Club hinoki butcher or progress..

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Up next is a Honiki Cypress I picked up in fall 2017 from a club member. It's foliage has ran a bit far from the trunk and I've been trying to maintain inner foliage while figuring out the final shape for this tree. I wired it right when I got it - one of my first big wiring sessions.

As acquired:



My first go at wiring this tree. Notably a better job than my second go.



By the late fall of 2018 it really had a puffball look to it. I also removed the wire too early.



In my second wiring session in late summer 2018 I used copper for the first time. I also tried to give it some kind of apex rather than a puffball. I probably removed a bit much. I posted this one here and was introduced to the wonderful Colin Lewis wiring tutorial in that thread!



Here it is today, wire was biting in so I removed it. I still can't get that left branch to lignify down. I think I may need to figure out a good method to guy wire it.




Hope some of you are getting enjoyment out of these novice progressions. I come from a very non horticultural background and I'm amazed that trees change seemingly fast and slow at the same time over a year.

 

[Vance Wood]

Love Hinokis and this one is starting to come along. What't the story behind the obsidian hand ax?

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Love Hinokis and this one is starting to come along. What't the story behind the obsidian hand ax?

Tourist kitsch from a trip to the Yucatan with my dad. Used to be part of those Aztec knives they sell everywhere.

 

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It was getting rather thick and really stretching its branches upward. I've noticed that new growth wants to whirl out of young branches. It resembles knots of growth at the ends of each branch. Not really sure how to deal with it, so i cleared out growth going straight up and tried to pick a few leaders out of each knot of growth around the bottom branches. I kept any foliage close to the trunk. Then I tried my hands at guy wires. Im happy with how i could lower the bottom branches.

Moving forward im going to watch this guy closer and do a better job of picking leaders out of each knot of growth. The goal is to chase some of that outer foliage inward if possible. May wire some of the upper branches in a fan and try to lower them to give the illusion of foliage growing lower out if the trunk. No idea how to fix the apex.