The bamboo trainers are not the only way the Japanese shape trees. Sometimes a simple rope pulls a tree in a desired direction (with padding around the trunk). Sometimes wiring achieves much of the effect. When you get your pines assess each one and choose the best for each position and tailor their pruning/training as they dictate. If by luck a tree already has a good kink at the bottom then simply prune to bring this out.

PS. I know the plan garden you mean and it's a really good one, exquisitely restrained choice of plants.

There's a great saying in Japanese: "Even a monkey can fall from a tree" (meaning everyone makes mistakes). In Japanese it's "Saru mo ki kara ochiru." It's one of my favorite sayings.

There's another one "Saru no shiri warai" which translates as "to laugh at a monkey's butt" --- it means something like "the pot calling the kettle black" (because our butts look like monkey butts).

By the way, we suggest avoiding the term "jap." as it's generally considered offensive to Japanese. If you want to abbreviate, you can use "Jpnse."

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your garden!

Lee

I hesitate to say anything critical about the Adachi Museum garden, but the two nearly identical trees in the foreground of this picture for example seem (to me) to be a bit - what's the word - discordant, unnatural, contrived?

I suppose it boils down to a matter of a matter of personal taste.

Herb
Click to see them

Anyway, that picture is a reeeeally nice one. I love the patches of snow.

I bought a Pinus Nigra (very difficult plant to find) and I am having plans to prune it. The pruning tips in books like "a japanese touch for your garden" are very simplistic. Perhaps there is a place on the internet with real photos that show when someone is pruning a pine?

And that plan in the book is really nice, but with those plant suggestions, one has to be a millionaire... LOL.

good luck
Henrik

The photo is in an album on the Internet that is open to the public. My posting merely shows you where it can be found. I'm not going to sue you, but I do suggest that you bear in mind that making a false accusation of theft can be defamatory.

Lee (really me)

You asked about the Roth's Journal of Japanese Gardening. Doug Roth has strong opinions on the topic, and these cause polite disagreement among other experts and, now and again, even downright abuse. I recommend you pay no attention to the abuse.

I've subscribed to the JOJG for several years and I've found it both informative and useful. Incidentally, an index to past issues is being compiled & you can access it if you Click here

Lee, I will use your Japanese sayings often! Thanks for sharing.

Monkeybutt is a nickname we gave to the double coconut seed that lives in San Antonio's Palm Conservatory. If you saw it, you would understand. I wonder how you came to choose this name? On your pines, ask your nurseryman if he has any with unusual growth or crooked trunks. Many nurseries tend to dispose of these, unappreciative of their potential for our interests! You can grow so many pines in your area, you should experiment with several species. Have fun! Cytania is right about P. nigra. It is the most prevalant in our area in the nursery trade. You may have to ask your nurseryman to order P. thunbergiana for you. They are easier to train than nigra, and have a more attractive trunk.

Don

George, your pines are beautiful, I guess Im looking at 10-20 years of hard work hehe ;)

kind regards
Henrik

Glad you liked the monkey sayings.

There's another saying I like which is kind of a tongue-twister: "Atsusa samusa mo higan made." It means the heat and the cold always end with the equinox. By extension it means "all things must pass."

Lee

as with shaping pines...there's usually an initial crook near the ground...create if you want your first S there or just tilt the tree, and cut the leader then promote a secondary leader with plenty of tertiary branches, as the new leader. And keep promoting until you get an S-like or thunder bolt asymmetric zig-zag. Tie it down with wire tied to stakes. THIS IS JUST THE TRUNK.

black pine is masculine, so envision the branches as a muscle builder, more upright S with more of a horizontal branches.

white pine is feminine, more of a curvy S, then envision the branches as a dancers arms...sort of coming horinzontally out then softly downward where the branches fan out horizontally (this is were you would wire them with maybe solid core battery wires) holding a plate of needle clouds.

One thing too...don't poodle the pine...think clouds.

-and why would you wire the branches on white pine?
thanks,
edzard

Ckramos --- I'm interested in your response to Edzard's questions.

Also, isn't it traditionally the Japanese Red Pine (not the white pine) that's the feminine counterpart to the JBP?

Lee

And while doing some research on pine shapes, and why, I always look for sources. So far the zigzag is only common the N. America, etc.

response would be nice.
edzard