Page 49 - Ebook bonsai for beginner

growing tips will weaken the tree and the cuts will turn the needles brown.

When the foliage pads become too dense they must be thinned out with
sharp scissors at the base.
The Juniper Bonsai is generally a strong tree that also withstands

aggressive pruning quite well. But it cannot bud again from bare tree
parts, so take care that there is some foliage left on every branch you
want to keep alive.

Wiring: Junipers that are produced for Bonsai purposes are already
wired quite heavily in most cases when they are still very young.
Dramatically twisted shapes are very popular and correspond with the
natural shapes that used to grow in the Japanese mountains in former
times. Junipers can be strongly bent, if necessary wrapped with raffia or

tape as a protection, but you must be careful with parts that possess
deadwood. Those parts break easily. If they are large and old, you can
split the deadwood off in order to bend the more flexible living parts.

The foliage pads should be wired and fanned out after thinning when
necessary, to let light and air get in. Otherwise the inner parts of the
foliage pads will die. In addition to this, the danger of pest infestation is
increased if the pads are too dense. From the aesthetic point of view we
also want to achieve unobstructed structures and want to prevent the

juniper from looking like broccoli.
Repotting: Once every two years, very old trees at longer intervals, using

a basic (or somewhat more draining) soil mixture. Don’t prune the roots
too aggressively.