A few things in the yard.

[thumblessprimate1]

I'm excited about 2014. Got some things happening in the yard. This primate is very shy. At last, I reveal a few things I in my possession. Feel free to tell me if I did anything stupid or tell me if you see anything special that I have. There's still so much more that I need to learn.

Here's a Ginkgo that just been reduced to a stump, Japanese black pine; 3 years I believe, a Trident maple; about 2 years in the ground, a Shantung maple, & Toyo Nishiki.

I plan to just let the Ginkgo grow and recover.

The pine is still in a very early stage. Would like to move to colander and use bonsai mix next year.

The Trident, I'm just going to let it grow about 2 years and get some more girth; I think the nebari is fine for the moment.

The Shantung trunk is buried a little deep as I'm hoping to get some more roots growing where I clipped some awkward orienting thicker roots. The trunk spirals. That's how it was when I got it. I'm planning to let the roots develop, improve the nebari, and get some more girth on the trunk. Should I reduce that deadwood?

The quince is just in the ground to recover from a major root prune and to back bud.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Here's a Nishiki gawa, a rough bark maple I've had in the ground a couple of years. I like the nebari so far. Not sure how that scar happened where the green bark meets the brown, and I hope it wasn't a disease. Looks healthy now anyways.I think I'll do a low chop next year. Trying to getting cuttings to grow this year.

The other maple is Tanahime. Tempted to do something with it. Not sure what's going on with the bark. Could be from hail damage a couple years back or some form of Japanese maple bark disease, I hope not.

The last photo is of an approach graft on a landscape Japanese black pine. Looks like it's starting to take. Will be excited to see what happens. I think I'll leave things in place another year. It's an experiment for me.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Here's a...I can't recall if it's Murasaki Kyohime or just Kyohime. Anyways, they're very similar. I air layered this and have it in the ground. No roots on one side, so might need root grafts in future. I'd like to ask you if I should do any pruning as I've not done any yet. I think the tandem branches at the nodes can become problematic.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Another Japanese black pine in my landscape, I'm trying out approach grafting using these wire holders. Seems to be good so far. It's been on there less than a year.

 

[sikadelic]

Another Japanese black pine in my landscape, I'm trying out approach grafting using these wire holders. Seems to be good so far. It's been on there less than a year.

Thats a really good idea. I might have to steal that!

Looks like you have a lot of nice projects coming along.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Thats a really good idea. I might have to steal that!

Looks like you have a lot of nice projects coming along.

I hope you find it useful. I pull out the nails and reinsert them on the opposite side so that the flat surface of the of the wire holder can keep the donor level with recipient.

 

[Neli]

Here's a...I can't recall if it's Murasaki Kyohime or just Kyohime. Anyways, they're very similar. I air layered this and have it in the ground. No roots on one side, so might need root grafts in future. I'd like to ask you if I should do any pruning as I've not done any yet. I think the tandem branches at the nodes can become problematic.

Ask yourself if you are fattening the tree an will chop off later all the branches. If you o that the tandem growth does not matter now.
Nice material! I bet you are itching to start on some of them.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Thats a really good idea. I might have to steal that!

Looks like you have a lot of nice projects coming along.

Update on the wire holders for approach grafting: They are tough to remove; wouldn't recommend using them on delicate subjects. On smaller subjects, be sure to only get the nails in a little to secure the plastic.

Another update: Everything is growing! But the ginkgo is most interesting and pleasing to me at the moment.

 

[lordy]

Hey, didnt anyone tell you that maples dont grow in Texas?
Glad to see you're making a liar out of them. Nice stuff.

 

[GrimLore]

Hey, didnt anyone tell you that maples dont grow in Texas?
Glad to see you're making a liar out of them. Nice stuff.

He must live on the "shady side" of town! Good work though!

Grimmy

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I keep most of my "Japanese" maples, Acer palmatum, Acer shirawasanum, Acer japonicum on east side and under the shade of a large post oak. Others are on the north side close to the house. The baby Kyohime air layer shown in the earlier post is on the hot south side of the house, but is directly behind a Chinese fringe flower bush. Gets watered well along with the foundation and is in good draining soil.

 

[GrimLore]

I keep most of my "Japanese" maples, Acer palmatum, Acer shirawasanum, Acer japonicum on east side and under the shade of a large post oak. Others are on the north side close to the house. The baby Kyohime air layer shown in the earlier post is on the hot south side of the house, but is directly behind a Chinese fringe flower bush. Gets watered well along with the foundation and is in good draining soil.

