New nursery stock Hinoki Cypress

[JLBonsai]

Hello all,

Thought I'd share my new Noki I got this Memorial Day. Went to my local nursery just looking around and ended up in the "sale section" aka dieing trees and shrubs. This tree was listed at $145, sale price at $40 and talked them down to $30. Steal in my mind!! I have some pictures below, two large braches coming from the base where completely dead, I cut these off before leaving so not to get my car dirty with dead tree parts. Other pics will show the tree after some pruning, any branches coming from the same spot or anything growing straight up was removed. Also did some light wiring of the smaller branches to open everything up. I understand Hinoki's do not back bud so I would love some comments and suggestions anyone has!! This tree is about 2 feet tall and about about a 2 1/2 inch trunk with pretty nice taper.

Thanks!

-Josh-

 

[Nybonsai12]

I have all of one Hinoki so take my opinion lightly. Here is what I know from mine. Full sun, lots and lots of water, mine likes to drink plenty. Little to no back budding so try and manage what foliage you have well. I think it is probably too late for a repot for you now. I did mine earlier this spring. Winter winds will destroy foliage. Cold temps not nearly as bad as the winds, first year I kept it outside horrible dieback, last year in the shed and none at all. Keep it safe from wind and you should be alright.

Will you be able to bend the trunk or are you going for formal upright? Hopefully October can chime in with some advice as well as he has been very helpful to me with my hinoki(and many other species as well). He has a beautiful bunjin.

 

[JLBonsai]

I have all of one Hinoki so take my opinion lightly. Here is what I know from mine. Full sun, lots and lots of water, mine likes to drink plenty. Little to no back budding so try and manage what foliage you have well. I think it is probably too late for a repot for you now. I did mine earlier this spring. Winter winds will destroy foliage. Cold temps not nearly as bad as the winds, first year I kept it outside horrible dieback, last year in the shed and none at all. Keep it safe from wind and you should be alright.

Will you be able to bend the trunk or are you going for formal upright? Hopefully October can chime in with some advice as well as he has been very helpful to me with my hinoki(and many other species as well). He has a beautiful bunjin.

Thank you, I appreciate the advice!! Definitely going to wait to repot until next year, really just wanted to clean it up and get some light in. At first I was definitely thinking informal upright, right now I feel the branches have a little to much space in between. I also have some larger lower branches that I feel need to go. I can see they will create some reverse taper if left alone.

 

[RKatzin]

Hi Josh, I have a few Hinoki and I am learning as well. After killing my first several I think I've come to terms with this tree. I will say what I have learned so far, but I am by no means the expert here.

Don't cut, don't cut, don't cut! Cherish every bit of foliage on this tree as it will produce more very reluctently. Veeeery slow movers these guys are.

Once the apex is broken, chopped or otherwise removed, that's it, that trunk is what you got. You won't see it change for many years. Whatever branches there are is what you get to work with.

Trimming and prunning must be done very selectively and over a long period of time. You can not just wack off big chunks of foliage all at once. Take small bits over the whole growing period. If you outpace this tree it will give up the race. Forget the one third rule.

Give plenty of time for recuperation. As far as I can tell Hinoki dislike any messing around with their roots. They sulk for years after repotting and root prunning and like the tops the roots must be trimmed up a little at a time. Don't get in a hurry to get them into a smaller pot. Give them plenty of room and leave them alone as much as possible. That alone makes them fairly difficult trees.LOL

Hence it is very rewarding when your Hinoki is pushing out new sprays and keeps a nice green color all season. After getting my butt kicked a few times by these I'm very happy to have several doing well. Lots of food and don't think about letting them dry out. They do well in shade, a bit slower and greener than the ones in the full sun. I have a standard C. obtusa I'm working towards a literati and five of the C. gracalis that are just growing out for now.

Take your time, lots of time, and these are wonderful trees. Get in a hurry and you will lose it. That's what I know about Hinoki. Sincerly, Rick

 

[october]

This is very nice Hinoki material. Just some thoughts I have about it. I see some natural yellow on the foliage. This might be a variety that produces golden tips. Usually, these are not used for bonsai because the yellow tips sort of throw off the overall aethetics. However, even if it is, you could have an interesting bonsai.

