Juniper Sabina

Monday, April 14, 2014

Juniper Sabina

This tree became a part of my collection in spring 2013. Its a quite big Juniperus Sabina yamadori collected in Spain in 2010. The tree is very dynamic, it has a lots of interesting features, many possible points of interest and offers a number of different design possibilities.

Juniper Sabina when it arrived

The first year the tree was left to rest and no work was performed. I only watered the tree and fed the tree aggressive wit lots of fertilizer. Because the tree showed good health and lost of strength I decided to make the first step and changed the position. While transplanting the tree I replaced all the old soil with pure pumice and because the collector made a great job, the root ball was nicely developed, I had no problems or huge risk while transplanting the tree. Janez also helped me so it was more or less a walk in the park.

Juniper Sabina before the change of position

The current position is not the final one but it is going in the right direction. Now after the tree was transplanted I know exactly the state of the roots and substrate and my plan is to develop a stronger root ball and after that, in the next step, the tree will be transplanted in a more upright position, most probably in the first training pot.

Juniper Sabina after the change of position

This year I will leave the tree to rest again, study the design possibilities and make the decision about the dilemma of grafting new branches to improve the structure and foliage in the future.