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Temps finally cooling down here in SoCal. Can finally start styling trees again. Did a little Fall warmup on this little Blue Atlas Cedar (yesterday, technically).

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Nice wiring job.

I did a quick clean up on this California, just scissor work.
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Did a little trimming of a few long needles*on this JBP. And inspected the in-arch graft of about 5 yrs ago. Looks solid but I’m not removing the ties yet.
Will wire when the needles harden off in December.
Tree started from seed twenty eight years and grown in pots since.

*shot of 3/4 of the new smaller hardening up….
 

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Mostly just studying wire today, both to learn from the artist that styled this tree and to check for bite. I’m told hemlocks can bite in fast.

I bought this tree in no small part as it was freshly styled by Carmen with wire on. I wanted a tree to reference for how to apply wire and set structure of branches. One of the things I noticed quickly is the technique illustrated below of setting the angle of the first move into the branch by skipping over the air. Clearly this is one of the “rules” I need to learn to break.
 

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Mostly just studying wire today, both to learn from the artist that styled this tree and to check for bite. I’m told hemlocks can bite in fast.

I bought this tree in no small part as it was freshly styled by Carmen with wire on. I wanted a tree to reference for how to apply wire and set structure of branches. One of the things I noticed quickly is the technique illustrated below of setting the angle of the first move into the branch by skipping over the air. Clearly this is one of the “rules” I need to learn to break.
What do you mean “skipping over the air?”
 
What do you mean “skipping over the air?”
It’s common to teach beginners that wire should always make contact with the branch all the way through, and it should always enter from behind the crotch. You can see in both those pictures one piece of wire that does not do this, and instead enters the fine branch by extending out across a small gap between the primary branch and the small branch, entering the branch above the crotch. This is a very helpful way to both avoid having to cross over the larger wire and to get the first move of the affected branch into the primary, creating an acute crotch.

Hope that’s a helpful explanation.
 
Picked up a couple Junipers. Thinking about repotting now to give the roots some room to grow while it’s mid September. Good idea or not? Also trimming off any dead needles.View attachment 567450View attachment 567451View attachment 567452
Unless you're in the Southern hemisphere and it's early spring where you're at hold off on repotting. Many beginners kill junipers by repotting put of season or bare-rooting them.
 
Unboxed this Sweetheart Dazzle Crape so generously gifted to me by @Vin . I've never had a tree so carefully packed, he built an actual box and wired the tree in! So grateful. I've been looking for a crape but try and stay off of the FB auctions. (husband does not enjoy his feed filled with trees). This generous community is really amazing. box with crape.jpgcrape from Vin.jpg
 
Finished work on a spruce and decided to take a breather and prune back an RMJ.

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In between of it all, I had to apply some nutrition for the spruces and checked out the crazy buds they’re all putting in for next year’s growth.

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