On my last visit to Aichi-en, Juan Andrade and I took some time to compare the different foliage on some of the needle junipers in the garden.
Needle juniper
Needle juniper foliage
It turns out there can be quite a difference in leaf size between specimens. If you’re working with a small tree, smaller foliage is desirable.
Small needle juniper
Compact foliage
The foliage on the juniper below is good, but not as compact as the foliage on the above specimens.
Needle juniper
The foliage below is somewhat large for such a small tree.
Larger needles
Here’s another tree with compact foliage.
Compact foliage
Foliage size is less important for larger specimens, though needle color, health, and density all matter for these trees. Here are two of the larger specimens in the garden.
Large needle juniper
Needle juniper – fun deadwood
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Daniel Dolan says
Jonas:
A question that I wanted to ask a long time ago. With all of these trees in Japanese photos being tied to their benches…………I am assuming they do not rotate the tree weekly to provide better, balanced sun exposure as is often recommended here.
Please advise and thanks.
D/D
Chicago
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Daniel – that’s right, when the trees are tied down they aren’t typically turned too often.
Rusty says
Some of those tosho might make you bleed. And some will for sure :).