Pruning pines in the Japanese style is the most difficult and challenging of any garden pruning activity. This is because it typically takes years to learn and there are few teachers to pass this knowledge on, and few students will to invest the time and patience to learn.
Moreover, it is one thing to prune a pine that has been meticulously cared for and expertly pruned for hundreds of years in a garden in Japan, for all you have to do is to follow the pattern that has already been laid out. But it is quite another and a completely different thing to initially train a pine in the niwaki or sukashi styles involving pruning to create pads, ramification and layering of branches.
It is still a whole other thing to prune a mature pine that has never been pruned properly, and still another thing all together to prune one that was pruned initially in the Japanese style and then left unpruned for many years, or worse yet, pruned badly by inexperienced hacker-wacker “pruners.”
In our business, seldom if ever do we encounter a pine that has been pruned properly by an expert in the Japanese style for decades, and certainly not for hundreds of years—at least in the U.S. More likely, we either have to start from scratch, or do corrective and restorative pruning (as was the case in this video), and this process takes a few years of regular pruning to achieve the desired results (as will be the case with the pines in this video).
The effort is worth it though, for the end results will be an eye-poppingly beautiful and attention-grabbing tree that will be the envy and centerpiece of any garden, and will bring awe-inspiring joy, peace, harmony and love to all who view it. This is the journey and these are the results of practicing a craft that few comprehend, but that many appreciate!
For me this is a spiritual and God-ordained endeavor to bring a little peace, joy and harmony to a troubled Earth one tree at a time.
Please enjoy this video as we take another dive into the world of aesthetic pruning in the Japanese style.
If you are reading this, then you most likely have been awakened to the threat of the emerald ash borer beetle (EAB) that has recently made its debut in the Portland region. This prolific and voracious beetle has already killed tens of millions of ash trees in the eastern U.S. since the early 2000s, and now it is in Oregon. What follows is an update on the status of this horrific, invasive pest that is likely to kill every untreated native and non-native ash tree in our region over the next several years according to State of Oregon authorities.
Ash tree leaf
For the past several years, I have been monitoring the spread of the EAB, as it is commonly known, since it was first detected in Forest Grove in July 2023. In fact, Good News Tree Service, Inc. was the first local tree care company in the Pacific Northwest to put out informational videos on its YouTube channel on the EAB. Since then, the EAB has spread throughout the Portland tri-county metro area and south to Yamhill and Marion counties.
We have yet to witness wide-spread tree mortality among this region’s ash trees because it typically takes two to three years from the time the EAB enters a tree to the time limbs begin to die one-by-one on the tree. Thus, the Oregon Department of Forestry is expecting to see greater numbers of ash trees dying over the next several years. Personally I have viewed large patches of dead native Oregon white ash trees along the Tualatin River between Hillsboro and Scholls as well as in the Canby area, so like a horror movie, the EAB is coming to a theater near you.
The question then is if you have an ash tree on your property that you do not want to lose, when should you treat it? Glad you asked. As with everything in life, prevention is always the best medicine, and since it is impossible to tell if your tree has been infested with the EAB or not, the sooner you treat it the better. Signs of EAB in your tree include woodpecker holes, large dead branches and small capital D-shaped holes in the trunk or branches.
Ash tree
The next question is how can the trees be treated and how effective are the treatments? It is true that homeowners can purchase pesticides from their local garden center that will kill the EAB, but these treatments are iffy at best with mixed results. It’s a gamble. This is because a state licensed professional arborist (like Good News Tree Service, Inc.) is legally authorized to purchase and apply chemical that are much more potent than what a homeowner can buy. Moreover, we inject the trees intravenously, if you will, by inserting a hypodermic-type needle directly into the tree’s vascular system and injecting it with a systemic pesticide that then translocates through the entire tree. Subsequently, when the EAB grub starts eating into the tree, it is poisoned to death. What’s more, the equipment to administer this lethal dose of insecticide typically costs $3,000 or more plus the expense of the pesticide. The good news is that a tree can go for two to three years between treatments, and the treatments are 99 percent effective as long as the tree is no more than 30 percent defoliated. The bad news is that the tree will need to be treated for the rest of its life.
