Not ALL in, at least not yet, there are still some of my big trees that I'll never give up.
I don't know about JBP, I was thinkin JWP. JWP is just as acceptable for top, yes?
Well... it depends! (What else would you expect me to say?!? Lol!!)
Any conifer will do. To comply with the unwritten “rules”. The classic “box topper” is an informal upright JBP. Not a formal, not a cascade or semi cascade, but an informal upright.
Here’s the reasoning: as always, the “reasoning” requires a bit of loose interpretation!
The Shohin Box stand with its 3 levels represents the mountain. At the top stands a conifer. Only conifers will live on the top of the mountain. It should be a informal upright because it is bent and effected by the heavy snows and winds. Yet it sits at the TOP of the mountain so it it’s apex should sit over its roots. Cascades and semi cascades live on the sides of the mountain. How about a windswept? Well, no, that shows weakness. The wind has more dominance over the tree than it should. That Top of Box position shows dominance. Victory over the elements.
Now, why JBP? After all it is a Coastal tree! They don’t grow on mountain tops! Its because of the way they look! They have dark green straight needles. They have stout trunks with attractive bark. In a word, they look strong and masculine. Sit one on top of the Box, and it looks like a king on a throne! Put it anywhere else on the display, and it would still dominate with its presence.
The movement of the informal upright tree on the top determines which way the stand is set. The middle shelf has one side set higher than the other. The movement goes from high to low. So if the informal upright conifer has movement to the right, the highest shelf on the second level will be on the left, and the lower shelf would be on the right.
This also dictates where the “off the box” tree will be. If the stand moves left to right, then the off box tree will be on the right. The off box tree should be a very good tree since it will be by itself, and balancing the trees on the box. If the box represents the mountain, there is a valley between the box and the Off Box tree. That’s where the accent goes in between the box and off box. It usually accents the off box tree. The off box tree can be shown elevated as a semi or full cascade, or at the table level as a slant or perhaps another informal upright. Perhaps a literati. But it should move towards the box top conifer.
The middle row of the box should have trees with movement. And they should move towards the top conifer. Often, this is a good place to put cascades and slants. The lower shelves of the box should contain trees with less movement as the bottom of the mountain should have milder weather. This is where your broom Zelkovas go.
With all that background (and there’s a whole lot more!!!), you can see that if you do something different, everything else is affected! So if you put a white pine up top, and it’s not a really powerful one, all your other trees need to look less powerfull, too. The top position should draw your eye first, and if another tree does, then your display will feel off balanced.
We can go on for pages about this! But, I hope this gives you starting point on the nuances of Shohin display!
