Juniper Bonsai - The Famous One
I guess the Juniper Bonsai Tree is the most famous of all bonsai. This is the one people will see in their head when they hear someone talk about bonsai. The Chinese Juniper tree (Juniperus Chinensis) is native to northeast Asia, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea. In real life it can reach a height of 20 meters.
The Juniper bonsai can be grown as an indoor bonsai tree as well as an outdoor bonsai, though it prefers to be outdoors.
A Chinese Juniper in the wild….
As a bonsai it would look something like this. (Aaah… that one!)
A Chinese Juniper as a bonsai…
That’s got Karate kid written all over it!
What about losing leaves?
The Juniper Bonsai tree is an evergreen tree meaning it will not lose any leaves (or needles) during winter time. During its younger years the needles are sharplike and when the tree gets older the sharp needles transform into a more blunt type of needle.
Chinese Juniper foliage in close-up….
The needle-like leaves are light green to blue-green depending on what type of species exactly the tree is, there are over 50 species around. The branches can be easily styled to any sort of bonsai form.
Picking the fruits…
Most Junipers will grow berries, some of which are used is cooking as a spice. Also, the berries are used to flavor gin. In Dutch gin is called ‘genever’ or ‘jenever’, which is derived from… Juniper!
Juniper berries in close-up….
Where to put it?
A juniper bonsai tree needs at least 4 hours of sunlight daily, so when placed indoors make sure it gets enough of this and put it in a place where the sunlight can reach the tree. Poor humidity and not enough light will kill the juniper tree, but over watering it will cause root rotting.
Juniper bonsai trees also need a dormancy period, sort of like hibernation. The tree needs this to get back to strength.