What's your dream tree?

roberthu

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I would love to have a JWP around two feet tall. Don’t even need to be that old. I just love the needle clusters of the JWP.
 

Hartinez

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A nice old and elegant Hinoki or Tsukomo cypress. Just love the foliage when highly ramified. I def prefer a more slender elegant trunk.
 

Hartinez

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A nice old and elegant Hinoki or Tsukomo cypress. Just love the foliage when highly ramified. I def prefer a more slender elegant trunk.
Fujikawa has a double trunk Hinoki That I just love and there was an amazing Tsukomo cypress from the BSOP rendezvous that really spoke to me.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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P. glehnii or P. jezoensis?
jezoensis is Ezo spruce. It has bark similar in color to a JBP, and light green needles around 3/4-1” long. Yours is likely this one.
glehnii is Sacchalin spruce. It is rare, much smaller and slower, with chocolate colored bark and deeper green needles 1/2-3/4” long.
 

Canada Bonsai

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what would your ultimate "dream tree" be?

I think it would depend on the day, but on most days i’d pick Koga or Musashi from Omiya, or this rough bark (not arakawa) multi-trunk (that i wish i had more information about - anybody??)

...then again, if you told me that behind door #4 was the Ume of my dreams, i might cave
 

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Canada Bonsai

Shohin
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jezoensis is Ezo spruce. It has bark similar in color to a JBP, and light green needles around 3/4-1” long. Yours is likely this one.
glehnii is Sacchalin spruce. It is rare, much smaller and slower, with chocolate colored bark and deeper green needles 1/2-3/4” long.

Hi Brian! I was curious if you've seen other people making this distinction? I am personally in the process of propagating and will be selling Ezo Spruce, i've been doing some research and speaking to people in Japan so as to make sure i get the naming right.

I find Brent's description a little confusing (and for the record I absolutely love Brent and trust him greatly - he's been a huge help to me):

"In general, P. glehnii is the smaller, slower growing species of the two with needle length about 1/2 inch, and dark green. It can be difficult to grow. Most of the time, when people ask for "Ezo Spruce" they really want P. glehnii. Picea jezoensis, also called Ezo Spruce or Edo Spruce or Yeddo Spruce, is slightly larger, faster growing with green needles from about 3/4 to 1 inch long"


And here is what Valavanis has to say:

"The Ezo spruce, Picea glehnii, is commonly trained for bonsai in colder areas. Native to the Hokkaido area they love cold and snow. Many people confuse Ezo spruce, Picea glehnii, with the Black Ezo spruce (also called Sakhalin spruce or Yezo spruce) Picea jezoensis, which is NOT trained for bonsai in Japan. The needles are too long and coarse for bonsai."


But it does seems like there is a lot of contradicting info out there when i google-search it. Still just researching the topic and was curious about what you know :)
 

Adair M

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Hi Brian! I was curious if you've seen other people making this distinction? I am personally in the process of propagating and will be selling Ezo Spruce, i've been doing some research and speaking to people in Japan so as to make sure i get the naming right.

I find Brent's description a little confusing (and for the record I absolutely love Brent and trust him greatly - he's been a huge help to me):

"In general, P. glehnii is the smaller, slower growing species of the two with needle length about 1/2 inch, and dark green. It can be difficult to grow. Most of the time, when people ask for "Ezo Spruce" they really want P. glehnii. Picea jezoensis, also called Ezo Spruce or Edo Spruce or Yeddo Spruce, is slightly larger, faster growing with green needles from about 3/4 to 1 inch long"


And here is what Valavanis has to say:

"The Ezo spruce, Picea glehnii, is commonly trained for bonsai in colder areas. Native to the Hokkaido area they love cold and snow. Many people confuse Ezo spruce, Picea glehnii, with the Black Ezo spruce (also called Sakhalin spruce or Yezo spruce) Picea jezoensis, which is NOT trained for bonsai in Japan. The needles are too long and coarse for bonsai."


But it does seems like there is a lot of contradicting info out there when i google-search it. Still just researching the topic and was curious about what you know :)

My tree, the Ezo spruce, is a Picea glehnii to the best of my knowledge. It is an imported yamadori.

