The subject of our club tree project for the Alabama Bonsai Society is Shimpaku Junipers.  Brian Van Fleet has assembled information for use in our project so that it may assist in our endeavor.

From Brent Walston’s Evergreen Gardenworks (www.evergreengardenworks.com):
Juniperus chinensis (Juniper) Evergreen coniferous shrubs with green to blue green needle-like or scaly foliage and blue berries (which are in reality, single seeded fleshy cones). Tough drought resistant plants that have been the mainstay of the landscaping business. Most of the varieties listed below have been used for centuries as bonsai in Japan. All junipers prefer well drained soil. We have listed ‘Shimpaku’ and its relatives under Juniperus chinensis according to Hortus III (1976). However, they may also be found as J. x media according to Krussman (1972).  Juniper Is the classic Japanese bonsai species. Deep green soft scaly foliage to about 3 feet x 6 feet makes a very dense flat mound.

One of Bjorn’s videos of styling a shimpaku:

From Brian’s bonsai blog: http://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/much-ado-about-shimpakuand-itoigawa-and-kishu/ and developing workshop junipers: http://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/workshop-shimpaku-juniper-revisited/

From Graham Potter’s video series:

History of Shimpaku:

An image from a kokufu show, lifted from Michael Hagedorn’s website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference PDF on Shimpaku: The Shimpaku Juniper