Bonsai is specifically a primitive Japanese art, but it has been practiced all over the world since thousand years ago. It is a form of growing an artificially miniature tree in a pot to imitate the original shape of a full-sized tree. Some particular trees are suitable to make Bonsai. Amongst them, Juniper is one of the most renowned and popular trees for bonsai on account of its easy care, excellent foliage, and different form.
Juniper trees have more than fifty to sixty varieties around the globe. Needle Juniper and Chinese Juniper are the most familiar bonsai from them. However, Junipers belong to the Cypress family of plants, and so, they are coniferous which means they have needles in their leaves. They can reach up to 15 or 16 feet, and in some cases, 20 feet. They grow blue-colored and berry-like flowers that look beautiful and evergreens. Besides, their wood is very strong and can be conducive to last for a long time.
Well, I’m here to answer some of the most common and usual inquiries from beginners about the Juniper bonsai tree. This can be quite helpful to make your journey supportive and expedite in cultivating juniper bonsai.
How to grow a Juniper bonsai tree?
The very first of the questions include how you can grow a Juniper bonsai tree. If you are willing to grow a Juniper bonsai, you have to go through some lengthy and painstaking processes. And it is your long mission.
First of all, choosing a particular variety of Juniper is significant. Juniper trees include two main categories such as scale-like foliage and needle-like foliage.
Juniper with scale-like foliage is predominantly the Chinese juniper and the California juniper, whereas Juniper with needle-like foliage is the Japanese needle juniper, green mound juniper, and the common juniper.
When your identification is done, then wrap the branches of the tree with flexible wire. It will drive you to get the ideal shape of the branches according to your choice. It is convenient to wire them throughout the winter season. After setting the branches in your desired shape, remove the wire carefully. Be watchful so that any of the branches do not be cut off or injured.
In particular, the soil is another mandatory factor while creating bonsai. You need well-draining bonsai soil to grow Juniper. The pH of the soil should range from 5.5 to 6.5.
Whatever your plant is, you must ensure sufficient light to your Juniper bonsai. Direct sunlight is a very essential requirement for the Juniper. Either it is grown indoor or outdoor, you ought to provide more than 4 hours of sunlight every day.
Additionally, water, temperature, and humidity are the other necessities of Juniper to forward their growth cycle. Without adequate water and a humid environment, your miniature can wither and lose freshness, and finally, die. Besides ensuring all of these, you have to feed it a balanced fertilizer.
Thus, take care of the tree with great enthusiasm. Plus, you should cut off leaves and trim them to reap a flawless shape. On occasions, you can re-pot the plant whenever you feel like doing it.
However, it may take up to 15 years to grow a Juniper bonsai. As a beginner, you have to show much patience all the time. If you can accomplish the methods perfectly, you can grow a Juniper bonsai as the reward for your labor.
How to care for a juniper bonsai?
Growing a Juniper bonsai is very arduous and enduring. You have to care for it years after years incessantly. And caring is also strenuous and hard-working. While making a Juniper bonsai, make sure that you are giving proper treatment to your plant.
Watering is a very important factor for the augmentation of Juniper. You should deliver sufficient water every day. But do not over-water your tree. Juniper can not suit in the dump and soggy soil. If the soil is overwatered and poachy, the root of the plant may become soft and branches may rapture. So, you should ensure proper humidity to the miniature for wonderful improvement.
Like many other bonsai plants, Juniper is also demulcent during winter. So, do not keep them outside in this season. Nevertheless, provide direct sunlight as long as it is possible even in winter. In the other season of the year, keep your plant outside and in an open, bright, and broad area so that it can get at least four hours of sunlight as well as adequate air.
Feeding your Juniper is another fundamental job to take care of the plant. In the spring and summer, feed it liquid fertilizer that contains high nitrogen. On the other hand, fertilizer containing less nitrogen should be supplied in the fall season.
Green moss on the container is very common. And it enhances the beauty of the pot as a whole. But the concerning matter is that moss absorbs water very much. Therefore, if you can provide sufficient water, you can keep the moss. But if you are not, or you are afraid of your plant that moss can decelerate the growth, you should intercept green moss.
When it is summer or spring, pruning is vital as the new leaves and foliage appear. So, keep some necessary pieces of equipment including pruning shears or scissors. Cut off unnecessary leaves with careful attention to continue improving and make excellent.
