Bonsai Trees

Case Histories

Hinoki Cypress - (chamaecyparis obtusa kosterei)

Hinoki Cypress Bonsai Style: Informal Upright

It is usual when styling bonsai to get into a routine of structuring trees with horizontal branches by selecting first branch, second branch, etc. and there is a danger of ending up with a run-of-the-mill tree, if care is not taken.

I envisaged something exceptional with this tree and wanted to create a cedar-like image with upward growing branches and flat pads of foliage.

Hinoki Cypress Bonsai History: Training

With the wiring and shaping completed, this image was achieved and I felt that I had created a very different hinoki cypress.

When it was time to plant it into a bonsai pot I chose a deep rectangular pot to accommodate the roots.

It grew in this pot for one year, after which it was given a much more shallow and sympathetic rectangular pot in which it remained for the next three years, being repotted once during this time.