Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis'

[RKatzin]

This is a Japanese White Cedar. I have four of these Spiralis that I'm working on. The pics run backward, most recent first. This is the first I got back in '08, typical nursery stock tree and back then it was welcome to Club Frankenstein. I cut alot more than I should have, typical mistake I made with most trees then was to give them a good razing right out of the gate.

This ones been real slow about giving anything back. That little sprig in the middle of the top extention is three yrs growing. I see it as the eventual top so I'm nurturing it.

The foliage on this tree is very prickly, it's like velcro. It sticks to itself and grows curly and inward creating huge clumps of foliage. You have to dig in there and sort out the stems like most conifer, thinning down to one per whorl and staggered up the limb. The limbs are pretty uniformly tubular at first, but develop taper as the stems grow out.

They do not, from my experience, heal prunning wounds. The original cuts are still on the trunk, but you can see stubs from later prunning. Deadwood is very resilient and lasts a long time.

This is one of my 'professor' trees and it's taught me alot about Cryptomeria, but lesson numero uno, you can't put it back, even after you know better. As I gather intel I'm thinking, well now, maybe you can. I have some others that I may try some approach grafts to fill in.??


next....

 

[RKatzin]

Cryptomeria japonica 'Spiralis' garden style

Here's three I picked up as ailing orphanes three years back. I'd had a few lessons on these so I gave them a prime front row seat in the full sun section. The third pic shows them (bottom left) right after planting in '11.

I have been slowing working them back to good vigor and just recently began removing some foliage and thinning the stem population. This fall I need to move them to a box for transport to our new site. I know they look terrible in the last pic, but that is normal for this tree. They were almost orange after the freezes we had this winter and in this pic they're greening up again.

I have some pics of trunks and limbs, but they are lost after sorting all my pics. I will get some new. Out in the full sun they have regained all their strength and backbud all over and give plenty of material to work with. Like most nursery stock, you end up cutting away most of the existing limbs and growing from what is left. These are a bit unusual, but once you get them under control they pretty easy care trees. That's my story, and I'm stickin to it, Rick

 

[Neli]

Looking good. Lots of promise.

 

[RKatzin]

Here's a couple of pics of the garden trees:
Sorry for the quality of the pics, it's very hard for me to get good pics out there. The sun is always in the wrong place or the other trees are in the way.

I think I have a single trunk, a clump, and a double trunk.