Basically, we don’t pinch junipers. We cut new long extensions with scissors…and I know that in itself will raise some eyebrows.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about junipers. For starters, needle and scale junipers are maintained totally differently. It’s essential to know what you’ve got so you can train it properly. This really needs to be addressed. There are far too many weakened and dead junipers out there because of a misunderstanding of how we handle their growth—in fact, I doubt I’m far off from suggesting that ‘pinching’ is the number one killer of juniper bonsai.
Junipers build energy from their tips. If we don’t let them grow we’re going to weaken them—and the more finger pinching we do, the more they weaken. That goes for both scale and needle junipers. But please take a look at these photos and read the captions—
This article was originally published on Crataegus Bonsai.
Great info, Thanks.
Can you comment on how to maintain Procumbens nana?
It’s foliage is quite different to both scale and needle junipers.