Juniper (juniperis)

The Juniper is an evergreen conifer, belonging to the Cypress family, according to Google. Commonly found growing in the Northern Hemisphere, Junipers are grown as bushes, trees or shrubs; often used as "starter" plant for Bonsai, this tough, resilient plant lends itself to many uses, including, of course, the use of the Juniper berry in formulating gin & beer. The lumber is prized for it's strength & beauty; cut Juniper wood is highly aromatic & smells like Cedar. 

Acquired: 9/6/2025

Cost: $10.00 - Home Depot

This is how he looked when I brought him home; notice the long "swooping" branch; that may become a focal point of a future iteration.

1st pruning exposed base & lower-trunk; now we can see what he looks like; starting to look like a tree, instead of ground cover; these are front & back photos..not sure yet which is the front which is the back. Am preserving the "swoop" as it is the most interesting part of the tree, I think.

2nd/3rd pruning exposed more of the trunk & some branch structure; above-ground pruning done for now, except for minor clean-up, where & when needed. This will be the basic structure of our plant..what I call the "swoosh" look..we'll let him rest now for a couple of days..I know now why Juniper's are often the starter plant for folks just getting into Bonsai..this guy almost styled himself. I might skip the training pot altogether, but need to get a look at the roots first & see how big the root ball is & how much below-ground pruning this plant will need.

Once I got him out of his nursery pot & shook off the excess potting mix, I test-fit the remaining root ball in this pot..I had hopes that we would be able to skip the training pot & with a little root-pruning(about 30%) , I was able to "seat" him..no wires, he's standing-up on his own. Looking at the existing roots, this is a relatively young plant, I think..he's got plenty of room to stretch-out in this pot, so I don't think we'll be repotting any day soon. (if he lives)

Going forward, we are done pruning this plant; "pinch & grow" will be the technique that will allow me to keep him tidy & to maintain the shaping we've done with shears. Especially in the middle, I think the needles need to thinned-put to expose his "bones"; beyond that, I'd like to clean-up the bark on the trunk, as it is peeling in places..exposure to sun & air alone will fix any bark issues, going forward. He  is also starting to develop a "Nebari" or the base of the trunk, where the roots are exposed; a well-developed Nebari is a desirable attribute in the Bonsai world.

Nov 28 - Update

After some "due diligence", I have to admit that I do not really know the Genus (family) that this Juniper belongs, so until further enlightenment, he will be known as simply "Juniperis"

2 months now since the initial styling/pruning/potting & he continues to show no signs of distress; I am slightly "gun shy" around Junipers, as I lost a plant last year to unknown causes..he just "up & died", rather suddenly with little warning except for some tip browning..it bothers me when I lose a plant, and more so when I don't have a clue as to why?

Here is a close-up of this little tree, after some minor pruning, as with the "Blue Star" to expose his "bones" more advantageously; I want people to see the tree, under the foliage. I feel pretty good about how this tree is looking & his apparent good health..hope we can keep that mode, going forward.

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