Boulevard Blue Cypress

[gallina1594]

Picked up some new material that I'm fairly excited to work with, I like the pom pom style that it already has, I think the poms can easily be wired down to make a more natural canopy look. What do you guys think? Let me see your cypress!

 

[sorce]

I don't think you'll end up with a convincing image going the cheerleader route.
But I wouldn't cut them pompoms off yet either. Well, I would, but you shouldn't!

It's way way up there......but I'd try to use just the top foliage....where you still have branching close to the trunk.

Nice bark!

Sorce

 

[gallina1594]

I don't think you'll end up with a convincing image going the cheerleader route.
But I wouldn't cut them pompoms off yet either. Well, I would, but you shouldn't!

It's way way up there......but I'd try to use just the top foliage....where you still have branching close to the trunk.

Nice bark!

Sorce

Do you think a graft would work if I cut off one of the spindly poms, shortened it, and grafted it closer ?

 

[sorce]

Do you think a graft would work if I cut off one of the spindly poms, shortened it, and grafted it closer ?

I'm still super antigraft.

As much As I am anti...

Glowing fish.
Goats with spider genes.
And Tanuki.

Sorce

 

[johng]

I love seeing your excitement! Not to step on that in any way, but....Pom poms are not the most desirable feature in terms of bonsai...much more of a topiary thing than bonsai. Additionally, Boulevard Cypress is a tough species to work with... it does not back bud well and older foliage dies off quickly when shaded. I am sure you could graft but the results will have the same problems. I have seen a few larger examples turned into reasonable bonsai but a healthy year or two of growth and you are stuck again with foliage way too far from the trunk. I planted mine in the ground in the garden...it is now about a 12' tall "tree" that I prune once a year.

 

[mcpesq817]

I would think about thinning out the pom poms. You'll get dieback of the shaded out areas, and these are very reluctant to back-bud.

 

[coh]

I love blue moss cypress. The foliage is just beautiful...blue, soft, fragrant. Other positives - hardy and vigorous trees that can tolerate significant pruning/pinching and root work. The big negative has been stated by others - they are reluctant to bud back on older wood and are prone to dieback of the inner foliage if enough sunlight doesn't penetrate. So over time they tend to just continue to expand. So that leads to the question...how does one maintain these? Do you have to resort to grafting or do they just become bigger bonsai?

There were 4 beautiful specimens at the National Exhibition in 2014. The smallest was 16" tall, all the others were quite large (30+ inches, including one massive group planting). One of the trees can be seen on bonsaitonight: http://dupuich.smugmug.com/Bonsai/Exhibits/2014-US-National-Bonsai-Exhibit/i-sM2fnH3/A

I have 3 - one a literati style, one a more formal upright style, and one in the growing bed. Trying to learn how best to manage the growth. Fortunately a friend in the local club is an expert with these, and he's been helping with the literati...but still a long way to go.

Here is a recent not so great pic of the upright one (I didn't have time to set up the lighting, so you can't see a lot of the trunk). It has become extremely dense so I used guy wires and selective trimming to open things up and separate the foliage. It will need considerably more thinning after the Exhibition. May start a thread about it at that time.

 

[LanceMac10]

Wow!! Don't think I have seen one this good looking! Excellent and a fantastic growing tour de force, @coh !!!!
A bit shaggy as you said, but boy, that looks HEALTHY!!
Nice!!! With guy wires, no less!!!

 

[gallina1594]

I love blue moss cypress. The foliage is just beautiful...blue, soft, fragrant. Other positives - hardy and vigorous trees that can tolerate significant pruning/pinching and root work. The big negative has been stated by others - they are reluctant to bud back on older wood and are prone to dieback of the inner foliage if enough sunlight doesn't penetrate. So over time they tend to just continue to expand. So that leads to the question...how does one maintain these? Do you have to resort to grafting or do they just become bigger bonsai?

There were 4 beautiful specimens at the National Exhibition in 2014. The smallest was 16" tall, all the others were quite large (30+ inches, including one massive group planting). One of the trees can be seen on bonsaitonight: http://dupuich.smugmug.com/Bonsai/Exhibits/2014-US-National-Bonsai-Exhibit/i-sM2fnH3/A

I have 3 - one a literati style, one a more formal upright style, and one in the growing bed. Trying to learn how best to manage the growth. Fortunately a friend in the local club is an expert with these, and he's been helping with the literati...but still a long way to go.

Here is a recent not so great pic of the upright one (I didn't have time to set up the lighting, so you can't see a lot of the trunk). It has become extremely dense so I used guy wires and selective trimming to open things up and separate the foliage. It will need considerably more thinning after the Exhibition. May start a thread about it at that time.


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Thank you for sharing your cypress! I also love the foliage, their color is so subtle blue, I love it!