Update
January 4th, 2013

January 4th 2013.  A little over a month since we planted.

Being winter here in Taiwan at the moment is a blessing and a curse.  A curse because it rains a lot and the temperatures idle at around 14 degrees Celsius in the middle of winter.  This is not that cold but the rain does become an inconvenience.  If you have planted small juniper trees in the ground, then winter becomes a little blessing because you don't have to water them!  

Our plot of land is a 15 minutes motor bike ride up into the Yamingshan mountains.  On cold days like today it is nice to know the trees do not need too much care from their owners.  However, weeds do grow.  We do not want the roots of the weeds stealing the nutrition from the roots of our junipers.  At some stage I think I will need to slip on some gloves and do a bit of manual labor by removing these weeds.  Spraying weed kill is a bad idea as it will also poison our junipers.

The junipers are becoming used to their new home.  Spring and Summer is when we should see a lot of growth in the thickness of the trunk and branches.  Planting in the Winter is a good idea because the roots lie dormant and you will not damage them.

The next time we plant trees in the ground like this I will seriously consider laying down a sheet of anti weed non-woven mat with 'tree holes' cut in the mat.  This way the mat will prevent the weeds from growing while also promoting air circulation and good water drainage and evaporation. 

The good thing is there will always be a next time.