Hinoki Cypress Progression - sort of

I got this tree from Brussels when I took a break from a baseball tournament my son was in. He pitched a no-hitter...nevermind. That was before he went off to college. Anyway,

This isn't a real progression, just pics of my tree in the Summer of 2012 and today. I really don't know how to care for the tree. During a few winters I lost 50% of the internal foliage. I've learned to keep it in full sun all year. In the dead of summer though, I cover the pot with a damp white towel or aluminum foil, whichever is handy. Keeping the roots cool during the summer seems to help. If I pinch the foliage, the tips turn brown and die. I've learned to cut the center out of the extending branch and never pinch. I'm still a little afraid to prune it hard because I don't know what will die back over the winter.

It is shaped like a bonsai, and not any tree I've ever seen in the valley where I live. However, I like the classic style. Feel free to comment.







Thanks.
Steve

Yes, I like your tree also, very nice.

2 comments - you need to pinch/thin next season to allow light into the pads. Also, next repot check out the possibility of another front by rotating the tree 10 to 20 degrees to the left. I realize that it is hard to make a determination with a photo and I may be off base.

(I learned a concept from Owen Reich that he calls the "apparent front" and to try rotation on both sides to look for a better, more subtle front. Again, I don't know if it applies in this case.)

Anyway, it is a very nice bonsai as is.

Best,

Thank you Augustine for the reply. I'll prune as you suggest and look for a more subtle front. Also, it is being repotted into a nice Mark Isenberg pot next Spring. I'll post an update at that time.

Thanks again.

Looks pretty good, seeing you don't know how to care for it!!!

But as the saying goes, "Bonsai is wiring, wiring is bonsai...."

I don't have any of these, personally, they seem to be a little persnickety!!!!

Try to see if you can thin the top a bit more to let some light in.....and it's looking a bit too top-heavy.

Pleasing image, though. I imagine you like it!

You are going to have to start cutting the growth back or it will continually grow outward leaving you, in the end, with a bunch of bare branches with foliage pads or groups out at the ends of the branches.  Hinokis do not back bud onto old wood often enough for you to consider that as an option.

The Hinoki I have shown here looked just like yours a number of years ago.

This one has gone through a number of transformations.  It started with a $7.00 nursery tree in 1996 or there about.

Thanks Lance and Vance for the suggestions. You mentioned wiring Lance, and sure enough, looking at Vance's trees, they are wired. It couldn't have been any better planned.

Your trees are beautiful Vance and thanks for sharing. There is a lot to learn from studying them. The branches on my tree are all tangled messes; yours are neat and ordered.

I now need to get busy thinning and wiring. I'll post an update soon.

Thanks for the help guys.

steveb wrote:Thanks Lance and Vance for the suggestions.  You mentioned wiring Lance, and sure enough, looking at Vance's trees, they are wired.  It couldn't have been any better planned.  

Your trees are beautiful Vance and thanks for sharing.  There is a lot to learn from studying them.   The branches on my tree are all tangled messes; yours are neat and ordered.  

I now need to get busy thinning and wiring.  I'll post an update soon.  

Thanks for the help guys.  

The trees you see here are the same tree over the years of development. It is not so much that the Hinoki took that long to develop as it was the fact that it took me that long to develop and learn what to do with the tree.

vance - did your fist chop leave you with zero foliage ?

i ask for the benefit of others as i dont see any older evidence of branching that low and did not think that these could be chopped to no foliage...

beer city snake wrote:vance - did your fist chop leave you with zero foliage ?

i ask for the benefit of others as i dont see any older evidence of branching that low and did not think that these could be chopped to no foliage...

No it did not,--- the continuation of the leader was an existing lower branch as were the others a contiuation of the trunk it was choped to.  This tree was a relatively small uninteresting nursery tree I bought for $6.99 at Wiegands Nursery in 1994.