Great Tips for Caring for Your Juniper Bonsai Tree

Juniper trees are among the most popular of the coniferous trees for creating beautiful bonsai trees. The Juniper tree can be found in many countries all around the world, and there are over fifty different varieties. If you're just getting started in bonsai you may be interested in the juniper tree because it is one of the easiest bonsai trees to take care of. The juniper bonsai thrives outdoors but it can be grown indoors provided it gets sufficient levels of both humidity and light, without which the tree will soon die. They can be displayed indoors for short periods of time but junipers will only thrive outdoors.

At different stages of the juniper's life it will display different types of foliage. The immature plant will have needle-like foliage which will become scale-like foliage as a mature adult plant. Depending on the species, Junipers may display foliage that ranges in color from light greens to bluish greens to golden hues.

The Chinese Juniper variety is one of the most popular juniper trees among bonsai enthusiasts. Another very popular species for bonsai is the Needle Juniper. The sharply pointed needles is where the Needle Juniper gets its name.

Watering Your Juniper

Junipers like to dry out between watering. Feel the soil every day to estimate if it is time to water. Your bonsai needs water when the soil looks and feels dry on the surface. Stick your finger about a half of an inch to an inch into the soil. If the soil feels dry then you have to water your bonsai. Allowing your juniper bonsai tree to get completely dry will cause damage to the plant. The best way to water a juniper bonsai is to set the pot in a container of water nearly up to the rim for between 15 and 30 minutes, when all the air bubbles have stopped rising, and allowing the soil to become saturated. Be sure to drain the water thoroughly after taking it out of the sink or container to make sure the roots aren't sitting in water. Sometimes it isn't possible or convenient to water your tree using this method so you can just water them from the top, wait a few minutes, and then water it again. Do this until the soil in your bonsai pot has been soaked thoroughly. During a correct watering cycle the soil will be completely saturated and then will be allowed to become somewhat dry before the next saturating watering.

A frequent spraying of your juniper bonsai's foliage will help keep them free of dust and help them to breathe. This is above all important for trees that have lately been repotted. This is done to keep the plant from becoming dehydrated until the roots have recovered enough to furnish water to the tree. Misting also minimizes excess transpiration and water loss on hot summer days.

Make Sure Your Juniper Gets the Right Amount of Sunlight

As mentioned previously Junipers do best and are more typically grown outdoors. A juniper bonsai tree will endure full sun, but the ideal setting would be to allow it to get low intensity morning sunlight with afternoon shade. alternatively, filtered or shaded sunlight all day would be fine.

Humidity

Humidity is a beneficial environmental condition for nearly all trees. A humidity tray, or a plate with small stones and water placed beneath your bonsai pot will help keep the humidity levels up. Be sure not to let your bonsai pot sit in the water. The tray or plate will also collect the draining water of your freshly watered bonsai. As mentioned previously, misting once a day will also help minimize transpiration, or the loss of water through the plants leaves or needles.

Feeding

A proper schedule would include fertilizing your juniper bonsai tree once every two to three weeks during the growing season, beginning with a high nitrogen fertilizer in the spring, a balanced fertilizer through summer and mid-autumn, and then a low-nitrogen fertilizer until winter. If using chemical fertilizers be sure to dilute to half strength so that roots are not damaged.