Garden Project
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Found another little tree on sale. It’s a dwarf Horstmann Blue Atlas Cedar. Slow growing to about 8’ but I’m going to keep it at about 4’ and open up the center over time.
Been watching Bonsai videos and I think I’ll give it a try.
Maybe like this:
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That looks like a sweet little tree.
Dwarf conifer collecting can become an addiction. There's a woman about a mile from here who is a garden designer who uses them extensively. Over the years her dwarf conifers have become not-so-small. I have to say that for me, her yard is too densely planted. It looked nice maybe 15 years ago when the trees were small but now they are all crammed in and it's hard to appreciate the uniqueness of the individual specimens.
I had to cut down a dwarf gingko because it was getting much too large for the space it was in. Broke my heart. But the adjoining Swiss stone pine looks absolutely glorious because it now stands on its own. The gingko was behind it and the two trees kind of blended into each other.
I was kicking myself for not saving some branch tips from the gingko to see if I could propagate it. It's a dwarf with a beautiful shape. It's called 'Butterflies'. I have a place where that cultivar would look great.
I didn't have the stump ground out and, lo and behold, it's sending up shoots from what's left of the trunk!
The propagation experiment will begin next spring.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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It is unbelievable how many people plant cute little pine trees in a small space, usually way to close to the house, never thinking about how everything will look in 15 years. We have a problem with that in our yard. Crowded trees all together. They made it much worse by topping and shaping everything - the pine trees, the aspens - it’s insane - now they all have wierd branching at the top and at some point there will be issues with them splitting and breaking.
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@wtg said in Garden Project:
There's a woman about a mile from here who is a garden designer who uses them extensively. Over the years her dwarf conifers have become not-so-small. I have to say that for me, her yard is too densely planted. It looked nice maybe 15 years ago when the trees were small but now they are all crammed in and it's hard to appreciate the uniqueness of the individual specimens.
Here's the property I was talking about, at the intersection of N Beverly and E Miner. You can "walk" up and down both streets to see what she's done. The two houses to the north of her corner lot are the ones that she's also worked on. These pics are from 2018 and those two properties are relatively bare...I'll get some updated pics when I go for a walk sometime this weekend.
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It looks like no lawn mowing is required at that house.
I don't know that that was the intention, but it certainly is the result.
I did something similar on a back corner of my property that fell off steeply. I didn't like mowing it, because it felt rather unsafe on that slope. I planted enough small trees that they first shaded the grass and eventually eliminated it.
Big Al
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I went out Thursday morning to find that my Japanese White Pine tree had a ton of yellow needles. I, of course, panicked.
Made a post on Reddit/arborists for advice. Big mistake - it’s like searching Google for medical advice. Lots of replies, a few correct ones but mostly predictions of death, destruction and the coming Pine Tree Apocolypse.
Ended up searching YouTube, particularly my favorite Bonsai channel - Herons Bonsai out of England. Peter Chang is a seasoned veteran of working on pine trees both Bonsai and full size trees.
A few of the Redditors were right. It’s what White Pines do every year - shed all of the three year old needles. Red Pines do that too but it’s less dramatic. Black Pines don’t shed needles all.
Whew!
So I pulled off all of the yellow needles and got a tree that looks nicely architectural. Watched Peter prune a tree in his yard and did what he showed - mostly small cuts to open up the interior. The idea is to see through the tree. I didn’t prune much, thinking that baby steps are the way to go. I can always prune more later.
I’m pretty happy with it.
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@Steve-Miller said in Garden Project:
I went out Thursday morning to find that my Japanese White Pine tree had a ton of yellow needles
Yes, most pines do that this time of year. Over time, absence of interior needles is what gives a pine a more open look. Unless you candle the tree and keep its habit tighter.
https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2016/05/06/candling-the-art-of-japanese-pine-pruning
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Here’s something I didn’t have to do in CA -blow all of the water out of the sprinkler lines so they don’t freeze.
Thought about doing it myself but decided to hire it out this time so I can see how they do it. On line I was told it takes a big air compressor. I have a fair sized compressor but nothing like this:
SK, have you had your sprinkler system winterized yet?
