AppleBonsai
Shohin
I picked this up as one of the first group of nursery trees I got moving up here to Portland about three years ago from No. Cal. I was actually still not moved here, but I needed to be here for my job in advance of moving my precious bonsai trees- oh and my kids... and wife...
So new city and job, by myself...without kids... What else does a married guy do to fill time after work hours with one of his first weeks in Portland? Go to the Striiii... I mean- nursery- yes NURSERY looking for some pre-bonsai gems of course! I was especially excited to move to "bonsai heaven" to be closer to Iseli and hopefully more varieties/selection with local retail nurseries that would stock them- as you can only buy wholesale. Well not only did that turn out to be true the selection was much greater, but they were about 1/3 less here than I was used to seeing in No. Cal. This guy and a group of squatty overgrown spruce and one cryptomeria caught my eye... The nursery had them for several years already and it showed. The spruce's were brown- but enough alive, but it was apparent all were very root-bound- but like other root- bound material you CAN find tree "naturally" stunted and sporting some convincing trunks and taper!
Seeing the something special about this guy- oh yes the aging, flakey and well-tapered trunk! I bought it and the nursery staff kindly put this and a few other spruce in their backlot as "waiting for customer pick up". After taking this to my new home it promptly rained for 4 weeks straight and then snowed- up to nearly a foot and blanketed by backyard and all my trees. Well everything made it- even the olives and poms. The hinoki was unfazed, but I stared at it and NOTHING appeared to me as an option- just a bush really- beautiful but a bush nonetheless. So spring 2017 was repotted to get it out of most of what was left of the nursery soil- It was SOLID like a rock. I spent near an hour just doing the initial root work on it's pint sized root mass and potted it up and my soil mix. I didn't apparently see this guy was going to be anything anytime soon- so it went into the cheapest worse pot ever! But over the last couple years it's just looked better and better into spring and held it's remarkable foliage through summer each year without a hitch. Still no idea what to do with it- styling hinoki can be a bit over-whelming as any little error might cost you forever- not like a JBP where mistakes or damage always seems to open up new options and back-budding. Well I dove into the mass of foliage finally a week ago- tried to find the best branching- most decisions were a lot easier than I expected. There were clear woody branches and everything else was growing up laterally or just weak inner growth. I still stared at it an couldn't find a front... Finally it appeared last night. I wasn't even looking but I went out to garage for something and looked over I finally SAW the tree and this was the result... Noting I left more foliage than I wanted, but will present some further options as it advances these will be simplified over time I'm sure- but it looks a little congested at the moment.
Iseli Chamaecyparis obtusa gemstone
So new city and job, by myself...without kids... What else does a married guy do to fill time after work hours with one of his first weeks in Portland? Go to the Striiii... I mean- nursery- yes NURSERY looking for some pre-bonsai gems of course! I was especially excited to move to "bonsai heaven" to be closer to Iseli and hopefully more varieties/selection with local retail nurseries that would stock them- as you can only buy wholesale. Well not only did that turn out to be true the selection was much greater, but they were about 1/3 less here than I was used to seeing in No. Cal. This guy and a group of squatty overgrown spruce and one cryptomeria caught my eye... The nursery had them for several years already and it showed. The spruce's were brown- but enough alive, but it was apparent all were very root-bound- but like other root- bound material you CAN find tree "naturally" stunted and sporting some convincing trunks and taper!
Seeing the something special about this guy- oh yes the aging, flakey and well-tapered trunk! I bought it and the nursery staff kindly put this and a few other spruce in their backlot as "waiting for customer pick up". After taking this to my new home it promptly rained for 4 weeks straight and then snowed- up to nearly a foot and blanketed by backyard and all my trees. Well everything made it- even the olives and poms. The hinoki was unfazed, but I stared at it and NOTHING appeared to me as an option- just a bush really- beautiful but a bush nonetheless. So spring 2017 was repotted to get it out of most of what was left of the nursery soil- It was SOLID like a rock. I spent near an hour just doing the initial root work on it's pint sized root mass and potted it up and my soil mix. I didn't apparently see this guy was going to be anything anytime soon- so it went into the cheapest worse pot ever! But over the last couple years it's just looked better and better into spring and held it's remarkable foliage through summer each year without a hitch. Still no idea what to do with it- styling hinoki can be a bit over-whelming as any little error might cost you forever- not like a JBP where mistakes or damage always seems to open up new options and back-budding. Well I dove into the mass of foliage finally a week ago- tried to find the best branching- most decisions were a lot easier than I expected. There were clear woody branches and everything else was growing up laterally or just weak inner growth. I still stared at it an couldn't find a front... Finally it appeared last night. I wasn't even looking but I went out to garage for something and looked over I finally SAW the tree and this was the result... Noting I left more foliage than I wanted, but will present some further options as it advances these will be simplified over time I'm sure- but it looks a little congested at the moment.
Iseli Chamaecyparis obtusa gemstone
