Ponderosa pine yamadori

[aml1014]

Hey nuts!
Today I got a package that I couldn't wait for, a yamadori ponderosa pine from @arcina . It has a 5 inch base . This thing is amazing and very old. It has a few ways that it can go, I'll study it and decide whether I'll style next month, or next autumn.
Here's some pictures of the tree.
Lots of branching to work with
And look at the difference between natural needles and the new ones after collection, obviously a very healthy tree.
Like my sandals and socks? Lmfao
This tree was collected in a pumice Crack and is easily my oldest tree, I wish my pictures could do it justice.
@arcina has a lot of great trees for great prices, check out his website if you haven't http://www.chobonsaiyamadori.com/#/pine.
Thanks for looking!

Aaron

 

[PiñonJ]

Hey nuts!
Today I got a package that I couldn't wait for, a yamadori ponderosa pine from @arcina . It has a 5 inch base . This thing is amazing and very old. It has a few ways that it can go, I'll study it and decide whether I'll style next month, or next autumn.
Here's some pictures of the tree.View attachment 117779 View attachment 117780 View attachment 117781
Lots of branching to work withView attachment 117782
And look at the difference between natural needles and the new ones after collection, obviously a very healthy tree.View attachment 117783
Like my sandals and socks? Lmfao
This tree was collected in a pumice Crack and is easily my oldest tree, I wish my pictures could do it justice.
@arcina has a lot of great trees for great prices, check out his website if you haven't http://www.chobonsaiyamadori.com/#/pine.
Thanks for looking!

Aaron

This one has quite a story to tell.

 

[aml1014]

This one has quite a story to tell.

He actually sent me a picture of the tree still in the crack.
Looks like one hell of a collecting spot!

Aaron

 

[Craigm]

Nice mate, plenty of Character there.

 

[Dav4]

Cool tree! I have to say that the support wire that's wrapped around the lower trunk surprises me because it's wrapped around the trunk where the oldest bark resides. That bark is gold and damaging it will take years to fix. If it's still loose in the box, I'd fashion a different method of holding it in place, probably using the deadwood and jins. Also, don't be in too much of a rush to work it. I'd want it to be growing strongly for at least 2 years post collection before any work is done...has to be close to 100 years old, so respect that and enjoy it.

 

[aml1014]

Cool tree! I have to say that the support wire that's wrapped around the lower trunk surprises me because it's wrapped around the trunk where the oldest bark resides. That bark is gold and damaging it will take years to fix. If it's still loose in the box, I'd fashion a different method of holding it in place, probably using the deadwood and jins. Also, don't be in too much of a rush to work it. I'd want it to be growing strongly for at least 2 years post collection before any work is done...has to be close to 100 years old, so respect that and enjoy it.

I was thinking that I'd leave it alone this year and five it one more as you said. Surprisingly that bark is very tough and won't come off easy so luckily there's no damage. He estimated it to be at least 120 if not more, based on the area it was collected and the characer it shows for that area. Since it was growing in a Crack basically the entire root system was recovered and the tree has some CRAZY long needles this year. I'll do a first styling next autumn and a possible repot in spring of 2018 to start reducing the rootball.

Aaron

 

[Potawatomi13]

Hey nuts!
Today I got a package that I couldn't wait for, a yamadori ponderosa pine from @arcina . It has a 5 inch base . This thing is amazing and very old. It has a few ways that it can go, I'll study it and decide whether I'll style next month, or next autumn.
Here's some pictures of the tree.View attachment 117779 View attachment 117780 View attachment 117781
Lots of branching to work withView attachment 117782
And look at the difference between natural needles and the new ones after collection, obviously a very healthy tree.View attachment 117783
Like my sandals and socks? Lmfao
This tree was collected in a pumice Crack and is easily my oldest tree, I wish my pictures could do it justice.
@arcina has a lot of great trees for great prices, check out his website if you haven't http://www.chobonsaiyamadori.com/#/pine.
Thanks for looking!

Aaron

Studied this tree MANY times from all angles. Still shown for sale on site. Great tree, great deal! Andy Smith says not to do any work on these for at least 2 years after collection. All needles are needed to collect sun and make food for roots as well. Take all needed time as these limbs stay flexible for some time(no need to hurry). Personally have 10 Yamadori Ponderosa from 4 different sources both small and fairly large and repotted first 5 this spring. All have done well. Looking to buy one or two trees from Alvaro soon when can make contact by phone. Congrats!

 

[aml1014]

Studied this tree MANY times from all angles. Still shown for sale on site. Great tree, great deal! Andy Smith says not to do any work on these for at least 2 years after collection. All needles are needed to collect sun and make food for roots as well. Take all needed time as these limbs stay flexible for some time(no need to hurry). Personally have 10 Yamadori Ponderosa from 4 different sources both small and fairly large and repotted first 5 this spring. All have done well. Looking to buy one or two trees from Alvaro soon when can make contact by phone. Congrats!

I guess it could still be for sale, but I guarantee I wouldn't be nearly as generous as Alvaro, this thing is my BABY now!
I've personally had good success working ponderosa pines not only the year after collection but the same year as collection, these things are tough as nails. The 10 ponderosa pines I've collected don't even amount close to this thing, and probably took work very quickly because they are much younger 10-70 year old range.
This tree being how old it is and what it's been through in life , deserves the absolute utmost respect. So I definitely will not be rushing this one!
Don't hesitate to get a tree from alvaro, the trees I've gotten from him are so amazing that pictures really can't do them any good. He also will reserve trees if you make a down payment.

