Italian Cypress Yardadori?

[Punky]

Last year we bought a house with seven young Cupressus sempervirens in poor locations for a large tree (the ones in full sun grew 4+ feet, others at least 2 ft this year). I cannot let them get to full size on our small suburban lot, so I figured I can bonsai them, right? They are all under 12 ft with skinny trunks for bonsai. My questions are:

Anybody successfully use Italian Cypress for bonsai? Is it a futile effort?

If this is suitable material I was thinking of giving them one more year of growth before my first chop, but I’m a little nervous that if I wait too long they will lose the low branches and it will be hard to get them back. Do these back if well? Do they handle heavy pruning (a “trunk chop” leaving a handful of the lowest branches with a decent amount of foliage)?

Any tips, including advising against wasting my time, will be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[Punky]

 

[0soyoung]

Italian cypress are interesting to me in certain landscape situations - extremely narrow and tall naturally. The only thing I could ever think to do with them was to make a forest plating that would imitate those landscapes - more akin to penjing than to bonsai. It really hasn't grabbed my interest.

What do you like about them?
How do you see making a bonsai from one? Chop and grow to make it grow with something other than an arrow-straight trunk? Or use the straight trunk as a feature of an unusual literati (maybe a pole with a Sideshow Bob haircut)?
What do you want to create of it/them?


btw, this hobby is totally a waste of time.
It happens to be my favorite way to waste my time.

 

[FedericoMelis]

Francesco Santini » Cipresso kengai

www.francescosantini.it

 

[Punky]

Italian cypress are interesting to me in certain landscape situations - extremely narrow and tall naturally. The only thing I could ever think to do with them was to make a forest plating that would imitate those landscapes - more akin to penjing than to bonsai. It really hasn't grabbed my interest.

What do you like about them?
How do you see making a bonsai from one? Chop and grow to make it grow with something other than an arrow-straight trunk? Or use the straight trunk as a feature of an unusual literati (maybe a pole with a Sideshow Bob haircut)?
What do you want to create of it/them?


btw, this hobby is totally a waste of time.
It happens to be my favorite way to waste my time.

This is totally the best way to waste time. My wife gets a little annoyed but then I remind her it’s better than cocaine and hookers. I’m lucky because she laughs instead of packing my suitcase.

The number one draw to these is that they are free material growing in my yard, and they will have to be relocated or discarded soon because they are too close to fences and other features. A couple are sad looking because they are in full shade. The previous owner was a brilliant artist but did not understand how plants change as they grow and it them in less than ideal locations.

If I do pursue these specimen I would probably let them get almost too tall while keeping an eye on the low branches (possibly wiring some shape into thsoonish) and chop and build a tree from there. They would probably be relatively tall and skinny due to their heritage, but some of the current low branches would eventually become the main trunk to add interest. Even side branches grow nearly vertical without wiring. On some I would fight that and aim for radical shape. Others I would let grow more naturally to their type.

I would consider a forest, except I understand those are some of the most difficult to create. I will probably focus on one or two at a time over many years, kill a few, like a few, and give away a few. If I still have material for a forest at that time, hopefully I’ll have the skill to execute it.

Thanks you for replying.

 

[Punky]

Francesco Santini » Cipresso kengai

www.francescosantini.it

Thank you!!! I would say there is definitely some potential in the species. I might replant one at an angle to work on a cool nebari like that.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

The common cypres can make really good bonsai, they are extremely hardy and fast growers; with pinching they can make very tight foliage almost like itoigawa and backbuding profusely and without the juvenile foliage of the junipers. The fastigiata (columnar) form its very dominant apical-grower so just trim it more frecuently in the upper parts and the apex encouraging the low growth

 

[Dan92119]

I can’t remember his name but there is U.K. guy that has a YouTube video with what I believe is an Italian cypress. It’s much bigger than yours though. Graham something?? The main trunk is dead wood and it has the branches as the main part of the tree.

 

[Dan92119]

. Graham Potter

 

[Punky]

Thank you so much for your responses! I feel much better about my chances of making something nice. I still have several years of growing them out ahead of me, but now I feel more comfortable spending some time studying them and developing plans.

 

[jradics]

Last year we bought a house with seven young Cupressus sempervirens in poor locations for a large tree (the ones in full sun grew 4+ feet, others at least 2 ft this year). I cannot let them get to full size on our small suburban lot, so I figured I can bonsai them, right? They are all under 12 ft with skinny trunks for bonsai. My questions are:

Anybody successfully use Italian Cypress for bonsai? Is it a futile effort?

If this is suitable material I was thinking of giving them one more year of growth before my first chop, but I’m a little nervous that if I wait too long they will lose the low branches and it will be hard to get them back. Do these back if well? Do they handle heavy pruning (a “trunk chop” leaving a handful of the lowest branches with a decent amount of foliage)?

Any tips, including advising against wasting my time, will be appreciated.
Thanks.

I would take 2/3 of the height off now. Let the plant put energy into what you are more likely to keep