Why I love the Primo arborvitae

[MMJNICE]

I think it looks great. I like how you've left the smaller twin trunk on it, the jin at the bottom, and haven't pruned it excessively.

I've also been considering creating a small Primo forest.

I just finished adding wire on most of the branches and guide wire to both secondary trunks. I'm pretty pleased with the results now. It looks pretty convincing a tree from 50 yards away now. I really need to work on my other larger tree now that this one is done. I also refined all my little mame trees that are growing so much this season that some are Approaching shohin territory now.

 

[bnw]

I just finished adding wire on most of the branches and guide wire to both secondary trunks. I'm pretty pleased with the results now. It looks pretty convincing a tree from 50 yards away now. I really need to work on my other larger tree now that this one is done. I also refined all my little mame trees that are growing so much this season that some are Approaching shohin territory now.

Nice! I really like it. It looks healthy too. How tall is this tree?

I'd love to see your other Primos as well.

I've been resisting the urge to buy another Primo all summer - I'm attempting to acquire no more trees the rest of the year.

 

[MMJNICE]

So the tree is probably 15 inches or so.. I'll do an updated picture of my smaller trees and my other larger primo when clean up the structure a bit tonight if I get a chance. They have all been growing well this spring. I was a little worried about three of my smaller trees after I repotted them all into smaller pots. I lost two branches on one and one other struggled with a lot of die back. I think it's important to repot when the tree is as full of foliage as possible to aid in recovery. The trees that had less foliage seemed to struggle the most after the repotting. And also the branches with the least amount of foliage as the ones that eventually died off.

 

[MMJNICE]

So the tree is probably 15 inches or so.. I'll do an updated picture of my smaller trees and my other larger primo when clean up the structure a bit tonight if I get a chance. They have all been growing well this spring. I was a little worried about three of my smaller trees after I repotted them all into smaller pots. I lost two branches on one and one other struggled with a lot of die back. I think it's important to repot when the tree is as full of foliage as possible to aid in recovery. The trees that had less foliage seemed to struggle the most after the repotting. And also the branches with the least amount of foliage as the ones that eventually died off.

 

[MMJNICE]

Soooooo I got another one heheheheh.. I've already cut back but it's not as healthy as my other two larger primo.. so it needs a couple of months to back bud. The Interior foliage wasn't as strong so after the cut back the Interior foliage should now get much stronger because the outer foliage isn't there holding it back and sucking up all the light nutrients.. will update when it's gets stronger . But it Does have really nice movement down low on the trunk and i thinking of going with a double trunk this time instead of the triple. With this things you always have the opportunity for double, triple or Quadruple trunks if you want because of the low branches that basically have there own ground Layered root systems.. I also have my eye on a new thuja cultivar called helmons or something,,, I'll have to do a Google search on that..

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Soooooo I got another one heheheheh.. I've already cut back but it's not as healthy as my other two larger primo.. so it needs a couple of months to back bud. The Interior foliage wasn't as strong so after the cut back the Interior foliage should now get much stronger because the outer foliage isn't there holding it back and sucking up all the light nutrients.. will update when it's gets stronger . But it Does have really nice movement down low on the trunk and i thinking of going with a double trunk this time instead of the triple. With this things you always have the opportunity forView attachment 562635 double, triple or Quadruple trunks if you want because of the low branches that basically have there own ground Layered root systems.. I also have my eye on a new thuja cultivar called helmons or something,,, I'll have to do a Google search on that..

Very nice! I visited a nursery yesterday with a lot of these in various sizes and some dainty doll Hinoki cypress. Tempting!

 

[MMJNICE]

So an update on all my little thuja and one of the larger trees. This tree has grown so much it's more of a shohin tree then a bean tree now. It's right at about 7" from the soil line. I'm really impressed with how the branches are maturing on this tree and the structure. I would put this tree up again any sekke hinoki cypress in Japan around the same age. The root spread is looking very nice as well. I made sure to use all the little bonsai tricks of branch development on all my trees and this one really looks impressive in person.

