NoTopSkies
Yamadori
A lot of the foliage seems to be dead : I think I have a different problem than just the hard freeze that long ago night. I am hoping for recovery.
Golden Mop chamaecyparis False Cypress
- Thread starter Underdog
- Start date
Mine is listed above and not causing me any grief. Post 34 other than the noted fines building up.
I'm assuming you are talking to notopskys?
NoTopSkies
Yamadori
Wellll, I had done a repot from the plastic nursery pot from Lowes last Spring already. I wonder if I can try to gently remove the moss on top and then replace about half of the soil with new soil in the same pot?
We managed to get a bottle of the chelated iron today. It is in decon right now for the virus. I am wondering if that might help?
We managed to get a bottle of the chelated iron today. It is in decon right now for the virus. I am wondering if that might help?
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I think you will get more specific help if you started your own thread on this one @NoTopSkies .
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Personally I think the tree should be left alone other than to make sure it gets enough water, and not too much water. It always comes down to water. The problem is once you start fooling around with a tree you will usually kill it.
NoTopSkies
Yamadori
Will do on both counts. Thanks to all.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
3 1/2 years in and less foliage than at the start. Ipso, facto growing conditions not good. They are slow growing in good soil, and bonsai media is anything but good soil. Add too much sun and this is what you got. Nada. Muy poco nada.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
It needs tip pruning to fill in the layers as distinct clouds.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Hinokis do not do well if you try to form foliage pads that look like clouds They need to be more like open hands facing outward as you see on a spruce.
Beginnings of the developmental process.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Again, in 4 years, the foliage has not been managed into a design. There are two basic components of trees: the wood architecture which is just fine here, plenty of branches and nicely placed. Second is the foliage, not managed well and not commented upon in favor of discussing health, and perhaps looking less healthy than it has really been because it has been straggly, at best, by constantly over trimming without a plan. It's not for nothing that this variety is called 'Mops'. It can be managed as all upward facing foliage, if and only if, trained very short because it flops over almost immediately. I'm not even convinced that it is possible to do it that way, but that's the only other option possible. The foliage won't go sideways with subsequent growing up as with the standard pattern on ramification. That only leaves ~weeping~ as an option with "short" or "longer" as choices available.
If all that is true, then tip pinching/pulling/popping, or more appropriately cutting back single chains to their origin, is the only way I know of to force ramification. In normal, not weeping trees we want to all the branches to be bare from the bottom view, looking upward from below and have no foliage below the branches in a given cloud so we can see the subdividing branches. This weeping form needs to have the opposite, uniform condition in order to look logical. So all the branches within a given cloud need to be bare on top with no foliage rising above the branches and all foliage draping down. All the normal rules of space between clouds still apply, so no foliage from one cloud may be long enough to violate the air space of a cloud below, and no branches may reach up into the air space of a cloud above. Blending the bottom of one or more cloud bottoms into a ~continuous~ swoop or plane is permissible where it is a natural confluence, just as it would be with the top of clouds with foliage that all points up in normal trees (not weeping).
Training needs to constant and continuous. The ends where clipped or pulled/popped off to shorten will turn brown, but will be hidden by subsequent growth. Since this is a constant process it won't look good 3 or 4 days after a trimming, and that means it will only rarely look good because of the constant trimming cycles close together. But, there are only so many growth cycles during the season, so it will look good some time after a flush and during a quiet period. For that reason you can trim the whole canopy bottom with a giant scissors to get a uniform flat bottom (like bangs!), or use a curved blade scissors for a more natural bumpy bottom. Scissors trimming is much easier than finger popping or individual clipping, and since training needs to be constant, it gets the job done fairly quickly. The brown tips only have to be considered for showing purposes and you learn to trim some number of days, maybe ~30?, before a Show. But there is a lot of training involved and very few shows, so getting the maintenance on schedule is the most important part of owning this critter. And that's all there is to it.
Here's a Golden Hinoki trained this way. This was transitioned from a Literati that didn't work, so it is hard to photograph, but you can see the principle of bare branch tops.
If all that is true, then tip pinching/pulling/popping, or more appropriately cutting back single chains to their origin, is the only way I know of to force ramification. In normal, not weeping trees we want to all the branches to be bare from the bottom view, looking upward from below and have no foliage below the branches in a given cloud so we can see the subdividing branches. This weeping form needs to have the opposite, uniform condition in order to look logical. So all the branches within a given cloud need to be bare on top with no foliage rising above the branches and all foliage draping down. All the normal rules of space between clouds still apply, so no foliage from one cloud may be long enough to violate the air space of a cloud below, and no branches may reach up into the air space of a cloud above. Blending the bottom of one or more cloud bottoms into a ~continuous~ swoop or plane is permissible where it is a natural confluence, just as it would be with the top of clouds with foliage that all points up in normal trees (not weeping).
Training needs to constant and continuous. The ends where clipped or pulled/popped off to shorten will turn brown, but will be hidden by subsequent growth. Since this is a constant process it won't look good 3 or 4 days after a trimming, and that means it will only rarely look good because of the constant trimming cycles close together. But, there are only so many growth cycles during the season, so it will look good some time after a flush and during a quiet period. For that reason you can trim the whole canopy bottom with a giant scissors to get a uniform flat bottom (like bangs!), or use a curved blade scissors for a more natural bumpy bottom. Scissors trimming is much easier than finger popping or individual clipping, and since training needs to be constant, it gets the job done fairly quickly. The brown tips only have to be considered for showing purposes and you learn to trim some number of days, maybe ~30?, before a Show. But there is a lot of training involved and very few shows, so getting the maintenance on schedule is the most important part of owning this critter. And that's all there is to it.
Here's a Golden Hinoki trained this way. This was transitioned from a Literati that didn't work, so it is hard to photograph, but you can see the principle of bare branch tops.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Hinoki are not for the faint of heart and in most cases the beginner just starting out.
Well I'm trying guys... LOL Pinched all the longer tips back yesterday, even tho it didn't feel right yet. We'll see how it responds. I usually do this in summer. I do appreciate the input.
This one doesn't really weep until they get long and floppy.
This one doesn't really weep until they get long and floppy.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Good job. It should be emphasized that Hinoki only rarely backbud (rare individuals will, so all should be considered as never will) so keeping the foliage growing where is, is very important, especially on small trees.
Eckhoffw
Masterpiece
Looking real nice. I hope it cooperates!
Viridian Bonsai
Yamadori
Updates? I have a Sungold sawara cypress I have started training this spring!
I've not yet cleaned this one up this year as you can tell from the green trunk. I jinned an eye poker branch and removed the wire last year. This is really the first time I've even looked close at it this year. LOL Been all about the D trees and Azaleas so far this spring. Thanks for asking
You've inspired me to set it on the work bench for some love today.
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