Cleaning on a JWP

[Adair M]

Complete!



What I did was to remove all last year’s needles. They are just beginning to turn yellow this time of year. Each JWP will start to release its own needles on its own schedule, some earlier, some later. But when I notice there are some brown old needles, and some yellow, it’s a good sign that it’s ready. I clean with a sturdy pair of tweezers. Just grabbing them with the tweezers is all it takes to remove them.

This little tree just needs a little wire, and maybe a little pruning up top to soften the apex, and it’s ready for a good pot next spring. I have one in mind...

 

[Thomas J.]

You're so fortunate to be able to keep one in your growing zone seeing how you're in Georgia. Looks pretty healthy too.

 

[barrosinc]

Do you let moss creep up the trunk? It must be painful to lose hard earned white pine bark to moss

 

[Adair M]

You're so fortunate to be able to keep one in your growing zone seeing how you're in Georgia. Looks pretty healthy too.

I live in NE Georgia. Higher altitude and cooler than Atlanta. My JWP thrive!

I don’t fertilize them in the spring. I start fertilizing them now, early fall, to build strength for next spring.

 

[Adair M]

Do you let moss creep up the trunk? It must be painful to lose hard earned white pine bark to moss

Actually, this is a grafted tree. The trunk is JBP, and the foliage is JWP. This one has two grafts, the first low branch on the left is a graft, and then all the rest of the foliage is a second graft up higher.

I’m thinking that the original intent was to make a twin trunk. But the secondary trunk didn’t grow out well, and was chopped. Leaving a low branch. And a weird little back branch thingy. It doesn’t fit any rule or guideline, but it works somehow, adding interest to the tree.

Oh, the moss? I’ll get rid of it. The nebari needs a makeover. Lots of crossing roots, and it was raised in little round pots for a long time, it seems.

I acquired this tree from a guy last spring who was selling his collection so he could move to Japan.