Henceforth, Juniper Bonsai feels to be repotted after every two or three years and it should be completed periodically. It will flourish the acceleration of the plant because of the new and fresh soil. The best time to repot Juniper is the early spring.
Although Juniper can itself prevent most of the germs, it may also be attacked by pests like scale, aphids, and spider mites, and diseases on occasions. For this reason, you have to be much more vigilant to enliven its longevity. To prevent every malady, pest and disease, you should use insecticide or miticide sprays when it seems essential.
Are Juniper bonsai trees easy to care for?
As I have mentioned above, Juniper bonsai requires laborious care. So, it is very hard to care for a Juniper. You have to be earnest, cautious, and most important, patient. That means you have to cherish indefatigable patience to take care of your plant for several years without break. If you are a little unmindful for overlooking it, you may fall off to grow your bonsai.
How long can Juniper bonsai trees live?
A bonsai can live as much as the tree itself can live. That means, if a tree can live for 100 years, a bonsai of that tree can also live for 100 years. In the same way, a Juniper can live according to its size and variety. A five feet long Juniper can live more than 50 years. Even some Junipers can live hundreds of years. At present, an old Juniper Bonsai tree is displayed at Mansei-en, Japan that is tested and proven to be over 1000 years old! And this one is one of the rarest and most expensive bonsai in the world.
How fast do Juniper bonsai trees grow?
Cultivating bonsai is always lengthy. Every bonsai takes a long period to mature. Similarly, a Juniper bonsai also needs a lingering period that includes nearly 15 years. However, by applying some methods and taking care of your plant, you can make the growth faster and quicker. By that time, it can grow within 10 to 12 years.
Can Juniper bonsai trees be kept indoors?
You should bear in mind that a bonsai is not a houseplant, instead, it is a tree. So, a Juniper bonsai should not be planted indoors. It is mandatory to keep it outdoors so that it can grow appropriately.
Nonetheless, if you are unable to keep it outdoors, you can place it indoors. But you must shed more care and love to keep it alive and fast its development. The most urgent matter is to make sure of sunlight. Whether it is kept indoors, you have to bring it in contact with direct sunlight for a minimum of four hours per day. Besides, you have to keep it in a humid and cool environment. In addition, it is better to retain it indoors in the winter season as this season is the dormant time for Juniper bonsai. In brief, if you can provide proper light, enough water, humid weather, and airflow, you can keep it indoors.
Can Juniper bonsai live outdoors?
Of course. Even so, it is the predominant obligation to keep Juniper bonsai outdoors. Because it needs ample space, sufficient sunlight, and generous airflow. By keeping outside, it can adapt itself to the environment. As a result, it can enrich its growth and advancement.
Does Juniper bonsai need sunlight?
It is another mandatory requirement to keep Juniper bonsai at such a place where it can get more than four hours of sunlight every day. Whether it is kept indoors or outdoors, direct sunlight is crucial nutrition that you have to feed it. Therefore, an open area is far better to place Juniper. Thus, it will take necessary constituents from the sunlight as per its needs. So, it can be assumed that direct sunlight is an indispensable want for Juniper bonsai.
How much are Juniper bonsai trees?
As Juniper bonsai takes painstaking labor of several years to be perfect in shape and size, the price is also remarkable. However, the price varies from one to another according to its different sizes and designs. In general, a tiny Juniper is accessible within 100 dollars. The bigger size demands more than $100 up to $1,000. Some are even sold at several thousand dollars.
The most surprising matter is the old Juniper bonsai trees of the world. At least two Juniper bonsai plants have been identified among the oldest, rarest, and most expensive bonsai trees on the planet. One of them is Shimpaku Juniper which is 400 years old. This Japanese marvel was sold at $91,000. Another Juniper bonsai is hundred years old and it was also found in Japan. It is now located in Mansei-en Bonsai nursery of Japan owned by a distinguished family of the area. And the price of this great bonsai is just unimaginable.
It was sold at a record price tag of $2 million worth. For this ridiculous price, this Juniper bonsai is the most expensive and valuable in the world.
Do Juniper bonsai trees grow flowers?
