New Juniper for Christmas, where to, hints, tips and help!

[AndrewAustralia]

Hi all,

Firstly, i am so glad to have found this forum space, hopefully i can get some positive and detailed responses.

I have a few questions and queries.

First, i have some brown needles on the inner sections of my tree, especially at the bottom. Should i be concerned? Is my tree dying, i water it consistently and use the 'chopstick' method to do so, ensuring that the stick is almost dry before i water it again, ensuring the pot is always damp. So any advice here? Otherwise does my tree look healthy, AND should i just cut those dying needles off?

Second, where to from here!? I have been contemplating pruning it back because it is quite bushy, would it be okay to do this? Or do you guys suggest letting it grow out?

Third, i am currently not giving it any fertiliser, although i plan on purchasing it this weekend or early next week, does anyone suggest any brands or types?

Any other tips or advice would be great!

Attached below are a few pictures of my Juniper as of 2 days ago.

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Image Five

[shibui]

Hi Andrew,
Welcome to bonsai growing.
It is normal for the older needles on junipers to go brown and fall off. Any leaves are only viable for a certain length of time, usually 1-3 years, and then the tree has to get rid of them so they loose the green and eventually drop off. Obviously the oldest leaves on the tree are closest to the base which are the ones that are brown on your tree. I do not think you have anything to worry about. You can cut or brush the dead needles off.
Your watering sounds good.
Pruning: You have a choice. If you want to keep a small, skinny bonsai then it should be pruned as often as it needs to keep it the desired size and shape. If you want a larger or fatter trunked bonsai the quickest way is to let the tree grow freely (usually in a larger pot or the garden) and it will increase in size over just a couple of years.
Fertiliser: because we water bonsai a lot the nutrients get washed out of the pot quite quickly so fertilising is important. Everybody has their own favorite types but your bonsai is essentially a plant so any plant fertiliser will do. i prefer to alternate several different ferts because they don't all have everything in them so variety will make sure your tree gets all it needs. Powerfeed, thrive, worm wee, chook pellet (Dynamic lifter, rooster booster, etc) osmocote in the mix at potting time are all good. Depends on what you can get and what is convenient to use. Just don't procrastinate and do nothing because you can't decide - just feed it with anything!

Are you aware that most bonsai, and particularly junipers need to be outside with plenty of fresh air and sun?

[AndrewAustralia]

Hi Andrew,
Welcome to bonsai growing.

Thanks

It is normal for the older needles on junipers to go brown and fall off. Any leaves are only viable for a certain length of time, usually 1-3 years, and then the tree has to get rid of them so they loose the green and eventually drop off. Obviously the oldest leaves on the tree are closest to the base which are the ones that are brown on your tree. I do not think you have anything to worry about. You can cut or brush the dead needles off.
Your watering sounds good.

Okay thanks. Where the needles are dying, there is only 1-2 shoots on some of the upper branches to replace those needles but so far nothing on the bottom. What do you know of the Juniper regrowing those needles?

Pruning: You have a choice. If you want to keep a small, skinny bonsai then it should be pruned as often as it needs to keep it the desired size and shape. If you want a larger or fatter trunked bonsai the quickest way is to let the tree grow freely (usually in a larger pot or the garden) and it will increase in size over just a couple of years.

Alright cool, i am already trying to picture a way i will shape my Juniper so i think soon i'll start pruning it back a bit. But then again i do want a fatter trunk, you raise a good point!

Fertiliser: because we water bonsai a lot the nutrients get washed out of the pot quite quickly so fertilising is important. Everybody has their own favorite types but your bonsai is essentially a plant so any plant fertiliser will do. i prefer to alternate several different ferts because they don't all have everything in them so variety will make sure your tree gets all it needs. Powerfeed, thrive, worm wee, chook pellet (Dynamic lifter, rooster booster, etc) osmocote in the mix at potting time are all good. Depends on what you can get and what is convenient to use. Just don't procrastinate and do nothing because you can't decide - just feed it with anything!

I've read around and people are saying high in nitrogen fertilisers are best, what do you think? Any mixture is okay or are certain things in a fertiliser better for it or worse...?

Are you aware that most bonsai, and particularly junipers need to be outside with plenty of fresh air and sun?

Sure am. I keep it on my alfresco outside. It gets the morning sun directly between 6am and about 11:30am, and therefater it gets a bit of indirect sunlight through the trees. It gets plenty of wind and a bit of rain as it's toward the edge of the alfresco and some rain sneaks its way onto the alfresco edges.

[shibui]

Nothing in a fertiliser that should harm your tree so none better or worse for your juniper or bonsai in general.
Nitrogen makes plants grow and growing is good. It allows you to prune more so your tree gets bushier and might even get a bit thicker a fraction quicker (but in a small pot will still take many years). having said that other nutrients are also needed so even though urea is very high nitrogen fert it has few other nutrients so not a good choice. Tht is where I believe that variety is important - what one lacks, hopefully another will provide.

Okay thanks. Where the needles are dying, there is only 1-2 shoots on some of the upper branches to replace those needles but so far nothing on the bottom. What do you know of the Juniper regrowing those needles?

Your juniper is a tree. it wants to get tall quick so it sees no point in making shoots low. You will have to force it to shoot low by trimming the ends of the branches. Pruning the tips forces new buds to shoot lower down to replace the missing growing tips. New shoots will have new needles.
The old needles are gone. They will never regrow in that spot but if you prune it right it might sprout a bud there which will grow into a shoot which will have new needles. Pruning is important.
Weak trees only have energy to produce a few new buds when they are pruned. A strong healthy tree will produce lots of new buds when it is pruned. Fertilising is important.

[AndrewAustralia]

Wow thanks for the advice, you are extremely helpful and insightful!

Regarding pots, mine is obviously quite small, this will affect it's growth (you seem to be implying). A concern for me is, when exactly do i know when to move it to a bigger pot, is there a sign or way to figure when without uprooting the entire Juniper?

Now, by trimming the ends, do you literally mean just the tips on all the branches, or only those branches at the very top or 'edge' of the tree? I sort of gave the ends a trim a little bit, but wasn't too sure if i was doing it properly or not, i assume you'd need some aggressive pruning to force it to grow again from the bottom...?

This is all a learning experience for me, i've wanted a bonsai since i was a kid! Thanks for the advice and patience.