Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard' - Help With Styling

[catfish chapstick]

i like the way it looks now but what if you kept it sparse in the spirit of a bunjin? i think that would look good since the trunk isn't very heavy.

 

[coh]

Got some recent pics of this one so I figured I'd awaken this long dormant thread

Tree is not there yet, still a ways to go. I had to first get it stronger (bigger pot), then figure out how to manage the growth. I've succeeded in making the branches/pads much healthier and denser, and also managed to rein in the length in places. But the growth is still pretty far out from the trunk. These just don't really back bud on older branch sections, even with frequent pinching and cutting back. I may have to try grafting next spring.

Most likely front is somewhere within the sequence of photos...unless it's not TBD...

 

[JoeR]

I think I like the last one as a front. Can’t wait to see it planted on a nice slab though in the future...

 

[Stan Kengai]

Pic 2 has the best balance of trunk movement and foliage placement. With some foliage thinning and a bit of wiring, I think this would be very nice. It's hard to tell in 2D, but it looks like the trunk may be a little pigeon-breasted at the first Jin from the view. If that's a problem, I think pic 3 is a good alternative.

 

[JudyB]

Pretty good for such a difficult species. Something about pic 3 seems most serene to me.

 

[JoeR]

I find images 2 and 3 to not be as dynamic as the last front, and thus not as good. But can’t go wrong with any of them really.

 

[coh]

Pic 2 has the best balance of trunk movement and foliage placement. With some foliage thinning and a bit of wiring, I think this would be very nice. It's hard to tell in 2D, but it looks like the trunk may be a little pigeon-breasted at the first Jin from the view. If that's a problem, I think pic 3 is a good alternative.

Thanks for your thoughts, Stan. The amount of "pigeon breast" is very small and in my opinion, not a reason to choose or not choose any particular front in this case. The photos may be enhancing that feature but in person, it's definitely not "in your face".

What's not obvious from the photos, partly due to the tea bags and moss build up, is that the best base/nebari is in views 1 and 2 (and 3 to a lesser degree). I can't use the position in photo 1 as a front unless I can further push back the growth. 2 and 3 look most in scale, i.e. foliage mass is narrowest, but in the other photos it is obvious that the foliage extends out quite far from the trunk in some directions. So I'm holding out on a choice pending results of additional cutting/pinching and possibly grafting.

I do really like this species, the foliage is a beautiful blue/green, soft and pleasantly fragrant to work with. If only they would back bud!