My twisty Shimpaku!

Brian Van Fleet said:
Prune back the outer growth, lots of sun, lots of feed = lots of back-budding. No problem.
2 growing seasons and it's there.
Click to expand...
Yep, that simple...
this tree was once a 3 gal shrub that was planted in the yard...nothing but long straight, bare branches near the base and trunk. It went from 3' tall and 4' wide to about 10" tall and 10"DSC_0099_1.jpg
 
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JoeR said:
I am just wondering how you are going to chase all of that foliage back.
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I am not really worried about it. I will be removing many of those longer whips (and rooting them I am sure) and most have foliage lower on the branch I can cut back to. I will also be wiring many of the branches I keep to add movement which shortens the distance from trunk to foliage as well. The tree seems really happy in the pot and soil I have it in now, so I expect once it is cut back I will get some buds to pop lower on the branches...

Grafting is a last resort for me but it is certainly an option and might be done about half way up the trunk to get a new crown grafted on, depends on how tall I decide to make it in the end.

I like the age and character of this one so much... I don't want to "waste" any of that... I see 3-4 trees I will be trying to make from what is removed. If I shorten is as much as I plan, I might wind up trying to air layer the top off of it to make another tree of similar size...
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Have you brought one back from CA yet? The ones I bought from CA had plump firm foliage, but I noticed the texture changed over the course of a couple years in Bham to softer, thinner, but still dense. Very odd. I talked to Brent about it and he thought maybe the UV Rays were more intense there than here. Who knows, but climate definitely had an impact on shimpaku foliage texture. I took photos of one as received next to one from him 2 years before that had the same texture and it's apparent. I'll try to find them.

I digress; nice pickup Eric. Add a little Shari to follow the trunk's grain, and I too see a nice small tree in that shimp.
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Interesting...

I have not brought one back from California. This tree was originally grafted with Kishu in California, and lived there many years. 5 years ago it moved to Conneticut. I purchased it in May. It still has firm foliage.

image.jpeg
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Have you brought one back from CA yet? The ones I bought from CA had plump firm foliage, but I noticed the texture changed over the course of a couple years in Bham to softer, thinner, but still dense. Very odd. I talked to Brent about it and he thought maybe the UV Rays were more intense there than here. Who knows, but climate definitely had an impact on shimpaku foliage texture. I took photos of one as received next to one from him 2 years before that had the same texture and it's apparent. I'll try to find them.
Click to expand...

Brian, I had the same exact thing happen with mine. I bought a couple of kishus from Chikugo-En, and the foliage was like tight little green balls at the end. Now back on the east coast, over the years it has gone to a more feathery look like normal shimpaku. A bit disappointing because the kishu foliage was really beautiful.

Mas Ishii also gave me a little itoigawa whip. I planted it in the ground, and now have a 2' x 2' shrub with a good 1.5" trunk. Unlike the two kishus, the foliage on the itoigawa is still the light feathery foliage that it had back in CA.
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
Have you brought one back from CA yet? The ones I bought from CA had plump firm foliage, but I noticed the texture changed over the course of a couple years in Bham to softer, thinner, but still dense. Very odd. I talked to Brent about it and he thought maybe the UV Rays were more intense there than here. Who knows, but climate definitely had an impact on shimpaku foliage texture. I took photos of one as received next to one from him 2 years before that had the same texture and it's apparent. I'll try to find them.
Click to expand...

I"ve noticed that phenomenon, too, but I attributed it to California's hard water. Believe it, or not, Bham and ATL are slightly south of LA. There is virtually no difference in light intensity.
 
Brent suggested UV because of his altitude; he's actually quite a bit north of us in Kelsey. My guess is humidity.
Whatever the reason, the change is definitely odd. I liked the plump tight foliage coming from out there!
 
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