grouper52
Masterpiece
Here's the initial styling on this guy: very much a first approximation. I'm posting it somewhat to illustrate the pruning and fine wiring I explained in RogueF's thread, but partly also to start a long term progression.
This has the bulbous base of the usual dwarf Hinoki grafted years ago onto more rapidly growing species stock. I put it in the ground maybe about 6 years ago from a nursery pot. It went into this colander last year, and this year was doing fine.
The tree has a number of problems, especially the three straight, long, bare stove pipes that form the main skeleton. They will never back bud onto old wood, so I have to work solely with what's left out further, and work over time to bring the distal foliage in closer to the trunk with extensive bending.
I will likely chop and jin the main trunk above those two lateral branches coming off together about half way up, as well as much/most of the other six inch stove pipe coming up near its base. I may also shorten the huge straight lateral branch that I'm trying to slowly bend in closer, losing the foliage at it's tip in favor of the two thick, but still bendable, branches coming off in closer.
Those changes would result in a simpler tree, and more sparse if kept trimmed properly, and by creating several tops at different heights surrounding what's left of a dying original top, augmented with extensive further carving, it may one day look like a credible old survivor.
This has the bulbous base of the usual dwarf Hinoki grafted years ago onto more rapidly growing species stock. I put it in the ground maybe about 6 years ago from a nursery pot. It went into this colander last year, and this year was doing fine.
The tree has a number of problems, especially the three straight, long, bare stove pipes that form the main skeleton. They will never back bud onto old wood, so I have to work solely with what's left out further, and work over time to bring the distal foliage in closer to the trunk with extensive bending.
I will likely chop and jin the main trunk above those two lateral branches coming off together about half way up, as well as much/most of the other six inch stove pipe coming up near its base. I may also shorten the huge straight lateral branch that I'm trying to slowly bend in closer, losing the foliage at it's tip in favor of the two thick, but still bendable, branches coming off in closer.
Those changes would result in a simpler tree, and more sparse if kept trimmed properly, and by creating several tops at different heights surrounding what's left of a dying original top, augmented with extensive further carving, it may one day look like a credible old survivor.