Pointedly, Juniper is not a flowering bonsai as it is conifers. That means it is not such a tree that grows actual flowers. Rather, it produces a kind of structural leaves that are called bracts and they become the cone of the plant. That is why this pollen looks like flowers. The color of the pollen is blue and berry. The actual blooming time of the pollen is January through April. Some junipers produce a second bloom that can occur from September to December.
Are juniper bonsai trees safe for cats and dogs?
Investigations reveal that not only Juniper but also most bonsai are somewhat harmful to children, and your pets including cats and dogs. As juniper shrubs are popular for their berries, cats like to eat the berries and leaves of Juniper. But the ingestion of too many leaves of Juniper bonsai can lead your cat to extreme abdominal pain and may upset it. Moreover, the berries are also poisonous to cats.
After that, Japanese juniper plants contain some toxic chemicals which can also harm your dogs. Although it will not lead the dog to death, still it is considerably pernicious. These poisonous chemicals may create stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and in some cases skin rush to your dogs.
How often should I water Juniper bonsai?
As a general rule, Juniper bonsai needs regular watering. You should water the plant every two or three days. But what is more noteworthy to mention is that never let your soil dry. Whenever the soil seems to be dry and rough, give it water and make it moist. Whether it will need water or not, you could understand by examining the color of the soil. If the soil looks droughty, it definitely needs water.
On the other hand, Juniper bonsai can not tolerate flooded soil. If the water is logged in the container, the root and different branches may lead to being rotten. So, do not overwater and let the water be logged. Ensure a compact way to eliminate water.
Moreover, to water on the foliage of the plant, you should maintain spraying methods. In this case, do not overspray on the foliage.
In particular, water in terms of the season should be kept in mind. In the summer or dry season, you should provide water every day at least once. And when it is rainy or winter, watering should be two or three times a week.
How can I trim a Juniper bonsai tree?
While trimming your Juniper bonsai, you must be more meticulous and watchful. A minor mistake may harm your young plant very much. However, the root, branches, and leaves of your Juniper bonsai should be trimmed on occasions to sustain its growth and accelerate its development. It is auspicious to accomplish the job of trimming in the early spring and summertime. During the work, use sharp scissors so that accurate trimming is confirmed. Besides, you may work with pruning shears that can be more congenial to assure excellent outcomes.
What to do with Juniper bonsai in winter?
The caring of Juniper bonsai in winter has already been illustrated several times in the article. Nevertheless, talking about it more conspicuously is quite indispensable as Juniper needs extra care during this season. Particularly, you should keep Juniper bonsai indoors during winter because it becomes dormant during this season. When the temperature drops below 20 degrees F, you have to place it in an unheated area.
As Juniper bonsai requires much sunlight, you must provide this essential food to your plant. Whenever the sun rises and gives rays, bring the plant outside and keep it for hours. Besides, in case of watering, you need to deliver water once or two times a week.
Why is my Juniper bonsai brittle?
If you notice that your Juniper bonsai brittles, it may occur due to under and overwatering. When you do not water enough, the tree dries and becomes fragile. Again, when it is watered too much, the root and branches of the tree also become feeble and eventually rotten. As a result, the root can not absorb water well. Consequently, the plant becomes tender and brittle.
Moreover, the flexibility of Juniper bonsai happens on account of dehydration. Excess moisture, lack of moisture and fertilizer, unbalanced sunlight, damaged roots, are mainly responsible for its brittleness.
Bottom Line :
Well, a Juniper bonsai needs generous care and affection to thrive properly. It should prominently be cultivated outdoors but if it is not possible, then you can place it indoors. But you have to ensure all the essential requirements to boost its evolution. You should ensure getting sufficient sunlight every day, watering, airflow, and humid temperature.
Besides, you must keep in mind that these cares have to be provided for so many years as it is a long journey to cultivate a Juniper bonsai. Therefore, be cautious, mindful, and prepared to shed toil for various years while growing Juniper bonsai.
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About Dawson Kutch
Dawson Kutch is a born and raised Alaskan who loves the outdoors and everything it has to offer. Kutch has been an avid hunter and fisher his entire life, and takes great pride in providing for himself and his family. While he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors, Kutch also has a passion for fashion and loves to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. In his free time, Kutch enjoys spending time with his wife and one young daughter. He is always looking to learn more and better himself, both as a writer and as a person.