Aaron

 

[aml1014]

So going over the tree today, I noticed that on every branch the average growth per year for a long time has been in the 1/8" to 1-4" range.
Also at every spot the trunk makes a subtle movement, there was once obviously a leader that died and a side branch continued
There's also a nice shari, that appears to have been caused by the tree bending over itself and strangling that section.
This tree very well could be even older then originally thought, but I'll never know for sure.

Aaron

 

[arcina]

Cool tree! I have to say that the support wire that's wrapped around the lower trunk surprises me because it's wrapped around the trunk where the oldest bark resides. That bark is gold and damaging it will take years to fix. If it's still loose in the box, I'd fashion a different method of holding it in place, probably using the deadwood and jins. Also, don't be in too much of a rush to work it. I'd want it to be growing strongly for at least 2 years post collection before any work is done...has to be close to 100 years old, so respect that and enjoy it.

I know it is a little risky with the bark but I am always very concerned with the tree moving and the feeder roots breaking. Shipping large trees is risky. This Ponderosa Pine is actually a sub-specie called Arizona Pine. You can get from 3 to 5 needles and the needles are very thin. They grow really slow because lack of water. They only get water during the summer. It is a ponderosa suited for warmer and hotter environments. In TX, it grows very strong.

 

[LanceMac10]

Great trunk and bark here!! Nice socks and sandals, sometimes you need both, don't know why, just do.....

Needles though, look at 'em, there huge! Good luck and stick with it, tree has some character. I've no experience with them, but look real sweet!

 

[Adair M]

I know it is a little risky with the bark but I am always very concerned with the tree moving and the feeder roots breaking. Shipping large trees is risky. This Ponderosa Pine is actually a sub-specie called Arizona Pine. You can get from 3 to 5 needles and the needles are very thin. They grow really slow because lack of water. They only get water during the summer. It is a ponderosa suited for warmer and hotter environments. In TX, it grows very strong.

Instead of the wire, to stabilize the tree in the box, I would use a wood prop or two. A 1x1 would be perfect.

The long needles are indicating it's growing. Putting out roots! Which is a good thing!

How long ago was it collected? This information is really important to know. @arcina, you say you've been successful training early, but for us mere mortals, the best practice is to let it get adjusted to container living for two years. Then begin the process of removing the duff it was living in with half bare root repots. THEN begin styling the foliage.

 

[LanceMac10]

The long needles are indicating it's growing. Putting out roots! Which is a good thing!

But will they ever reduce living the good life in a container filled with optimum soil conditions?

 

[abqjoe]

Badass tree buddy, can't wait to see it! Are you taking it over to Connie's in the morning?

 

[aml1014]

But will they ever reduce living the good life in a container filled with optimum soil conditions?

With proper watering and fertilizing yes, there's also the oh so wonderful energy disdribution that needs to be balanced.
@Adair M that's me who said I've had success with early training, but these trees I've done it to are between 10-50 years, anything older I leave alone for awhile.
Also this tree was collected September of 2015, so it's been one year in its pot.

Aaron

 

[aml1014]

Badass tree buddy, can't wait to see it! Are you taking it over to Connie's in the morning?

Probably not, this one would be a bitch to stabilize in my car lol but I have many pictures already

Aaron

 

[arcina]

Instead of the wire, to stabilize the tree in the box, I would use a wood prop or two. A 1x1 would be perfect.

The long needles are indicating it's growing. Putting out roots! Which is a good thing!

How long ago was it collected? This information is really important to know. @arcina, you say you've been successful training early, but for us mere mortals, the best practice is to let it get adjusted to container living for two years. Then begin the process of removing the duff it was living in with half bare root repots. THEN begin styling the foliage.

I normally follow the health and the strength of the tree, and how disturbed was the rootball during collecting. I only do this with trees I collect myself. I do not repot until few (2-3) years after collecting. I normally do style trees before I repot them. I follow what I learned from Ryan specifically with collected Ponderosas and Junipers. So I collect year 0, style year 1, let it grow year 2, repot year 3.

I also learned from Boon that another approach is to let the tree grow and then change soil for half the rootball, then do the other half, and then style. I used this with trees collected from very bad soil (clay, sand, etc).

I do not recommend any, it is up to the person and tree to choose the one that they feel more comfortable with and be able to handle the after care of each approach.

Thanks

Alvaro

 

[aml1014]

I knew that this trunk would need to be bent one direction or the other and have been contemplating it for the last month.
If the trunk were to be bent upward, it would have to be more of a literati as all of the foliage is in the last 18" of this very long trunk. But if it were to be bent downward it'll be more of a semi cascade or full cascade.
I like the idea of some sort of cascade, so today I applied a guy wire to start the bend. I'll leave it like this for a year and decide next autumn if I'll continue the bend to make it more of a cascade or style it as a semicascade.
And I also removed that big wire around the trunk @Dav4 .lol
Here it is.
Aaron

 

[Dav4]

I'd love to see the foliage bent back and over the base of the tree. Leaving it as a semi cascade will pull your eye's way from the base, which has all that awesome movement and bark, and there isn't enough foliage close enough to the base to make the cascade option reasonable imo. Raffia, copper wire and patience are your friends here. Good luck!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Nice yamadori! IMO, I liked the original trunk angle and movement when the tree was still in the ground.