 

[MMJNICE]

This tree root spread looks phenomenal!! I add some jin work on the lowest branches to highlight the roots and left the top leader unpruned to further thickin the base and trunk. As a matter of fact I left most of my trees apex branches unpruned to add more hight and to thickin up the trees. They all have multiple years of training now.

 

[MMJNICE]

This is my favorite tree because it's almost like a broom style tree because all the branches kinda come from one point on the trunk but it works out beautifully. The structure is really starting to looks like a tree from a distance and from up close.

 

[MMJNICE]

This is my oldest tree of the group and it's structure shows clearly that its branches don't look that good by chance.in person it looks great. It's somewhat hard to get a good picture but I tried.

 

[MMJNICE]

This tree I'm not completely happy with but it still looks like a rather convincing looking tree. I think the lower branches need removal but I'm not sure yet. As the tree grows it will definitely get removed down the road but not today . Overall I'm still happy enough with it not get super radical and turn it unto a informal upright tree although that may come in the future.

 

[MMJNICE]

Now for my largest tree... i got a little surprise in a good way. That awkward looking root that raps around the front to the back died off. I guess the combination of pruning the trunk attached to it and cutting a groove along the length as a shari did it in. I started poking around and all the bark started sliding clean off the root and part of the trunk. It was something that I wanted to do anyway so I'm really like . I like the look of the wood grain and it's twisted natural movement. Win win!! I've also been looking at the back of the tree more as a front because it shows off the triple trunk more. And the tree looks fuller from the back. The tree looks nice from every angle.

 

[bnw]

Nice work - I think they all look great. Once again, your trees have inspired me to get another come come spring.

I'm also happy with how mine is maturing. This is really an excellent cultivar.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

Qoute from this PDF:
This slow growing bright dark green miniature conifer was created in 2005 in America from a cross as a seedling at Iseli Nursery.
Unlike most other dwarf conifers, this plantdoes have a beautiful irregular upright growth habit, which makes each little tree a unique sculpture.
Due to its compact growth habit and excellent winter hardiness itcan be used in a variety of situations. Suitable for small gardens, on balconies, in pots,etc.
The irregular shoots that stick up like “turrets”, combined with the fi ne shell-likefoliage, make the plant look exclusive. In winter, it can turn somewhat bronze.
In 2018 Thuja occidentalis ‘Isiprim’ (PRIMO) was brought to Europe by Sierteeltkwekerij Kools on behalf of Iseli Nursery, patented and further propagated.
This obviously took severalyears due to its slow growth.

After waiting and searching for a few years I finally found the Thuja Occidentalis Primo for sale in the Netherlands.

I visited Nobilis Bonsai today because they had an end of year sale with 50% discount on most of the trees.
To my surprise they also had a bunch of Primo for sale for € 30,00 a piece but now on sale for € 15,00.
I looked at all of them and I bought 5 to play with.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Qoute from this PDF:
This slow growing bright dark green miniature conifer was created in 2005 in America from a cross as a seedling at Iseli Nursery.
Unlike most other dwarf conifers, this plantdoes have a beautiful irregular upright growth habit, which makes each little tree a unique sculpture.
Due to its compact growth habit and excellent winter hardiness itcan be used in a variety of situations. Suitable for small gardens, on balconies, in pots,etc.
The irregular shoots that stick up like “turrets”, combined with the fi ne shell-likefoliage, make the plant look exclusive. In winter, it can turn somewhat bronze.
In 2018 Thuja occidentalis ‘Isiprim’ (PRIMO) was brought to Europe by Sierteeltkwekerij Kools on behalf of Iseli Nursery, patented and further propagated.
This obviously took severalyears due to its slow growth.

After waiting and searching for a few years I finally found the Thuja Occidentalis Primo for sale in the Netherlands.

I visited Nobilis Bonsai today because they had an end of year sale with 50% discount on most of the trees.
To my surprise they also had a bunch of Primo for sale for € 30,00 a piece but now on sale for € 15,00.
I looked at all of them and I bought 5 to play with.

