California Juniper with twisted trunk (Jawbone Cyn, Mojave Desert)

There are times when the Universe will align itself to assist you in whatever endeavor you wish to accomplish and other times you just have to will things to happen. This small blog is a story of  the long road I took in finally acquiring something I have always longed for, a California Juniper! It required having to deal with scorpions, rattle snakes, being stranded in a snow blizzard, and a broken leg, but in the end it was all well worth the blood, sweat, and tears (at least I hope).

My very first California Juniper Collected

In truth the greatest challenge in collecting California Junipers or any tree is in keeping the trees alive. This first tree was collected in a place not to far from my house, a place known as Pinon Hills, Ca. We collected this tree in mid January on a day that was actually pretty mild as far as winter temperatures in Southern California are concerned. Even the ground was somewhat forgiving being a old sandy bottom riverbed. Despite this fact it still required four of us about five hours to dig the tree out.

I always make it a point of filling the holes back up, but in this case the owner of the property asked us not to. His plans and the reason we dug the tree out in the first place was due to the fact that the owner needed the place cleared out for a solar panel installation.

Loading the truck while burning day light

One of the main reasons why we leave our house early in the morning is due to the fact that most of the digging is done in the winter or early spring  so our use of the day light is very limited. If you consider the fact that it takes about one hour to get to a dig sight, a few hours to find the right tree, and several hours to get the tools in place and dig the tree out leaving any time after sun up is a waste of precious day light time.

California Juniper dig site

California Juniper dig sites are similar in the sense that most require having to drive on dirt roads to eventually get to a site. The only difference is in how desolate the location is and in what type of soil will the collector have to deal with. The photo of the sight above is a mostly hard pan clay with a sandy top. However, walk a few steps and you could encounter an area inundated with large size rocks.

Finding the Perfect California Juniper

One of the first things I do when hunting for California Juniper is look for a tree with plenty of deadwood and very good movement. The best trees are the old small ones, but they are also the most rare to find. After finding the right tree the best thing to do is mark it and continue searching for more specimens. The primary reason I don't start digging immediately is due to the fact that there might be a better looking tree available, but only enough time to dig one tree out. In this case the above tree was the third tree marked as a possibility, but the only tree dug out because of the hard pan clay.

Scorpion "Say hello to my little friend"

In the process of digging out the tree I encountered this little guy and by the look of his stinger he did not look happy. We actually first clear the area of weeds and wild grass before we start digging the trench around the tree, but in this case the scorpion was buried within trunk so I did not see it until after I dug it out with my hands. This is one of the primary reasons why gloves should always worn at a dig.

Collected California Juniper in Clay pot

I normally always use a wooden planter box or a black nursery pot, but in this case I didn't have either one that was the proper size so the pot had to do in a pinch. In truth after digging such a massive root ball and having the trunk and root ball soak over night in a bucket of water with "Super Thrive" the concern of placing the tree in this pot was still there, but the tree has done well so far.

What seems unimpressive can be a diamond in the rough

Many times when I have been hunting for a nice California Juniper I have found myself completely over looking great specimen trees simply because I was unwilling to delve a little deeper into the tree. In this case, the extent of exploring a little further only required moving some sand at the base of the trunk, which luckily I did.

Always allow the tree to recover before any work is done.

As I mentioned earlier the tree’s that are most sought after for bonsai are the small old trees. Although this tree is a work in progress (as most are) it certainly fits the category of a potentially nice bonsai.

Midsize California Juniper

Regardless of what size the tree collected is, it is always important to try and get the biggest root ball possible. In my case, I collected a midsize Juniper similar to the tree pictured above, but with a massive root ball and it became too heavy to carry and that is unfortunately how I broke my leg (ankle).

 
Ouch, my leg! (The broken ankle X-Ray)

This is the X-ray of when I broke my leg. Well, it's actually my ankle, the tibia and fibula to be exact. It’s also a good reminder that you should always wear a good pair of sturdy boots when you go up to the mountains or desert to collect trees. My biggest error was in thinking that it would be a quick trip so I didn’t need boots, Big Mistake! It’s needless to say that I now always wear a good pair of boots when I go hunting for trees.

The culprit that broke my ankle

I know this sounds silly, but I must admit that I was somewhat resentful of this tree for being the reason that I broke my ankle. Every time I saw the tree or watered the foliage I would actually glare at it. The truth is that I would have left the tree behind specially considering the fact that I had to hike down a mountain with a broken ankle. Thankfully, my friends Al and Steve as well as my son Andrew carried the monster of a tree three yards at a time while I hobbled along using a shovel as a crutch. In truth, the tree survived because of the giant root ball we excavated and because it had rained for about three days prior to us digging her out. Of course, other factors along with a good root ball are vital in keeping a collected tree alive. The following are just a few Tips on keeping a collected tree alive.

STEPS TO KEEPING COLLECTED TREE'S ALIVE
 

1. Collect after a strong rain

2. To prevent dehydration, prior to digging out a tree spray the foliage with anti-evaporation 

spray. 

3. Get biggest root ball possible

4. Reduce unneeded foliage to balance root ball and foliage.  (Not too much though). This is

 a practice that has caused much debate with collectors as some are of the opinion that very

 little if none of the foliage should be removed while others believe that the foliage must be cut

 back drastically to balance out the tree (root ball vs foliage). I happen to be in the middle of

 both arguments, but I am also highly aware of the fact that a California juniper has two means

 of absorbing water. Through the foliage and through the roots. Whenever we collect a tree it 

doesn't matter how big the root ball is we can never get more than 20% to 30% of its original 

root ball as the root ball spread is generous. With that being the case and I being fully aware of

 the fact that I have drastically weakened the tree by cutting one of its water sources (the root

 ball) I must now preserve its second source of water in take which is the foliage pad.  

5. Soil; I haves experimented with many substrates and the mix that always gives great 

results in creating new roots as well as keeping the tree hydrated is Pumice mixed with red 

lava rock and decomposed granite  (DG) 40/40/20 respectively. Another substrate or soil 

that works in a pinch is cactus mix. 

6. Finally watering is probably the most crucial part in bringing a California juniper back to its

 vibrant health. Harry Hirao told me that he will mist his trees numerous times a day, but 

rarely waters the soil. Taking this fact into account I set up a misting system that mist my

 collected trees eight times a day and this practice has paid dividends.  

 

Thank you reading and for suffering through my blog! 

 

If you enjoyed this blog the next one will be “To Graft or not to Graft, that is the Question” Cheers Javier.