Good common sense approach, My Wife grows all Tropicals here in the Northeast and like you she keeps "things that should not grow" here. I loose her with the other tree types so we have separate species but all do well. Things can be manipulated no matter. Kind of funny because I have a Poinsettia that is now blooming again because I figured out how to make it happen and gave me something strange to do over the never ending winter.

Grimmy

 

[JudyB]

Nice stuff thumbless! I don't know how I missed this the first time around, I am glad to see you posting your work.
I like the ginkgos potential very much, as well as the quince, that is the last pic in the 1st post right? Tennis balls, very nice, I don't have pop cans here so struggle to find things for pics that everyone can know, good idea. I just use push pins on either side of approaches- they are easily removed.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Nice stuff thumbless! I don't know how I missed this the first time around, I am glad to see you posting your work.
I like the ginkgos potential very much, as well as the quince, that is the last pic in the 1st post right? Tennis balls, very nice, I don't have pop cans here so struggle to find things for pics that everyone can know, good idea. I just use push pins on either side of approaches- they are easily removed.

Yes, Judy. That last one in the first post is a Japanese flowering quince. Toyo nishiki. I had it in the ground b/c I had no where else to put it at the time. I have it in a pot now. It's flourishing. I'll be sure to have a picture of it in its current state. The tennis ball is my pooch's toy. Something to keep him away out of the plants.

 

[Poink88]

Nice idea using wire holders.

I also like the push pins.

Another idea for the approach graft is staple gun. I just use it with a thick plastic spacer. Less jarring to the tree than pounding in nails.

Do practice so you know EXACTLY where the staple wires go. I missed the plastic spacer once and the wire severed the approach graft. Good thing I have extras to use.
BTW, much easier to put a marker at both sides on the stapler where the wires come out.

Like this.

 

[GrimLore]

mhmmmm, http://www.grainger.com/category/st...p=Generic%20Terms-_-Staples-_-Cable%20Staples
Choose your weapon

Grimmy

You can also get a good cable guard that slips on the end of the gun and never pinch...

 

[Poink88]

Another easy grafting tool....zip ties.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

A few more pictures. The Toyo Nishiki is growing quickly. Got a few burns in transit from ground to colander, but now it's adjusted.

Shantung maple has nice little young leaves. It went through a lot last year, so leaves might be small this year. I'll keep you posted.

One of my Japanese black pines growing and growing. I had started a bunch of seedlings late January so thought I'd play with one or maybe two. I split a root and positioned one in the crevice to see if this will help with trunk and nebari development. Basically it's an approach graft. From this, I may learn if it's a good idea, and if I may want to graft closer to the trunk next time. Right now, it's about half an inch away from the trunk.

Finally, a Mexican heather for small bonsai and sake of nostalgia. I started a small one when I was about 13 yo. It made beautiful little purple flowers. Learned trunk chopping, wiring, ramification, defoliation, and developments of "pads". all on that one bonsai. Still there's more refinement to be done in what I've learned. The Mexican heather was always growing, b/c it was in my father's greenhouse. I wired it using twist ties or floral wire. Clipped and pruned using a large nail clipper. My father sold it after I worked on it for about a year.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I have a maple I'm excited about. Here it is in it's anti squirrel barrier, a former medium sized dog crate. I found this to be a good form of passive squirrel control. It's an A. palmatum 'Orange Dream' and it's got a long way to go. Still with some spring color. It starts out with more of a fire like flare and mellows out to a yellow green color the rest of year until fall.

This fellow has no noticeable taper in the photos. My hypothesis is that by allowing the lower branches to grow out freely, taper will happen. I'm going to prune the branches higher up to slow down growth and thickening of trunk and branches up top.

May move it to a spot with more indirect light to encourage more branches off the trunk and rotate regularly.

Plan was to air layering the maple off the root stock by ringing the bark. It'd be much quicker, but the tourniquet seems to create a nice base flare. Never did it this way with maples before, so I'm guessing the roots will show up in a year?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I promised in another thread that I'll post my flowering almond. It must have been grown from a cutting as the roots looked great, only they didn't flare out. They were all downward. I pruned away a lot to encourage horizontal growth and finer roots. I also found a nice sized pebble to stick dead center of the downward roots to get them to flare out. We'll see how this turns out next year. Photos are from a month ago.