youngsai
Mame
First off, I was tempted to name this thread top notch juniper material, bc I did that when I was new here and made myself feel like an idiot and wanted in some way to redeem this. However, I think if it is anything at all, the difference between what I then considered good to what I now consider good material is bc of the kindness and help people on this site have showed me.
Now onto the story...
Last fall, I was taking my gf somewhere, and while she went into the store, I did what I always do and wandered around the property looking at trees. I noticed some haggard looking junipers, half dead, half choked by ivy, but with beautiful live and dead veins, twisting and meandering. The foliage was sparce, but what did exist was nice and tight, adult with an almost blue tint, and it made me think of shimpaku (still not sure what it is). I walked into the store that had these tree on their property and asked to see the manager. The manager proceeded to make fun of my hobby, & dismiss me in a very condescending way. I asked for the owner's name & I told him, "the trees are dying, wouldn't you want to give them a chance to live, if it is all the same to you, I'll just trade them out with some nice flowering stuff!?" His response (almost verbatim) was, "Those trees will never leave here alive, they will die here, then they will be removed." I saw red, as any unjust or unnecessary cruelty really boils my blood, and I seethed, "We'll see about that pal, those trees are mine." Then I stormed out. I was still waiting for the gf, and muttering curses at the manager under my breath when I noticed a few workers from the store next door. I began a conversation with them, and we quickly found a common link in all of us agreeing that the manager next door was a **** (fill in your own choice 4 letters please). I felt a ray of hope when one of them told me that he would try to get the owner's info for me. He kept his word, and I reached out to the owner and offered my usual urban yamadori spiel- Your trees are dying, they have mites, scale, fungus, and all other manners of juju's upon it. I offer to you to remove said juju'ed trees in exchange for bright and shiny young spritely azaleas, and you will never again see those silly old gnarly twisted good for nothings again. The owner of the property did not cave so easily however, and I had to wine and dine him, sending him pictures of the azaleas, past work I had done, my entire plan, and an agreement to temporarily join his insurance (guess he thought I was trying to scam him). It seemed incredulous to him that I would want these old sickly trees. He finally okayed the collection, but it was fall by that time, so I asked him to wait until spring. He said ok, and I would periodically go to the location and clean out the ivy, fertilize the trees, treat the mites, and cull all the dead stuff.
FINALLY!!! Yesterday, (last Saturday) the pre-ordained day had come, and I collected 5 very large twisted junipers, and 1 pretty nice mulberry that was under a canopy of one of the juni's. Anyways, here are some of the first pictures of them! And I'll post more as I take them. The size range from 2-4 ft tall, with bases at their thickest from 6"-9". Does anyone recognize what cultivar these may be? I was thinking shimpaky, but the blue foliage is throwing me off...
Now onto the story...
Last fall, I was taking my gf somewhere, and while she went into the store, I did what I always do and wandered around the property looking at trees. I noticed some haggard looking junipers, half dead, half choked by ivy, but with beautiful live and dead veins, twisting and meandering. The foliage was sparce, but what did exist was nice and tight, adult with an almost blue tint, and it made me think of shimpaku (still not sure what it is). I walked into the store that had these tree on their property and asked to see the manager. The manager proceeded to make fun of my hobby, & dismiss me in a very condescending way. I asked for the owner's name & I told him, "the trees are dying, wouldn't you want to give them a chance to live, if it is all the same to you, I'll just trade them out with some nice flowering stuff!?" His response (almost verbatim) was, "Those trees will never leave here alive, they will die here, then they will be removed." I saw red, as any unjust or unnecessary cruelty really boils my blood, and I seethed, "We'll see about that pal, those trees are mine." Then I stormed out. I was still waiting for the gf, and muttering curses at the manager under my breath when I noticed a few workers from the store next door. I began a conversation with them, and we quickly found a common link in all of us agreeing that the manager next door was a **** (fill in your own choice 4 letters please). I felt a ray of hope when one of them told me that he would try to get the owner's info for me. He kept his word, and I reached out to the owner and offered my usual urban yamadori spiel- Your trees are dying, they have mites, scale, fungus, and all other manners of juju's upon it. I offer to you to remove said juju'ed trees in exchange for bright and shiny young spritely azaleas, and you will never again see those silly old gnarly twisted good for nothings again. The owner of the property did not cave so easily however, and I had to wine and dine him, sending him pictures of the azaleas, past work I had done, my entire plan, and an agreement to temporarily join his insurance (guess he thought I was trying to scam him). It seemed incredulous to him that I would want these old sickly trees. He finally okayed the collection, but it was fall by that time, so I asked him to wait until spring. He said ok, and I would periodically go to the location and clean out the ivy, fertilize the trees, treat the mites, and cull all the dead stuff.
FINALLY!!! Yesterday, (last Saturday) the pre-ordained day had come, and I collected 5 very large twisted junipers, and 1 pretty nice mulberry that was under a canopy of one of the juni's. Anyways, here are some of the first pictures of them! And I'll post more as I take them. The size range from 2-4 ft tall, with bases at their thickest from 6"-9". Does anyone recognize what cultivar these may be? I was thinking shimpaky, but the blue foliage is throwing me off...
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