Recent content by Brian Van Fleet

Start by picking the front that shows the nicest root base and lower trunk. Can’t see that from the photos, but that’s always where to start.

The leaves can dessicate because a reduced root system cannot supply water fast enough. I found that to be the case once when I reduced the roots of my J maple too much, just a little too late. I had to really baby the tree for a few weeks to get it strong.

Newbies kill trees fastest by transplanting them. If you’re new and they’re taking water, I recommend not repotting them. They do not appear to be underpotted.

Thanks, it was a couple houses ago, but here are a few.

Great bark on that second one.

Need is rarely the impetus for a pot buy….unless I’m trying to convince my wife.😂

This from a guy who has grown JBP from seed in containers for 30+ years? To what end?

I commissioned this one from him back in 2017 and used it for an Ume for a few years. I am not using it now and have kept it around because it’s a good size for transitioning a tree from growing out to a bonsai pot. I could probably be convinced to pack it up and ship it at some point. Can’t...

Beech heal so slowly that I would try to address the cut by choosing the front in a way that conceals it. I know you said you don’t mind setting it back a few years, but my experience with healing beech wounds is that it takes easily 3x longer than I expected. Kind of like hornbeam, beech cuts...

Here are a couple flowers from the OP tree. Guess I’m seeing stamen, but can’t really make out a Pistil.

Congrats, nice pickup. I have the same coffee maker, BTW, just in chrome. 3 minutes to brew a perfect pot, and no beeping.😅

If it needs to be repotted, you should not hesitate based on shipping. I had him ship a green pot juniper to me a few years ago in the middle of summer and it was packed well and didn’t skip a beat. His soil is a little denser that what we would use in our climates, but it drained fine. After...

I would probably cut back to here, and reduce again in a few years. If you plant them in the ground, you’ll want to dig them up every 3-4 years to keep the roots close to the trunk. Pines’ feeder roots get pretty far out from the trunk over time.

Here is another one. Based on the diagram from @NaoTK this one shows more female-shaped flowers and sepals. It was also in fruit when I got it, but I have not had it hold fruit since I got it 5-6 years ago.

Never tried. May have to sometime.