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Hey guys, I bought this little landscaping shrub juniper at Lowe’s the other day because it looked cool. I gave it a quick shaping prune and wired it up (mostly). I transferred it from the nursery pot to this slightly larger terracotta pot without losing any soil or doing any root work. I really want to get this guy repotted into a training pot. The root-ball is currently about 6in vertically and I am looking at transferring to a 4 to 5 inch deep trainer. The hope is that I can get a start on reducing the taproots a bit and the beginnings of some Nebari development (as you can see it currently has a slight reverse-taper). Also, frankly, it looks stupid sitting in a flower-pot.

So can I do this without committing 1st-degree dendricide?

I’m in Austin, Texas (zone 8b) so there’s no question it’s hot here, but it’s also rainy and I have good shade spots outdoors. Any help is welcome as the internets are utterly devoid of information when it comes to nursery-to-pre-bonsai repotting. Thanks!

(included a few pics below to show before pruning and and dimensions)

hello there, pretty.
Wise bonsai masters say that if you have already repotted it this season, leave it alone at least until next year.
It looks good in this black terracota pot, it surely doesn't need a bonsai pot for the moment (and I mean some years from now).

Thanks, Oh for sure it's not ready for a true bonsai pot.....I was thinking about a relatively deep and wide training pot. 18"x5.5" or thereabouts.

Also, and I'm not really sure if this matters but, I literally lifted it out of the nursery pot and placed it into this one....no raking, no root trimming. Does that still count as a true "repot"

Personally I would wait. I do not know what climate you have locally. I repot junipers either just before they have their spring push, or in lat summer, say, august, when trees start to prepare for winter an move stores towards their roots.

your aim shoul dbe to keep it healthy. I see you have put rocks on top of the soil. I can imagine that you fine it more attractive. Unfortunately, it limits your ability to see what is happening in the soil; e.g., how dry or wet it is. I would recommend that, untill you have a feel for caring for it and/or till you have moved it to other substrate, to remove the surface covering.

Yeah, there was significant fine root development near the surface of the soil, so I dressed it in hopes of retaining some moisture....I'll lose it

Also, I use a buried chopstick to check moisture (something my teacher in CA showed me once)

But there we go...I will wait until fall for the repot!

Thanks everyone for the advice!