Hinoki bonsai are best styled with a natural look. For example, no harsh or crazy curves. These trees grow straight or with subtle curves in nature, so they translate best into bonsai if kept how they are in nature. I see 2 natural and easy designs for this tree. However, to start, you need to pick a side that has a good base and no reverse taper. However, if the branches are not in the right places, try to find a happy medium between the branches and the base. Keep almost all the branches and leave quite a few back branches. One design would be to keep the small second trunk emerging from the main trunk and incorporate it into the design. use both trunks to create one image. Like in the first virt I provided. The second would be to remove that small trunk and work with what you have.Llike in the second virt. This year, I would concentrate on pulling all the branches down so that have a nice, subtle swoop. Even if you only get them down like 50-60% of the way and then next year pull them down even more.

I hope this was helpful

Rob

 

[JLBonsai]

This is very nice Hinoki material. Just some thoughts I have about it. I see some natural yellow on the foliage. This might be a variety that produces golden tips. Usually, these are not used for bonsai because the yellow tips sort of throw off the overall aethetics. However, even if it is, you could have an interesting bonsai.

Hinoki bonsai are best styled with a natural look. For example, no harsh or crazy curves. These trees grow straight or with subtle curves in nature, so they translate best into bonsai if kept how they are in nature. I see 2 natural and easy designs for this tree. However, to start, you need to pick a side that has a good base and no reverse taper. However, if the branches are not in the right places, try to find a happy medium between the branches and the base. Keep almost all the branches and leave quite a few back branches. One design would be to keep the small second trunk emerging from the main trunk and incorporate it into the design. use both trunks to create one image. Like in the first virt I provided. The second would be to remove that small trunk and work with what you have.Llike in the second virt. This year, I would concentrate on pulling all the branches down so that have a nice, subtle swoop. Even if you only get them down like 50-60% of the way and then next year pull them down even more.

I hope this was helpful

Rob

Thank you, unfortunately my 2nd trunk was part of the already dead part when I purchased the tree so I think your 2nd vert is where I'll have to go. I'll work on the branches like you mention and see where that takes me. Also this was tagged as a dwarf golden hinoki, which would explain the gold tips.

Thank you again, all help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[JLBonsai]

Hi Josh, I have a few Hinoki and I am learning as well. After killing my first several I think I've come to terms with this tree. I will say what I have learned so far, but I am by no means the expert here.

Don't cut, don't cut, don't cut! Cherish every bit of foliage on this tree as it will produce more very reluctently. Veeeery slow movers these guys are.

Once the apex is broken, chopped or otherwise removed, that's it, that trunk is what you got. You won't see it change for many years. Whatever branches there are is what you get to work with.

Trimming and prunning must be done very selectively and over a long period of time. You can not just wack off big chunks of foliage all at once. Take small bits over the whole growing period. If you outpace this tree it will give up the race. Forget the one third rule.

Give plenty of time for recuperation. As far as I can tell Hinoki dislike any messing around with their roots. They sulk for years after repotting and root prunning and like the tops the roots must be trimmed up a little at a time. Don't get in a hurry to get them into a smaller pot. Give them plenty of room and leave them alone as much as possible. That alone makes them fairly difficult trees.LOL

Hence it is very rewarding when your Hinoki is pushing out new sprays and keeps a nice green color all season. After getting my butt kicked a few times by these I'm very happy to have several doing well. Lots of food and don't think about letting them dry out. They do well in shade, a bit slower and greener than the ones in the full sun. I have a standard C. obtusa I'm working towards a literati and five of the C. gracalis that are just growing out for now.

Take your time, lots of time, and these are wonderful trees. Get in a hurry and you will lose it. That's what I know about Hinoki. Sincerly, Rick

Thanks for the advice, I think I hurt myself by taking a little to much foliage off. Hopefully I can manipulate the branching so that it doesn't look bad. With reading how they will brown out if not enough sun reaches the inner that I went a little overboard. Good thing is I really only took off branches that where not pleasing to the eye anyway.

 

[M. Frary]

Some branches will have to come off eventually anyway. As long as you make sure to take only unneeded limbs off. If you check some old threads by Rick Moquin on this forum you will find a wealth of information on hinokis. Like taming all of that foliage. That's where I needed help.
They are one of my favorite bonsai subjects.