Generally prune/pinch more/ harder on the upper/ stronger areas so the lower/ weaker parts get a go.

Your tree looks like Juniper procumbens of some sort. "procumbens' means it naturally grows flat on the ground so it has less of a tendency to grow strongly upward and should be far easier to make and maintain a cascade from. Still keep pruning and pinching the strong areas to direct the growth here you want it and keep the weaker parts healthy but you should be able to wire the trunk into the shape you want and grow your tree as it should look.

[CraigM]

Hi,

Recently relocated from South Africa to Melbourne, starting over again. Agree this look like a procumbens, the remaining trunk and branches should be flexible enough to shape without too much hassle. Having said that if the tree was recently repotted by the dog, might be better off not trying to wire now, as could damage the tree further while it's trying to recover.

If this tree were mine, would place in garden and forget about it for a couple years. Did this to a couple trees around 10 years ago, think they were in the ground for around 2 - 3 years, and the results were fantastic when I decided to dig them back up.

[Scooter_M]

Cheers guys, i had thought of putting this in the ground Craig, but of course that would just give the dog access to the rest of it!

It does need to be in a bigger pot, its still in its original pot from the shop, always look nice but of course not big enough to promote any real growth, but being a juni it can wait till after the winter.

I'll give it another wire and trim back some other foliage, and let it ride and see how it goes

Thanks for the tips!