Glad you sourced some . Speaking as someone that lives in the prime native range of eastern arborvitae. There are multiple cultivars . Most with improved colour . ( the wild trees will turn down right ugly olive to almost brown ) but no other cultivar has the tight compact growth of this cultivar . Remember that the light wood is extremely rot resistant . Most wild trees are collected for there deadwood . The wood is used heavily where wet or in the ground is important . In pioneer times the trees were split length wise , and used for fencing . Still are somewhat . There are multiple untreated fences over 100 to 150 years old . In eastern Ontario , have fun

 

[MMJNICE]

Qoute from this PDF:
This slow growing bright dark green miniature conifer was created in 2005 in America from a cross as a seedling at Iseli Nursery.
Unlike most other dwarf conifers, this plantdoes have a beautiful irregular upright growth habit, which makes each little tree a unique sculpture.
Due to its compact growth habit and excellent winter hardiness itcan be used in a variety of situations. Suitable for small gardens, on balconies, in pots,etc.
The irregular shoots that stick up like “turrets”, combined with the fi ne shell-likefoliage, make the plant look exclusive. In winter, it can turn somewhat bronze.
In 2018 Thuja occidentalis ‘Isiprim’ (PRIMO) was brought to Europe by Sierteeltkwekerij Kools on behalf of Iseli Nursery, patented and further propagated.
This obviously took severalyears due to its slow growth.

After waiting and searching for a few years I finally found the Thuja Occidentalis Primo for sale in the Netherlands.

I visited Nobilis Bonsai today because they had an end of year sale with 50% discount on most of the trees.
To my surprise they also had a bunch of Primo for sale for € 30,00 a piece but now on sale for € 15,00.
I looked at all of them and I bought 5 to play with.

So my advice is be somewhat conservative with styling your new little thuja because they tend to lose a lot of foliage around this time of year.. good news is most of the foliage should have died off by now. Most of the crotch growth and anything getting shaded out during the growing season will most definitely turn yellow and fall off during the fall period's. Please, if you feel inclined show me the results of your first styling ..I love to see what people's imagination comes up with for these little guys. Even tho they grow slowly they will fill back in quick during the growing season.

 

[MMJNICE]

I'm also a fan of this cultivar. My tree below, in training since 2022, has quickly become one of my favorites. It handles pruning, wiring, and repotting well (although I did lose one of those bottom branches to wiring). Very cold hardy - I have left it outside on my bench in a small pot until temps dropped below 20 deg F the last two winters and it hasn't seemed to suffer at all. I have another small one growing in the ground - it puts on a few inches of growth in a growing season. This one in a bonsai pot grows very slowly, maybe 0.5-1 inch of growth per growing season?

Regarding cuttings: I took about five cuttings from when I first styled this tree, and one successfully rooted for me. I wasn't careful though, just stuck them in normal garden soil and forgot about them for a year.

View attachment 540769

Do you have a YouTube channel by any chance?

 

[MMJNICE]

Just an update this trees whole front trunk died off and left an deadwood section running almost the entire length of the trunk.. It's been growing happily all season and today I started poking around on it because i wanted to slip pot the tree into a new Japanese pot,, started scraping the trunk and all the dam bark fell off. After the initial shock and horror I realized that it's still basically fully Filled the pot with roots this season after the repot this spring so it's fairly healthy. So i rolled with the punchs added lime sulfur, and decided to embrace the twisted luck this tree endured. It just adds some age and character i told myself and that's that...

 

[bnw]

Do you have a YouTube channel by any chance?

I do: Bonsai Northwest. I worked on my Thuja Primo in this video (August 2024):

 

[bnw]

Just an update this trees whole front trunk died off and left an deadwood section running almost the entire length of the trunk.. It's been growing happily all season and today I started poking around on it because i wanted to slip pot the tree into a new Japanese pot,, started scraping the trunk and all the dam bark fell off. After the initial shock and horror I realized that it's still basically fully Filled the pot with roots this season after the repot this spring so it's fairly healthy. So i rolled with the punchs added lime sulfur, and decided to embrace the twisted luck this tree endured. It just adds some age and character i told myself and that's that...

Your unintended shari has added some nice character IMO, I like it. Still a very nice looking tree.

I also had a major lower branch die on my Primo, which I ended up jinning. The branch had plenty of foliage and seemed to be healthy and growing, then suddenly, dead.