Windswept Attempt gives another choice

ghues

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With yamadori, most times the nebari and base don’t have a great fundamental structure and are difficult to significantly improve. Thus is the case with this Mountain Hemlock that had fallen from the top of a logging road cutbank. It was a puzzling one with its “C” shape (pigeon breast)......wired it into an attempt of windswept (photo 1) Tuning it......maybe another potential front down the road (photo 2).
 

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Clicio

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It was a puzzling one with its “C” shape (pigeon breast)......wired it into an attempt of windswept (photo 1).
Well, I like the 01 more than the 02 front; but with the wiring, it looks like a sort of bow waiting for the arrows. In fact I am not very attracted to "C" type trunks, but...
Let's see it in a few years!
:)
 

0soyoung

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I like pic#2 better because of the shari - it brings a story. However, I'm looking for a front a bit to the right, maybe as far as the right corner of the box (ref photo#2) - wanting to see the top coming toward me, but yet seeing the shari.
 

ghues

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Thanks for your comments, much appreciated. It has a good amount of roots so it may go into a hand made cement container next spring.
 
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I love this mtn hemlock (one of my fav species ). I myself like #2 way better then #1. If you ever feel like donating the tree, I wouldn't object! Cheers.
 

jeanluc83

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I like the second view better but I’m not quite sure it is convincing as a windswept yet but could be with a little bit of work.

I would pitch it over slightly to the right and put a stone on the left. All the branches would then be drawn out to the right. I would stretch the width to be 2 or 3 times the height. Once everything is established plant it in a long low pot or better yet on a slab.

The rock would provide a visual reason for the tree to bend to the left then to the right. The rock provided protection from the wind until the tree grew above it and was forced to bend to the right.

Drawing out the branches and putting it in a long container would further reinforce this idea of a windswept environment.
 

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I like front #1 due to the stronger base. I also think that middle branch is just too strong and should be considered for removal.
And i’m not recommending, but noting that I believe these graft easily or you could take it all the way down to the first branch and regrow a less challenging shape to the trunk since the taper is nothing spectacular. But I certainly understand trying to work with the natural form on a collected tree.
 
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Edit^ those middle branches should be considered for removal or severe reduction. In addition to being too heavy, their perpendicular angles don’t make sense with the windswept theme. Like the branches were windswept, and then the trunk was windswept, leaving the branches pointing down?
 

ghues

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I like the second view better but I’m not quite sure it is convincing as a windswept yet but could be with a little bit of work.

I would pitch it over slightly to the right and put a stone on the left. All the branches would then be drawn out to the right. I would stretch the width to be 2 or 3 times the height. Once everything is established plant it in a long low pot or better yet on a slab.

The rock would provide a visual reason for the tree to bend to the left then to the right. The rock provided protection from the wind until the tree grew above it and was forced to bend to the right.

Drawing out the branches and putting it in a long container would further reinforce this idea of a windswept environment.
Thank you for your thoughts and for taking the time to review potential options. I do like the slab option and the rock.....as can be seen the majority of roots are only on one side so I could use a rock a s slide it under the one side of the base. Cheers G.
 

ghues

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Edit^ those middle branches should be considered for removal or severe reduction. In addition to being too heavy, their perpendicular angles don’t make sense with the windswept theme. Like the branches were windswept, and then the trunk was windswept, leaving the branches pointing down?
Thanks for your thoughts, as you know looking at a tree in a 2d photo can be very misleading lol. This tree had 4 long branches all from one side so one was removed. The 3 main branches are all curved but appear much straighter in the photo.....shortening them isn’t much of an option as this species doesn’t back bud.
The tree is very young in training but I may try to remove it from the training bos this spring depending on the root development which should be amble as it really grew well this summer.
Cheers G
 

River's Edge

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Hi Graham, i would go with Photo 2. Lean the trunk more to the left and turn the top jin slightly forward. This would accentuate the branching out and away in more windswept fashion. It may also catch some of the live bark line for the viewer. Take the longer view and reduce back the branches over time to grow out the remaining innermost foliage. These hemlocks can put on amazing growth after adapting. Fertilise heavy you may be surprised by the amount of back budding. I know My Hemlocks have back budded way more than the pundits say they do. Also as you know it is unwise to reduce too many roots or foliage on a Hemlock at one time. By using the smallest inner branches to grow out the final foliage it will be easier to achieve the scale you are looking for. In the end you may remove the lowest branch to achieve more of a sparse windswept look. Some of the windswept trees i noted in newfoundland this summer only had branches and foliage on the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the tree.
If you use Photo 2 for the front do a little carving to reduce the straightline cut at the base over time.
When repotting, i reccomend the section method , with the key focus to remove the inner mass of original soil as soon as possible. That way the fine network of feeder roots closer to the surface are not disturbed all at once. If my expression of this concept is unclear just give me a call. Basically it is one of the options that Michael Hagedorn teaches specifically for Hemlocks. The growth of foliage never skips a beat with this method.
 

ghues

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Hi Graham, i would go with Photo 2. Lean the trunk more to the left and turn the top jin slightly forward. This would accentuate the branching out and away in more windswept fashion. It may also catch some of the live bark line for the viewer. Take the longer view and reduce back the branches over time to grow out the remaining innermost foliage. These hemlocks can put on amazing growth after adapting. Fertilise heavy you may be surprised by the amount of back budding. I know My Hemlocks have back budded way more than the pundits say they do. Also as you know it is unwise to reduce too many roots or foliage on a Hemlock at one time. By using the smallest inner branches to grow out the final foliage it will be easier to achieve the scale you are looking for. In the end you may remove the lowest branch to achieve more of a sparse windswept look. Some of the windswept trees i noted in newfoundland this summer only had branches and foliage on the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the tree.
If you use Photo 2 for the front do a little carving to reduce the straightline cut at the base over time.
When repotting, i reccomend the section method , with the key focus to remove the inner mass of original soil as soon as possible. That way the fine network of feeder roots closer to the surface are not disturbed all at once. If my expression of this concept is unclear just give me a call. Basically it is one of the options that Michael Hagedorn teaches specifically for Hemlocks. The growth of foliage never skips a beat with this method.

Hi Frank, many thanks for you comments.
I brought it into my shed and have the tree sitting in front of me as I was going to look at it again.
With many of my hemlocks I’ve specifically kept the smaller branches closer to the trunk line and used those to develop foliage masses and removed or jin’d the larger ones that are out of scale.
The lowest branch is the longest and at the back and yes I have thought about removing it, down the line. When it went into the grow box, I did remove some of the original soil and it’s in almost pure pumice (some Seasoil and original forest floor) and with a little exploration the other day there are lots of feeder roots.
The Shari isn’t really my doing, I noticed that the bark looked dead and sure enough it easily flaked off, (it must have been damaged by the logging or road building), the bottom line of it has always bugged me so I may do something with it.
Re; your comment on the top Jin/Shari, it does currently move forward (photo #2) in a continuous curve from the base.
Cheers Graham
 

ghues

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Went with photo 2 and should be able to add some improvement with positioning come springtime when I remove it from the box. I set the main pads up with more formation but yet still room for the smaller inner branches to receive more light. Still a little more tweaking...........as I went to collect it this morning, I caught it’s shadow and another viewpoint of the work.
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