I think I followed some bad advice...

[bridgetbohannon]

Hello fellow gardeners

I got an 8 year old Japanese Juniper bonsai for Christmas this year and love it! I also got a bonsai care book that instructed me that I needed to pinch off new growth every 1-2 weeks. So yesterday I went over the entire tree and pinched a little bit off the very end of every single branch, just like the book said. It looked scrawny after that, but I assured myself I was doing what my bonsai book said. Later that day, I called the nursery it came from with a question about something else. I mentioned pinching off the new growth and the person I talked to was horrified! He said that the tree was pretty much dormant because it was winter, and that all I had to do now was just enjoy my tree and that I shouldn't pinch anything off it. Well, too late now My question is, did I ruin my tree? Did I kill it? If I keep it outside in on my balcony like I'm supposed to, will the sun (and watering it) make the growth come back eventually, or am I doomed to have a scrawny tree? Or worse... a dead tree?

[froggy]

Depending on where you are I'd suggest giving the tree a dormancy period.
But if the temperature difference is too great, I wouldn't just plop it outside.

If you are in sort of but not too cold weather, you can winter your tree in a 'tent' of clear plastic (your tree still needs light) against the glass door of your balcony to shelter your tree a bit from the cold - I have seen it done successfully. (glass windows aren't always well insulated, and the plastic stops the warmed air getting away too fast)

Watering is an issue with freezing temeperatures - a dormant treed doesn't need too much watering anyways - keep checking the soil. If you've got snow or freezing temperatures put either snow or ice cubes on the soil, when it gets warm enough it will melt and water the tree...

You don't have to keep it above freezing point, but as to tolerable temperatures, you've got to ask someone else or research a bit...

Also, I am not sure how a tree would take to a direct transition from room temperature to (below) freezing - something to figure out before putting the tree outside

Some people apparently winter their bonsai in a fridge, I am just not sure how that works with the junipers light requirements...

I am sure more experienced juniper owners will have better suggestions

[bridgetbohannon]

Thanks for your reply, froggy...

I live in the southeastern U.S., so it never really gets too cold here in the winter. It rarely gets too far below freezing here. Sometimes it even gets up in the 70's this time of year, if you can believe it! The bonsai expert that we bought the tree from told me to keep the tree outside as much as possible, so I think that is what I will do. The clear plastic sounds like a cool idea... kind of like a miniature greenhouse.

I don't think this tree has had to go through a transition from room temps to outside temps since the nursery it came from had outside greenhouses for some of its bonsais.

Wintering in the fridge? I would think those poor trees probably are starved for light... or maybe a plant light was involved.

So you think the tree will be fine? Just winter it correctly and then when it's time for new spring growth, it'll start filling in a little more?

[manofthetrees]

not really sure on overwintering in "nonwinter" conditions my juni is under 2 feet of snow in a garden fatting up. the pruning you did should be fine and it should branch out nicely if it survives

[djlen]

Bridget, I'm going to assume that you don't know the exact type of Juniper you have or whether, or not, it is native to your area. If you know either of these answers please advise.
I would not create any artificial conditions such as mini greenhouses etc. The tree probably does not need cold temps. to go into and maintain dormancy. The sun being low in the sky at this time of year tells it to rest and when the sun rises more as Spring approaches it will come out of dormancy or semi-dormancy on it's own.
Just let it go through it's cycle, watering moderately and no fertilization until you see it start to pop with new growth. Leave any trimming for the Spring season as well.

[derkap10]

Hi Bridget,

Thought I'd see if I could maybe help a little. First off, and I can't believe I'm the first to say this, but do you have any pics you can post? That would help a lot to identify your specific juniper.
I also live in the SE US (central Miss.) and I have one juni (procumbens 'nana' aka Green Mound Juniper). This one I bought last April (or maybe early May) as a shrub from a local nursery. Thusly..

[img]https://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad43/derkap10_photo/Bonsai/JuniperisNana001.jpg[/img]

and then (attempted) to style myself so...

[img]https://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad43/derkap10_photo/Bonsai/BBSeries3013.jpg[/img]

As you can see it's still a pre-bonsai and is still in the nursery container that it was bought in. In mid-October I moved it from it's very sunny southern exposure in the back yard to a sheltered eave on the northern front of the house. I also packed a fair amount of pine straw around the container (with several other trees). So far it seems to be over-wintering very well. I think outdoors is the way to go. Keep the pot well insulated to keep the roots from freezing. Don't over-water. Come spring you'll probably see lots of new growth.