Ply
Mame
Perhaps the title should be which do you like better, since it's arguable a little subjective. But I'm wondering which, in your opinion, would be the better cultivar to get?
What makes you prefer Itoigawa?I love the bluish Kishu foliage but a good quality Itoigawa is unbeatable, the king of all junipers
Interesting Colin Lewis prefered Kishu. Would've been interesting to hear his reasoning.I don't have experience with either yet, but I jokingly asked Colin Lewis this question, and he said Kishu. I didn't get into why.
Edit: here's a good post from @Brian Van Fleet about them:
Much ado about Shimpaku…and Itoigawa and Kishu Juniper
These three popular regional varieties of Juniperus chinensis are discussed often, but rarely are their features compared. A few good articles exist that describe them, including Brent’s site, as …nebaribonsai.wordpress.com
I prefer the foliage color and texture of the Itoigawa. The foliage “Balling up” on a kishu doesn’t make it harder to style, just requires a slightly different approach to trimming foliage back. Of my entire collection, if I could only keep one tree, it would be my itoigawa from Evergreen Gardenworks. It is not a standout on the bench, but for some reason it has remained my favorite. It has provided lots of cuttings, and a few are finally getting fat in the ground. Kishu is much slower to trunk up, and more susceptible to spider mites. The real drawbacks of itoigawa are the reversion to juvenile foliage and the slight reluctance to back-bud.Interesting Colin Lewis prefered Kishu. Would've been interesting to hear his reasoning.
Yes I had read the @Brian Van Fleet resource, it's a good overview. He has a follow up with a little more info on the two cultivars.
Just wondering if others, or Brian himself, have something to add. Not just in the texture and color of the foliage but also vigour, growth, health, trunk thickening etc etc. And the 'balling up' BVF mentions, does this make it harder to style the tree? Brian also mentions Itoigawa seems a little more in favor right now in Japan, wondering why.
@Brian,I prefer the foliage color and texture of the Itoigawa. The foliage “Balling up” on a kishu doesn’t make it harder to style, just requires a slightly different approach to trimming foliage back. Of my entire collection, if I could only keep one tree, it would be my itoigawa from Evergreen Gardenworks. It is not a standout on the bench, but for some reason it has remained my favorite. It has provided lots of cuttings, and a few are finally getting fat in the ground. Kishu is much slower to trunk up, and more susceptible to spider mites. The real drawbacks of itoigawa are the reversion to juvenile foliage and the slight reluctance to back-bud.
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I bought a rare ‘Kiyozuru’ a few years ago from Chikugo-en, and the foliage color is great, but the texture is different from itoigawa. One day I’ll post more about that cultivar. I’m growing it out a little for some cuttings.
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Ive seen both in person and Itoigawa always had an overall better quality and look to it, I entirely dont know how explain it but is the perception I hadWhat makes you prefer Itoigawa?
Sorry, no idea. The only history I can find on the Kiyozuru cultivar begins and ends at Chikugo-en, so if you find anything, let me know. Even Gary Ishii didn’t know where his father acquired it, but his mother was able to identify the cultivar immediately. Gary said he didn’t have many left, and had a hard time telling them apart from itoigawa unless he looks closely.@Brian,
Any chance you know/can find how that 'Kiyozuru' is written in Japanese? I've searched every combination of Kanji I can think of and can't find it. The texture looks similar to the Juniper that a lot of people use for hedges out here, but much smaller. My best guess is 清鶴, but that didn't yield any bonsai-related results.
I'm trying to build my collection of 'weird' shinpaku. Been looking for some of the gold variety itoigawa, as well variegated itoigawa as well. Would love to get my hands on some of this as well.