Where are you?

On the top of a mountain in North Carolina.

Too far south for me. Around here, they seem to lose their tops to winterkill, and become wider rather than tall.

Ask in the Conifers forum.

Now listen, about that bondage .....

So. . . Bondage in a rural cabin atop a mountain. Sounds like a scene from a "movie".

PS - I know nothing about trimming these bushes.

This gent has something to say about pruning, about 3/4 of the way through:

This piece is about the blue variety, but the tips might be useful anyway: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/prune-chamaecyparis-pisifera-boulevard-77096.html

Hi, Christopher. It has been years since you posted your cabin building adventures on this Forum. You had lots of ideas; some with which we agreed, others we asked you to rethink. Your Blog though the years has been interesting, detailing your well built, tight cabin and life on your mountain. Your mention of Pearl Fryar's garden which is an assortment of mostly conifers that are being held in "bondage" by constant, tight pruning may explain why you used that term. This is not the 'look' you want. To retain a 'soft' look I would keep the tops cut back by about 12" - 15" and let the side growth develop. Those on the Conifer Forum should be consulted for other ideas. But...no to "bondage!

Your post gave me a chuckle. I had a similar impulse with a Michelia v. alba that I wanted to keep low in order to enjoy the fragrance (in Hawaii). I tied stones to young branches to weigh them down, and I had hopes of producing a sort of Japanese bonsai effect, sans the actual bonsai of the roots. the initial efforts were encouraging. Then I visited the garden of a friend (a nurseryman) who planted the same tree in a very small densely-planted courtyard of his home. (You know how plant collectors are...) He had cut the tree back repeatedly over the years, and it looked butchered, all disorganized trunk and no real shape. I abandoned my mission on the spot. Well, the tree is now about 25 ft. tall and providing much-needed shade. It is a far more robust grower than I had anticipated. That tree really showed me who's boss: Mother Nature.

Happy New Year

Hi Nandina. A soft rounded look is logical and easy simply by topping them. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. It would look just fine. I think I am just looking for a challenge, to literally turn them into a sculpture. I want to think about it before I give up the height and branching I may want.

Hi Kim. These 'Gold Mops' can take shearing and pruning pretty well for a conifer over a couple decades if started young. The weeping foliage can easily hide the abuse. That is so easy and boring though. Is there some way I can work with its natural form as a small tree to create something unique? That is what I am exploring.

Just clip over your already quite slow growing 'Golden Mop'* lightly each year in late spring-early summer. Enough to adequately reduce their annual growth rate but not enough to turn them into topiary.

Otherwise probably it would take decades for these to grow 15 ft. tall, even if never cut back.

*As named by H. Welch in 1966

I went in and looked up their tresses. This is what I saw. I'm thinking limbing them up to expose the trunks and branches with 'Gold Mop' balls on top. Slow is good. Mature height around railing level is best Real bondage may prove necessary.

Balls on top of exposed branches will look terrible. Don't do it. Your home is in a very natural setting. This type of overwrought pruning of 2 shrubs is not suitable.

It's like wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and diamond spangled high heels. Nothing looks good.

but ... but ... Overwrought pruning is so very tempting.

Experimentation is provident if you can tolerate the unintended consequences.

Attempt a topiary that takes advantage of the moppiness. Your lollipop tree is exactly what I had to resort to with deer ravaged arborvitae I couldn't bear to get rid of altogether. You can do better!

Why not just keep trimming off the top?

Have you looked into niwaki, the Japanese art of pruning landscape specimens? I've seen some crazy stuff, even 'Yoshino' cryptomeria with the leader cut and the branches trained parallel to the ground. I have to imagine there are some examples of fun with pisifera.

What you're describing isn't really my cup of tea, but I can see where you're going with it. I'm just happy you're leaning away from gumdropping them. There's a reason we called them "fry guy bushes" doing commercial landscape maintenance in the 90s. No one wants to return to those days.

Christopher, I last visited Pearl Fryar's garden about five years ago. Just spent a few minutes reviewing the copious online pictures of his topiary. Then a thought came to mind. In your natural setting your topiary efforts should be directed toward an animal form. With the addition of another tree between the present two I already 'see' the rounded back end of a rabbit on the left tree with ear shapes forming on the upper tree. Or, perhaps a prowling bear form. Something along those lines that coordinates with you woodland setting.

Thanks Revolution. I did not know the term for that form of topiary. Yes that style is what I am leaning towards. One garden I tend has a number of conifers pruned in that fashion, though it is an American interpretation of a Japanese garden. The 'Gold Mops' actually have a very nice form if left unpruned and given enough space. There is a third one in my garden I will leave alone to do that. These two are in the wrong place for that.

Thanks Nandina. I don't think an animal form is for me. I have certainly contemplated how I might make the two plants one form. Even in my natural setting, a more abstract form will fit in with the bigger picture of the garden. A local artist said my winter Under Garden reminded her of a Paul Klee painting. I want these to flow with that abstract surrealism.

It began early in the year 2018. Bondage will be required to spread the trunks apart.

Niwakie

Niwaki #2 Training Session - March 2019

I have been surprised by how very little new growth sprouted on the cleaned stems from last year.

I left big chunks of the bottom growth as an emergency backup as well as potential components of the final product whatever that might be. Looking at this picture I got to thinking, should I give them clear trunks to the ground for a tree form? Or wild idea, shape the bottoms to make them look like potted Niwaki? Either way, I am looking forward to Gold Mop Niwaki with fuzzy balls for a good part of each season. The first light bondage has started. It's gonna take a while.

Artificial deer damage.

Ha ha. Baby steps. Training and bondage takes some time to reach the desired effect. The conifers are the last thing the deer will touch, thank goodness.

Yes, deer are not the problem there.

Stretch your imagination a bit there Embothrium. Landscape design is not completely stuck to the 'curb appeal' gutter. Niwaki - Cloud pruning is an art form. Go have a look and enjoy.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cloud+pruning+niwaki&FORM=HDRSC2

Training Session #3 - 2020. This is this morning.

.

This afternoon. It is time to crank up the bondage to get the clouds, Niwaki, more separated and to break up the overall conical shape. I'm having a real hankering to cloud prune the emergency bottom skirts. What say you?

This was last spring. I think the Gold Mop Balls will work beautifully with the Fothergilla puffs.

No expert but they appear to barely be getting enough sun. I would leave them be and hope they don't die.

Looks like plenty of sun to me!! And these will tolerate a fair amount of shade anyway but lose the intensity of their gold color.

I doubt there is much risk of them dying.......:-)

The shady side of them is uphill next to the Kousa Dogwood. That will have an impact on that side for sure, but the mop balls don't need to fill that space. Plenty sun otherwise, SW facing. They won't be dying unless some new pestilence should arrive. Another reason it may be time to go after the bottom skirts. What's the worst that could happen?

I am really liking this interactive Niwaki cloud pruning project. Next day that presents itself, the bottom skirts are getting cloud pruned.

January 2023. The Niwaki cloud pruning continues after I skipped last year somehow. What a difference six years of growth makes. A cloud pruning master I am not. I'm in no hurry to reach a final form and probably not brutal enough. I decided I wanted fluffier clouds.

It is time to push the Fothergilla away from the Niwaki. They are getting crowded. That can wait until spring. I can dig a bunch of Fothergilla starts to plant elsewhere.

I'm much better at herding cats.

The clouds are very nice.