Hemlock questions.

[Javaman4373]

We have a foundation hemlock, which I think is some variety of dwarf hemlock for foundation plantings. Every year it takes a beating from ice falling off the roof and I have considered digging it up and putting in a grow pot. It has gotten too large to conveniently cover with a protective structure for the winter. The trump diameter is about 3 inches and most of the foliage is an umbrella like crown. My idea is to pot the plant and place it there for the summer and move it for the winter. My understanding is that hemlock doesn't back bud, so that has discouraged me from trying to develop it as a bonsai. If that is true and it would not be suitable for developing as a bonsai, I still may want to prune it and pot it. When is the best time to cut it back and lift it? It would be nice to get it out of there before winter.

 

[Javaman4373]

It seems from all that I have read that the best time to prune and cut back the hemlock is late winter. Therefore I will have to rig up some protection from falling ice this winter. Luckily I just got a supply of plywood pieces from my daughter I can frame up. So next spring I will have the plant cut back and perhaps lift it to a box.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Yes, late winter is the best time to dig up a landscape hemlock.

When you prune, you must leave some green on every branch you plan to keep. Prune a branch to the point where there are no green needles left, the branch dies.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I would do all the major & minor trimming this year. Even if you must lay on your back and roll around in the dirt, it will be able to utilize the whole in-tact root system to spend the winter and spring activating buds in all the right places and be more ready for excavation. You also will have the winter to look at it and fine-tune the design in your mind's eye.

 

[sorce]

I believe that bush is more valuable to you there, where it has proven healthy enough to hide that corner.

Sorce

 

[Javaman4373]

If I can reduce it to a size that is easy to protect from the falling ice, I would leave it there. Otherwise I would like to excavate it and replace it with something else.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Put a nice big Hosta there that will benefit from a snow pile and survive being dumped on and look beautiful in summer!

 

[Japonicus]

When you prune, you must leave some green on every branch you plan to keep.

Leo, what timing would you suggest here in this case.
Then, how about a little more refined instance, one early on in training
would it be pruned with the same timing?

My mind wanders to other conifers where foliage is left on for a couple years post collecting,
but some initial branch selection or other foliage reduction must be done in certain instances
prior to collecting. Even advantageous for moisture retention sake, balancing the foliage with roots.

We hear tsuga does not like having the roots worked. So would it be beneficial to lift all at once,
or to apply an extended lifting process like with some JM? Perhaps 2 or 3 years in a row working the roots down
could actually weaken the tree more than one go of it in late Winter.

 

[Javaman4373]

Put a nice big Hosta there that will benefit from a snow pile and survive being dumped on and look beautiful in summer!

Sounds like a plan. We do have a lot of deer here, but they don't come into the yard that much in summer. In winter though it can be a different story at night. Two winters ago, the deer completely defoliated a yew bush that was not protected with fencing.

 

[Javaman4373]

I would do all the major & minor trimming this year. Even if you must lay on your back and roll around in the dirt, it will be able to utilize the whole in-tact root system to spend the winter and spring activating buds in all the right places and be more ready for excavation. You also will have the winter to look at it and fine-tune the design in your mind's eye.

Do you meant do the pruning and trimming in late winter, and plan to excavate in spring a year later or do you mean before this winter, like in the fall as it goes into dormancy?

 

[ABCarve]

That looks like a Coles prostrate hemlock and a nice one. I've seen beautiful specimens of them both in a pot and in the ground. If it's too far along to put in a pot, you may just want to move it to place where it won't get beat up and more visible from all sides. You need to keep the under-story of them cleaned out to expose the structure of the tree. They can be a bit of work as they get bigger.

 

[Javaman4373]

That looks like a Coles prostrate hemlock and a nice one. I've seen beautiful specimens of them both in a pot and in the ground. If it's too far along to put in a pot, you may just want to move it to place where it won't get beat up and more visible from all sides. You need to keep the under-story of them cleaned out to expose the structure of the tree. They can be a bit of work as they get bigger.

The descriptions I find for Coles prostrate hemlock say it only grows to a height of 1 ft. This plant is a bit over 3 ft tall.

 

[penumbra]

This is a Coles Prostrate. It is about 26 - 28 inches tall. It was planted from a nursery pot 30 years ago.

This is a Sargents Weeping. It is also 30 years old from a nursery pot. It is about 10 feet tall.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Got deer? Forget Hosta. I mean do all the heavy pruning this fall so that you will do very little canopy work next spring when you lift the plant.

 

[ABCarve]

This is a Coles Prostrate. It is about 26 - 28 inches tall. It was planted from a nursery pot 30 years ago.
View attachment 325351
This is a Sargents Weeping. It is also 30 years old from a nursery pot. It is about 10 feet tall.
View attachment 325350

Interesting! My mother has a Coles that’s about the same age. It’s about 4-5 feet tall with an 8-10” trunk. The landscape guy got under it and cleaned out all the dead growth. It’s really nice! It would be even nicer if someone with a flare for bonsai would open it up some more. Too big a project for me.

 

[ABCarve]

The descriptions I find for Coles prostrate hemlock say it only grows to a height of 1 ft. This plant is a bit over 3 ft tall.

I have 2 in the ground that are about 8 years old and have apexes that are 2-1/2 feet. Not sure what that means . Maybe they were mid-labeled.

 

[penumbra]

I think with many dwarf conifers that the descriptions were made before anyone knew how the would react in different cultural conditions.

 

[Japonicus]

I have 2 in the ground that are about 8 years old and have apexes that are 2-1/2 feet. Not sure what that means . Maybe they were mid-labeled.

We had no less than 50 hemlock on our property, collected from a family farm in Ohio, assuming Canadensis.
One grew a good 80 85 ft tall and good girth maybe 18”, most were under 40’ at maturity though
but a couple just remained spindly though healthy, with a simple 6” girth and not as tall.
All collected wild and planted at the same time. There were not remarkable differences in lighting.
American Beech were pretty thick too, but refused to grow on the South side of the ridge.
20 ft up the North side of the ravine bam, big beech trees.

@Leo in N E Illinois did you miss my question on timing?

 

[penumbra]

Tsuga canadensis grows as a native tree on my property. In these wild trees I have seen little genetic variability but I only have a few dozen trees. Our soil is very poor, dry and shale based. They have changed very little in the 30 years I have been here. The large Sargents I showed is in good soil next to the house. It is fully 10 feet tall while 3 others in other locations are about 4 feet tall although planted at the same time. The Coles is in mediocre soil so growth has been exceedingly slow.

 

[ABCarve]

Tsuga canadensis grows as a native tree on my property. In these wild trees I have seen little genetic variability but I only have a few dozen trees. Our soil is very poor, dry and shale based. They have changed very little in the 30 years I have been here. The large Sargents I showed is in good soil next to the house. It is fully 10 feet tall while 3 others in other locations are about 4 feet tall although planted at the same time. The Coles is in mediocre soil so growth has been exceedingly slow.

Canadensis are like weeds around here........so far. It is my favorite, but I fear for the wooley adelgid. Don’t have it yet.