Hinoki Cypress 1 Progression

[Paradox]

That’s interesting about timing. Read on an another article on Hinoki is that the best time to style is fall. Always seems so counter productive to do that type of work in fall.

Styling yes you can do some of that work in the fall.
Grafting maybe not so much. If you can protect the tree from freezing, a fall graft might work, otherwise spring is best.
I know Ryan Neil does grafting on pines in the fall but he says you need to really protect them from freezing.

 

[Shogun610]

wait, you have a teacher? i wouldnt have guessed.

Nice Hinoki, Coh.

What does that mean? I can’t ask the dude every time I’m apprenticing and working on his stuff , things about mine so I use this as another resource.

 

[Hartinez]

wait, you have a teacher? i wouldnt have guessed.

Nice Hinoki, Coh.

Dam Bobby! Throwing down the sick burns huh?!?! Rough morning? Or evening?

 

[Shogun610]

Dam Bobby! Throwing down the sick burns huh?!?! Rough morning? Or evening?

That’s fine , negative people only fuel me to exceed and become better than those who criticize anyway .. sorry to throw off the thread.

 

[BobbyLane]

What does that mean? I can’t ask the dude every time I’m apprenticing and working on his stuff , things about mine so I use this as another resource.

one of the best resources going.

 

[BobbyLane]

That’s fine , negative people only fuel me to exceed and become better than those who criticize anyway .. sorry to throw off the thread.

yeh was trying to avoid that.

not sure how you thought i was being negative. i was just making an observation and wasnt being rude.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

yeh was trying to avoid that.

not sure how you thought i was being negative. i was just making an observation and wasnt being rude.

Sounded negative to me too!

 

[Shogun610]

yeh was trying to avoid that.

not sure how you thought i was being negative. i was just making an observation and wasnt being rude.

No worries I prob misread.

 

[coh]

I think nursery Hinoki can be managed pretty well if styled correctly. If the pads are layered proper, leggy branches can work. I know this image is from a tree Bjorn just did, and his skills are next level, but you can see in the pic how long some of the branches are before the pads even start. It works though because they all leave the trunk at about the same angle and are laid out very nicely with one another. These trees are both from nursery stock.View attachment 387797View attachment 387798

Sorry for the delayed response, forgot about this post. Those are beautiful trees. However, they are BIG. When you have stock that is that tall with lots of branches, you have a lot of options for what you can do. Those leggy branches can be pulled down and placed in such a way that it looks realistic (old conifers often have long leggy drooping branches). However, for stock that is shorter and/or with fewer branches (like mine), that doesn't work so well. The tree that was posted by @Shogun610 has additional problems - the trunk is both short AND thin, so having leggy branches with foliage far out from the trunk really makes the trunk look small (and thus the tree looks small). Pulling the branches way down and getting the foliage in closer might help. Mine at least has a decent trunk thickness but is still hindered by how short it is and the sparse branching. I don't think there's much I can do other than grafting, otherwise it will just expand forever and become really ridiculous looking.

As an aside, I'm always on the lookout for hinoki stock like these...taller, decent trunk size, lots of branches. They're not easy to find. The one I got was a compromise.

 

[Hartinez]

Sorry for the delayed response, forgot about this post. Those are beautiful trees. However, they are BIG. When you have stock that is that tall with lots of branches, you have a lot of options for what you can do. Those leggy branches can be pulled down and placed in such a way that it looks realistic (old conifers often have long leggy drooping branches). However, for stock that is shorter and/or with fewer branches (like mine), that doesn't work so well. The tree that was posted by @Shogun610 has additional problems - the trunk is both short AND thin, so having leggy branches with foliage far out from the trunk really makes the trunk look small (and thus the tree looks small). Pulling the branches way down and getting the foliage in closer might help. Mine at least has a decent trunk thickness but is still hindered by how short it is and the sparse branching. I don't think there's much I can do other than grafting, otherwise it will just expand forever and become really ridiculous looking.

As an aside, I'm always on the lookout for hinoki stock like these...taller, decent trunk size, lots of branches. They're not easy to find. The one I got was a compromise.

Yeah I def agree with that. I’m partially just try to get the idea out of newer folks head that lots of options can be considered when presented with leggy branches. I do agree that Bjorns trees are much bigger with much more choice, but leggy branches aren’t always the kiss of death even on smaller less branch populated trees. What you suggested to shogun is a very similar direction I’d take and I think it’s a good one. I would even consider completely killing off that second trunk. In favor of a taller more slender tree with a decent amount of Jin and Shari. It would open up the possibility to really drop some of those longer branches and layer pads accordingly.

with your tree, I know you see more than I do from your angle, but the images you presented show a very healthy seemingly well balanced tree. Are all of the branches similar to the photo 3 branch you showed? Or is that the only one with the problem? Do you think the overall image would improve with quite a bit more of detail wiring?

I’ve got a Hinoki thread myself on a BNB Hinoki i started this year. In my case my issues are, lack of taper, a graft at the base (which I know is typical) and too many branches! I also settled a bit in my desire for a healthy Hinoki. I’ve got some long term plans, but I don’t want to hijack your thread, so I’ll just link the thread Here.