project_thuja_occi.

[Arnold_K]

Well, another new project.
I am really looking foreward to give this thuja a try.
Imho Thuja occidentalis is a very underestimatet species für designing small trees.
The best trees are from the US I think.
Maybe because this species is not nativ to Europe.
We have a lot of hedge-material, but no original yamadoris.
Anyway, let us see, if I will succeed with this tree ...
A project only ...


And the prospectiv plan as a Virtual ...

 

[quietobserver]

Well, another new project.
I am really looking foreward to give this thuja a try.
Imho Thuja occidentalis is a very underestimatet species für designing small trees.
The best trees are from the US I think.
Maybe because this species is not nativ to Europe.
We have a lot of hedge-material, but no original yamadoris.
Anyway, let us see, if I will succeed with this tree ...
A project only ...

View attachment 119493
And the prospectiv plan as a Virtual ...

View attachment 119494

Really like the virt Arnold!!

 

[ghues]

Interesting .......Arnold, The mature, old ancient eastern NA Thuga has a lot of deadwood (from the harsh environs) as does its western cousin Thuga Plicata......I'd consider some in the design.
Cheers

 

[Arnold_K]

Ghues,
I am a bit envious of your possibilities to collect such material.
' Had been to British Colunbia in late 90ies and was totally overhelmed of the rocky mountains.
My virtual shows it not truthfully enough,
but I will be forced to incorporate a lot more deadwood.
The tree was in original 1,90 meters high. The intended hight is approximately 45 cm or so.
Hm, therefore I have much more carving to do, than the protrait of the future "end-design" shows at that stage
of development.

 

[defra]

nice i like the virtual
i have a question about thuja
do They backbud or not like hinoki's?

 

[mattspinniken]

Cool tree and virt! How tall is the material? I only ask because you might want to consider making it taller than you would other species to scale the foliage some.

We do have great Thuja to collect in the U.S. but the very best and most ancient is found in Canada. While we do have some really cool Yamadori Thuja in Michigan I have always been jealous of your collected Scots Pine, Hawthorne, and Yew in Europe. BTW I agree that Thuja is an underestimated species!

 

[Arnold_K]

Defra,
Thuja occidentalis is not good at backbudding.
'Will take a long time to wait for new shoots on old trunc-line,
but it is absolutely not utterly hopeless.
Cupressus-trees are on the whole very week in backbudding,
as far as I could figure out ...

 

[mattspinniken]

i have a question about thuja
do They backbud or not like hinoki's?

Thuja will backbud at the crotches of new branches, I haven't seen them backbud on old wood.

 

[Arnold_K]

mattspiniken,
yes we have great species in Europe to work on.
Maybe that is the reason why (personally ) I would never buy an imported
(alien species) or ready-made tree.
Yamadori-Thuja in Michigan Illinoise? How cool,
'had ever thought , that this Thuja-stuff is a particular pacific-thing.
There you can see, how less I know about north-amarican flora ...

 

[MACH5]

I have a small leaf variety that I bought from Suthin. It is an old tree. From what I have observed, it buds back well from the crotches as Matt mentioned, but also from the base of younger branches and shoots. They are native to Eastern North America. I have many as landscape trees and they take very well to pruning and/or shearing. Deer also seem to love them!!!

Arnold that is a nice virt. I would perhaps make some use of jins? Would like to see the progress on your material. One thing about thuja, is that it's difficult to keep them looking tidy if that's your preference. Many folks opt to keep them with somewhat looser looking foliage pads.

 

[Vance Wood]

Working with this species is tricky. You have to be careful about the way you cut it back and where this is done on individual foliage pads. I wish I was more of an expert than to know that there is a particular way of doing this but not totally certain just how. Not wanting to misinform you it is enough to make this statement.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I'm on the family farm kn Michigan today. Usually soils here are sandy and deep, meaning that the Thuja we see here have roots too deep to be collected. But sometimes we get lucky. Along undercut stream banksyou sometimes find Thuja you can collect.

I have only had a couple in pots for a year or two, but I plan to follow pruning techniques as for a Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa), which they resemble. Plan on zero back budding on old wood, and be pleasantly surprised if once in a while, without any reliable predictor, they do pop the rare back bud. But it is rare, and not every specimen / cultivar. Learn to graft to get branches on old wood. It is possible to graft Hinoki foliage onto Thuja, they are compatible.

@Arnold_K - nice, at 1,9 meters, roughly just under 6 feet, that is nice big raw stock. The diameter of those trunks must be over 10 cm (4 inches). As commercial lumber, Thuja is called ''white cedar'' and if famous for being rot resistant. Any deadwood feature you create on the Thuja should last many decades. I would preseve a lot of the trunks that in the virtual have been removed, turn them into deadwood features. Nice stock interesting to see.

 

[Arnold_K]

Hello Leo, how about this?
I tried to incorporate a bit more deadwood.
The center-jin is not curved on the original tree, but there is a solid sub-trunc, wich can be carved that way by chance.

 

[Vance Wood]

I really like where your imagination is taking this tree. I hope you are able to make it do so. There are many of us in Michigan USA that familiar with this species and know how uncooperative they can be. I hope you fare well with it, the bones you have deserve to made to look so.

 

[Arnold_K]

... a warmly thanks for your support, you people from the "Wolverine State" !
I will report ...
The next development-steps are exclusivly dedicated to the establishing- and health-matters of this tree.
So news may take a while ...

 

[Stormwater]

... a warmly thanks for your support, you people from the "Wolverine State" !
I will report ...
The next development-steps are exclusivly dedicated to the establishing- and health-matters of this tree.
So news may take a while ...

Well, how’d it go?

 

[Arnold_K]

Well stormwater ...
It turned out completely different to the virtual of course.
I skipped the deadwood-plan for Example.
Nevertheless I am enjoing the project.
'Simply like this species ...
The tree has to regain, no further "insults" this growing-period ...

 

[Vance Wood]

Why did you decide against the dead wood features? What is it about the species that attracts you if not the potential for an ancient conifer profile? I would like to understand your thinking process, not give you grief for your choices.

 

[Arnold_K]

Vance,
while doing the carving on the subtruncs I realized,
that there will be no convincing result according to the dead-wood-design.
The truncs were too straight and it would have be an awful amount of work
to get it right.
Besides the relation of the nebari to the absolut height of the Thuja felt
like a much better feature to me.
So I cut off the deadwood in order to find "the smallest tree", so to say ...

 

[defra]

I like where this is going arnold
But tbh the trunk lacks taper and the way you did the virtual the taper was "visualy" improved any plans on how to improve that?