The needles are very short, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long. The shoots only grow out about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Here’s a close up picture of the foliage:



9EE990D3-77E5-4E2C-983D-9C460FACF433.jpeg

It appears it can hold needles for several years, as many as 5 or 6 years! I cleaned the oldest needles off to prepare it for wiring this fall.

It is a cold climate tree. It’s currently planted in straight pumice. I plan to transfer it to a slab. I also protect it from the sun during the hottest part of the day, and I water it frequently. So far, it is doing well for me in my climate. I’m successful with JWP, which is another “cold climate tree”, so I figure if I can grow them, I might be successful with Ezo.
 

JoeR

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What’s the difference?
The difference is trivial but as Brian said glehnii is much smaller, slower, and rare. It would be a massive trunk if it was glehnii, so I was just curious.

I grew them from seed for a few years until a cat shoved them off the bench, they were absolutely tiny even after 4 years or so.
 
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I’m dreaming of a shohin eastern hemlock. I love the species, but I’ve never seen (a shohin) one, hence the dreaming part. I would think they could be brought down to size with the small leaves, but lack of solid back-budding could make it difficult to keep small.
 

Adair M

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The difference is trivial but as Brian said glehnii is much smaller, slower, and rare. It would be a massive trunk if it was glehnii, so I was just curious.

I grew them from seed for a few years until a cat shoved them off the bench, they were absolutely tiny even after 4 years or so.
Why would it be “a massive trunk if glehnii”?

This IS a small needle spruce, and indeed, it’s rare. At least, in the US. I don’t know about “slow”. It is estimated to be about 250 years old.

I had a Shohin one about 40 years ago, but I didn’t know how to take care of it, so it slowly died on me. So far, I’ve managed to keep this one in good health. I have learned a bit about bonsai maintenance over the past 40 years or so.
 

JoeR

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Why would it be “a massive trunk if glehnii”?

It is estimated to be about 250 years old.
My point exactly. Bottom line, excellent tree regardless of which it was. It was my understanding glehnii grew further north, aka in colder climates.. Surprised you can keep them happy in GA but that just demonstrates your abilities I suppose. Now you keep a larch happy and then id really be impressed
 

Adair M

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My point exactly. Bottom line, excellent tree regardless of which it was. It was my understanding glehnii grew further north, aka in colder climates.. Surprised you can keep them happy in GA but that just demonstrates your abilities I suppose. Now you keep a larch happy and then id really be impressed
Yes, this IS a tree from the north of Japan.

I live in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains. My climate is much like Japan’s. I do tend to get a bit of snow every winter. But, I do take measures to keep the tree as cool as possible. I shade it in the mid-day. I water both the soil and foliage with cold water from the hose. Twice a day.

I have been given care advice from Tyler Sherrard who worked with these trees in Japan, so I feel confident that it will be fine.

The nebari spread at the base is about 6 inches. The trunk caliper a couple inches up off the nebari is about 3 1/2 inches. I wouldn’t call that “massive”.

The bark is dark. I’d call it “black”. And it‘s very rugged and flaky and delicate.
 

JoeR

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Yes, this IS a tree from the north of Japan.

I live in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains. My climate is much like Japan’s. I do tend to get a bit of snow every winter. But, I do take measures to keep the tree as cool as possible. I shade it in the mid-day. I water both the soil and foliage with cold water from the hose. Twice a day.

I have been given care advice from Tyler Sherrard who worked with these trees in Japan, so I feel confident that it will be fine.

The nebari spread at the base is about 6 inches. The trunk caliper a couple inches up off the nebari is about 3 1/2 inches. I wouldn’t call that “massive”.

The bark is dark. I’d call it “black”. And it‘s very rugged and flaky and delicate.
Fair enough, I thought the tree was much larger than that from the picture. Being at the mountain foothills also makes a tremendous difference. I've never heard of Tyler Sherrard, have to Google him
 

Adair M

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Fair enough, I thought the tree was much larger than that from the picture. Being at the mountain foothills also makes a tremendous difference. I've never heard of Tyler Sherrard, have to Google him
Tyler was Shinji Suzuki’s apprentice for 5 years. While there, he worked on many of the best trees in Japan. Mr. Suzuki assigned Tyler to style one of this client’s trees to display at Kokofu, and the tree won the Kokofu prize.

Tyler lives in Hickory, NC, and operates as “Dogwood Studios”. He is extraordinarily talented. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop or a class from him, dont miss it!
 
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