This is my Squamata Juniper that I am trying to grow as bonsai and I will be going through its progression below. It’s a slow grower, so it’s not quite there yet.
If you want to watch it in video format, you can watch the YouTube playlist below. The videos show the progression every month throughout the year, sort of like a time lapse.
Just be aware that some of my earlier videos are not the best quality, but just like my trees, they slowly improve over time, so stick with them and watch both get a little better as the playlist continues.
The Squamata Juniper is also known as the Flaky Juniper, Himalayan Juniper or the Blue Star Juniper. it is actually a dwarf juniper and is easily recognisable from its blue needles.
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2017
In early 2017 bought the tree from a local shop, for only £2, which is a great deal.
Since it was the start of spring I up-potted it. It had come in a tiny pot, which makes sense since it’s a tiny tree. so I just put it in a slightly bigger pot.
I didn’t really disturb the roots. I just shook off as much of the nursery soil as I could and planted in some bonsai soil.
It was then just left alone and allowed to grow.
2018
In 2018 I left the tree alone all year. It was just allowed to grow freely.
I do not have any pictures from this time.
2019
As you can see it looks like a disaster in the spring of 2019. It’s small wit leggy growth and had a super thin trunk. It really was just the worst tree ever for bonsai at this point, but what do you expect for £2
I then staked the trunk to give it some upright type shape and movement.
I then pruned it back as a lot of the growth was too leggy. I reduced it quite a lot, so after I left it for the rest of the year to just grow and recover and hopefully get a little bushier.
2020
In spring 2020 I repotted the tree since it had been in the same pot since 2017.
I potted it into a shallow, rectangle pot… well as you can see, an ice cream pot. However, I felt this was a better shape than the flower pot it was in.
I did remove all the soil, which didn’t take much work when you are using very loose bonsai soil. Normally you shouldn’t do this with a juniper, but this tree is young and I actually added a lot of the same soil back into the pot, so it wasn’t really a removal, if you know what I mean.
I did this because I wanted to have a good look at the roots to see what I was working with.
They were not great roots. At the base of the trunk the roots came out like a hand, or a claw. this never looks good, but it’s worse on a juniper as you cannot prune the roots hard to correct them.
I decided to drape them over a rock, where hopefully they will grow around and grip the rock. This should make them more interesting in a few years …Hopefully. It can’t look any worse I guess.
I give the roots a very light trim and I also changed the planting angle. The side branch is now the main trunk and what used to be the top, is now more of a side branch.
After this I then left it alone for the rest of the year to recover and grow freely.
2021
In the late winter of 2021 I give the tree a very light prune. I was mainly removing the very strong tips, or any areas that had 3 buds in one spot.
I then just left the tree alone the rest of the year to just grow. You can see it is slow growing and slow to thicken, so there is not much I can do.
2022
In 2022 I did nothing in late winter. The tree had grown well the previous season, but all the vigour seemed pretty well balanced. There was no areas that had stronger growth that needed trimmed back.
When the buds started to swell I give the tree a light repot. Basically I removed it from the pot and raked out the long roots from the bottom and side. I then pruned these back and left the rest of the root ball untouched. I was then able to put the tree back in the pot and back fill any gaps with fresh soil.
This keeps the roots from getting too long and encircling the bottom if the pot, but is also pretty stress free for the tree as most of the roots are left alone.
After this the tree was left alone for the rest of the year. It was slow growing, but it remained healthy after the root work.
2023
There was no work done at the start of 2023. Everything seemed fine, there was no long growth or extra shoots that needed pruned back.
The tree was also not repotted this year.
In early summer it was given a light prune. This was mostly the strong outer shouts, to stop them from growing like crazy and to allow the inner growth to catch up and get to the same level of strength.
After this it was just left alone for the rest of the year.
2024
And this is where we are with this tree, as you can see its been slow growing, but it is starting to get a bit more bushier. I think it will be a few years yet before it is ready for any real bonsai work, but I will up date that here as I go and of course keep making videos on this tree.
If you also own one you and need some help can read my Squamata Juniper Bonsai Care.
If you just want to read more about this species suitability for bonsai you can read – Is Juniperus Squamata A Good Tree For Bonsai?
Hi, I’m Ian. I have been doing bonsai since 2014. I created this site to spread all the knowledge I have acquired over the years. Don’t forget to check out my Youtube videos where I show the progress of my own Bonsai each week or connect with me on social media.
You can read more about me and how I got into Bonsai on the About Page
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