Start on a Hinoki Cypress

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Now to sit back and let it grow a bit.

Nice start. I like that you laid all the foliage fronds out flat, rather than leaving them vertical or haphazard.
Thank you. That is the plan. I'm hoping that things will fill in and get more full with time. I know these don't back bud but hopefully the branches will thicken and the pads I have now will fill out.
 

Underdog

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My Hinoki has been the biggest challenger for me over 3-4yrs.
Yours looks great! Slow and easy...
 

BobbyLane

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i was wondering if you could get the left trunk up a little so there's a little more harmony, maybe leaning more towards a twink trunk/secondary trunk....
this is mine ive been playing about with, the wiring is a little shabby i must work on that! still, ive got the bends in both trunks i wanted.you should get the idea. the sketch i found online, its similar to what i have in mind.
 

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i was wondering if you could get the left trunk up a little so there's a little more harmony, maybe leaning more towards a twink trunk/secondary trunk....
this is mine ive been playing about with, the wiring is a little shabby i must work on that! still, ive got the bends in both trunks i wanted.you should get the idea. the sketch i found online, its similar to what i have in mind.
I think the only way I could get that trunk more verticle would be to use the "v-notch" method. I'm not sure how Hinoki's respond to that. I actually thought about turning that whole part into jin. I still may do that in the future depending on how the other trunk responds this coming growing season. Slow and steady for now. I want to get it into some better soil come spring before I do any other work.
 

Mike Hennigan

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You could also turn the second trunk towards the back. Meaning, choose a new front. With the second trunk moving further to the back you could give the impression from the new front that the trunk is more vertical. Playing with perspective can do a lot, though not sure what that front would look like.
 

BobbyLane

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I think the only way I could get that trunk more verticle would be to use the "v-notch" method. I'm not sure how Hinoki's respond to that. I actually thought about turning that whole part into jin. I still may do that in the future depending on how the other trunk responds this coming growing season. Slow and steady for now. I want to get it into some better soil come spring before I do any other work.

fair enough, these are slow growers anyway. in future when styling and taking pics, do it from the base of the trunk and look up at the tree, with rear of pot just visible. gives you a better sense of depth and whats really going there.fwiw hinoki wood is pretty bendy.Ryan neil has an informative stream on hinoki.
 
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Thanks for the info. I will definitely be looking up that stream. I will be playing with fronts in the spring when I get this in some better soil.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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Look at @wireme 's thread on candelabra form for spruce. In nature, in North America, Thuja often do a candelabra shape. In north America none of the hinoki are native, all are modified, shaped, what ever by humans, so NA grown hinoki are not good models for what a hinoki could look like, but Thuja is a close cousin. Up near Traverse City MI, I was looking at Thuja that were well over 300 years old. Candelabra is the shape that best describes their general pattern. Hard to photograph, as the forest was too dense to stand back far enough to see the whole trees.

So @Manmountain526 consider thinking of that first branch as a candelabra type sub trunk. It should leave the main trunk at a close to horizontal level, then bend up to vertical at a modest distance from the main trunk.

A design principal for you and for @BobbyLane - and his hinoki drawing, the secondary trunk needs to be roughly one third or two thirds the height of the main trunk, if it is taller than 2/3, the human eye has trouble deciding which is dominant, which creates visual competition. If sub-trunk is less than 2/3 the height to 1/3rd the height, the eye sees it as close to 1/2 which for some reason is predictable, looks contrived or boring. If the tree is roughly 1/3 the height the sub-trunk to the dominant trunk is again pleasing, the parent-child relationship. THis is not a ''rule'', but one of the constants in Japanese design that has some usefulness. I'm not trying to dictate design @BobbyLane , but your drawing brought the thought to mind, and I thought I would offer it for your consideration.

@Manmountain526 - I think the candelabra for that first branch, out then up, to nearly vertical, would be a good solution. Where it needs to go vertical the diameter has already decreased significantly, so it should be possible to do the bend. Then, because Hinoki never back bud, branches on the shorter sub trunk can ''fill in'' for branches that get too sparse and far out on the main trunk. (have them spread behind the main trunk, lends depth) Keep the secondary trunk roughly 2/3 the height of the main, so for now it needs to get a bit taller. You really need to let the tree recover for a number of months, 12 to 24 in my mind, but I'm only looking at a photo. See how the tree responds, if vigorous next autumn you can do more serious bending. Let it grow. You need the existing foliage to extend some for the benefit of the roots, trunk and overall health of the tree.
 

JudyB

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I do like what you've done with this, I'm going to be starting a hinoki adventure here soon, so I'll be sucking down information about these... Are these difficult to get out of a trainer and into a pot root work wise?
 
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I do like what you've done with this, I'm going to be starting a hinoki adventure here soon, so I'll be sucking down information about these... Are these difficult to get out of a trainer and into a pot root work wise?
I did not have much trouble. Spent two in the pond basket and I repotted this spring. It didn’t miss a beat. I only trimmed the long roots that were not usable and kept a heap of fine roots.
 
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