Very New at the art of Bonsai
Hi To all. I have a few questions as a new 3yr. old Juniper Bonsai owner? I have read a lot on these quys and one thing that strikes me is that they say not to use scissors to prune because it will cause browning on the tips of the plant where they were cut. They say pinch off the folage that needs pruneing but wont that cause the same results? Also Ive ordered my Juniper from JoeBonsai.com and Its suppost to be a 3yr. old picture ready tree but ive read that most of the time the soil there shipped in is not very good for it. So how do I tell if the soil is good or not, and it the tree has any damage that I may not be able to see?[/I][/b]
It depends on what type of tree you are pruning. Scissor cuts on many evergreens (pines, junipers, etc.) can result in some pretty extensive browning where a pinch minimizes or eliminate the browning. Pinching is defintiely an art, or maybe an innate talent. Other species, though, it doesn't really matter much how you cut. I would advise that you NOT keep this species indoors, no matter what a seller might say. Some sellers are grossly overpriced for what they are offering and that includes many, if not most, of the sellers that receive the most hits when web searching. However, the soil they ship in is usually okay. Soil should be free draining and of minimal organic composition for junipers. It can be very difficult to tell whether or not a juniper is healthy if it's not actively growing, sorry.JBBonsai wrote:Hi To all. I have a few questions as a new 3yr. old Juniper Bonsai owner? I have read a lot on these quys and one thing that strikes me is that they say not to use scissors to prune because it will cause browning on the tips of the plant where they were cut. They say pinch off the folage that needs pruneing but wont that cause the same results? Also Ive ordered my Juniper from JoeBonsai.com and Its suppost to be a 3yr. old picture ready tree but ive read that most of the time the soil there shipped in is not very good for it. So how do I tell if the soil is good or not, and it the tree has any damage that I may not be able to see?[/I][/b]