Black Pines: Which produces the best bark?

yenling83

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1. I"m wondering if Black pines produce better bark if grown in a box compared to in the ground only because they are growing more slowly than if they were grown in the ground?

2. Is the better bark related only to growth rate or is it something else?

3. Does this also mean that the faster they grew in a box or colander, the worse the bark would be-even if it was not a huge differnce?
 

shohin kid

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I dont know the answer to your question but I have heard of japanese nurseries putting moss on the bark to make the bark appear older.
 

waltr1

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My experience is that age develops the best bark. I have some JBPs in the ground and have increased their thunks from 1/2 inch to 3 inches in three years but the bark still looks young. Whereas some JBPs I've had in grow boxes for 6 years are getting a nice texture.

Any that have gotten moss on the trunks seem to keep the bark too wet and the bark then flakes off very easily.

I do have a JBP 'brocade' that I got from Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks 6 years age as a 2 year old graft. It did start developing nice corky bark plates the second year.

Great question and will be looking for other's experience.

Walt R
 

Attila Soos

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Bark is always better quality when the tree is grown in a container. This is because of the slower growth-rate.

A faster growth generates a large volume of new bark tissue in a given season.This new bark is much thicker than in the case of container culture. Thick bark with high water content always looks younger (just like human skin). Because it is thicker, it can withstand more stretching the next year, when new bark is formed under the current layer. Thus, the "plates" (representing the bark from the previous years) form at a slower rate. "Plates" are formed when the old bark cannot stretch anymore, and it cracks, due to the growing pressure from beneath (thin bark, with less water content, crack easier -again, just like human skin when we age).

Also, when growing in the ground, these "plates" are larger then their counterpart in the container. The smaller plates formed in container culture are much more desirable, just like smaller leaves are (they are in better proportion with the rest of the tree).


So, in general, the bark is of better quality when the tree is grown in container.
 
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mapleman77

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I agree that the best bark will be obtained with age. I have seen some tridents that are old and you can tell--the smooth grey bark that you expect was not there--it was nice and "shaggy." It was one of Walter's tridents that he'd trained for over 15 years and you could tell by both the ramification and the bark.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I do have a JBP 'brocade' that I got from Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks 6 years age as a 2 year old graft. It did start developing nice corky bark plates the second year.


Walt R

Sure would like to see that brocade! I just got one from Brent last winter. It's about 2 years old now and it would be cool to see how the bark develops!
 

mapleman77

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Hey Brian, want to post some pictures of your Brocade as well? I'd like to see some of these rarer JBP grafts from EG--I want to get my hands on a few! ;)
 

greerhw

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What kind of bark are you looking for ?

keep it green,
Harry
 

mapleman77

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Actually, Harry, it's not so much the bark as the habit. I want to get a 'Koto buki' from Brent sometime and maybe along the line a corkbark--but probably not for awhile. Like it has been said, they are an acquired taste.
 

grouper52

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I've got a Brocade from Brent as well, now in the ground for its third season, and I'd love to see some more mature photos as well. Great question, Yenling, and helpful answers, all.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Here is my 'brocade'. It is YOUNG...2 years old, no bark yet. The needles are stiff as weed-eater string. Somewhere on Brent's site or some related link, I saw a photo of a brocade over 2 years and the bark development was pretty impressive.
 

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mapleman77

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Brian,
Your 'Brocade' looks very healthy. It makes me want to get one from Brent! I have a feeling that i'll be getting some of his famous pine grafts within the next year or two...keep us posted on this tree. I don't think that you'll have a problem getting this one to backbud!
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Here are the brocade photos I was looking for. I didn't take them, but it shows how the brocades develop over a couple years...not bad! I'm actually collecting information about different varieties of Corkbark black pines and this is something that was in my files. One day, maybe I'll have a decent article on them...
 

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