Aoi JWP

acj990

Yamadori
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Location
Iowa City, IA
USDA Zone
5b
hey there! I recently picked this Aoi JWP up from a friend who had it but has lost interest. First JWP in my collection. It seems healthy but just no sure what direction to take it. I’ve been diving head first into the online information regarding 5 needle pines, but wanted to get some styling advice or thoughts from you all, who are much more experienced than I. Any and all thoughts are welcome.

The graft is okay but still pretty noticeable and I’ve not yet decided on a front.



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Honestly, there is not a lot to work with here yet. This is a young tree. If it were mine, I would give it at least two more summers to grow, before doing a styling. You don't have enough volume to your branches yet. You need more height too.

1 - loosely wire all the branches to be close to horizontal in the lower 2/3rds of the tree and rise at slight angle as you go up to crown. You want to have the branches reach "out"

2 - follow the rule of thirds, The distance from the soil to the first branch is about 1/3 the final height of the designed (finished) tree. Clearly your tree needs more height, it needs a couple years more growth. Usually let the tree get taller than the ideal design height, then bring it down in height as you design it.

To get the the branches and height you need for a good design, you need at least 2 more years of growth, maybe more. The additional time will also allow the graft time to heal. You may be pleasantly surprised. Time might make that graft less visible.

These grafted trees are great long term projects. Don't rush it. JWP are glorious, but are best developed by a slow as you go handling. Wiring to get the angle of your branches right is the main task for the immediate future. No pruning for quite a number of years.

Keep it in a larger grow out container, nursery can or transplant to an Anderson flat. Goal is zero root reduction until after volume of branches is fully developed.

Brian van Fleet has a great thread on a Zuisho JWP. Read through it. There is much advise that will apply in there.
 
Honestly, there is not a lot to work with here yet. This is a young tree. If it were mine, I would give it at least two more summers to grow, before doing a styling. You don't have enough volume to your branches yet. You need more height too.

1 - loosely wire all the branches to be close to horizontal in the lower 2/3rds of the tree and rise at slight angle as you go up to crown. You want to have the branches reach "out"

2 - follow the rule of thirds, The distance from the soil to the first branch is about 1/3 the final height of the designed (finished) tree. Clearly your tree needs more height, it needs a couple years more growth. Usually let the tree get taller than the ideal design height, then bring it down in height as you design it.

To get the the branches and height you need for a good design, you need at least 2 more years of growth, maybe more. The additional time will also allow the graft time to heal. You may be pleasantly surprised. Time might make that graft less visible.

These grafted trees are great long term projects. Don't rush it. JWP are glorious, but are best developed by a slow as you go handling. Wiring to get the angle of your branches right is the main task for the immediate future. No pruning for quite a number of years.

Keep it in a larger grow out container, nursery can or transplant to an Anderson flat. Goal is zero root reduction until after volume of branches is fully developed.

Brian van Fleet has a great thread on a Zuisho JWP. Read through it. There is much advise that will apply in there.
This is perfect and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for taking the time to explain the processes and giving me your recommendations. I’ll plan on giving it plenty of time to grow out and loosely wire as you mentioned.

Appreciate it.
 
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