Although the trees can be treated any time of the year as long as the soil is moist, the most effective time is when the leaves are on the tree so that the insecticide can get into the leaves. Although the beetles mostly chew into the wood, sometimes after adult beetles hatch they will feed on the leaves before they fly to another tree to lay their eggs, according to a recent conversation I had with Christine Buhl, staff entomologist with the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). Thus the sooner in the spring after foliation occurs that one treats their trees the better, so that the insecticide has a chance to get into the tree before the beetles hatch and begin chewing on the wood.
The cost to treat a tree depends on its size, but typically will cost several hundred dollars per tree. The ODF has calculated that a mature ash street tree, for example, can be treated for 20 to 30 years for the cost of removing and replacing it including the loss of monetary value that a large tree adds to one’s property.
In conclusion, if you have a high value ash tree that is important to your landscape, shades your house or is a city-mandated street tree, the sooner you treat it the better. By waiting too long, one risks the chance of branches or whole trunks dying and then falling and potentially damaging property (e.g., buildings and vehicles), not to mention the expense of having to hire a tree service to prune out the dead branches.
Our family along our associates of aesthetic tree and shrub pruners have been beautifying the Portland, Oregon area’s nicest homes, estates and commercial properties since 1960 when Tom Lawrence started landscaping in this area.
Since 1985, Nathan Lawrence and his company, Good News Tree Service, Inc. of Wilsonville, has been practicing the craft of aesthetic pruning with an eye on the naturally occurring beauty of each plant specimen as he is simultaneously informed and influenced by the scenic landscape of the Pacific Northwest region.
We trust that the following photos will speak for themselves.
Before
AfterBeforeAfterAnd yes, like everyone else, we do hedges too.Add fruit trees to the list…
Call Good News Tree Service TODAY for a free price quote!
Maple syrup from New England and Quebec has been a high value culinary treat for hundreds of years. But there’s a new kid on the block from the opposite side of the North American continent. Bigleaf maple syrup from western Oregon. This little appreciated weed tree whose value until now has only been in its firewood production, has now emerged on the world culinary scene for producing a high quality maple syrup that rivals or exceeds its eastern cousin in complexity, richness and layers of flavor. This video takes you from the woods to the processing plant where this tasty delicacy is produced. We show you all the steps along thew way from sap to syrup to bottle.
Maple syrup from New England and Quebec has been a high value culinary treat for hundreds of years. But there’s a new kid on the block from the opposite side of the North American continent. Bigleaf maple syrup from western Oregon. This little appreciated weed tree whose value until now has only been in its firewood production, has now emerged on the world culinary scene for producing a high quality maple syrup that rivals or exceeds its eastern cousin in complexity, richness and layers of flavor. This video takes you from the woods to the processing plant where this tasty delicacy is produced. We show you all the steps along thew way from sap to syrup to bottle.
Maple syrup from New England and Quebec has been a high value culinary treat for hundreds of years. But there’s a new kid on the block from the opposite side of the North American continent. Bigleaf maple syrup from western Oregon. This little appreciated weed tree whose value until now has only been in its firewood production, has now emerged on the world culinary scene for producing a high quality maple syrup that rivals or exceeds its eastern cousin in complexity, richness and layers of flavor. This video takes you from the woods to the processing plant where this tasty delicacy is produced. We show you all the steps along thew way from sap to syrup to bottle.
This is the video documentary—possibly the first of its kind—of the construction of a Hoichi Kurisu Japanese garden from initial ground breaking to its final completion. Nathan Lawrence job-shadowed and recorded on video Kurisu and his crew over a period of several months as this amazing garden by this world renowned Japanese landscape architect took shape. At the end of the video is an interview of Mr. Kurisu as he discusses his views on the importance of the Japanese garden in modern culture and what keeps him going at age 86. This is a one-of-a-kind video that no garden enthusiast will want to miss.
The title of this video begs some explanation. It is NOT click bait! In a small, rural town tucked away in Oregon is an authentic public Japanese garden that has direct connections to Japan, as the title suggests. Plus it was designed and built by the world renowned landscape architect Hoichi Kurisu. What’s equally amazing is that this garden is at, of all places, a middle school. So what is my connection to it, you may be wondering? This garden hadn’t been properly pruned in several years, I had the privilege of being the one to do it and help to bring it back to its previous glory. Though I have aesthetically pruned the trees and shrubs in many private Japanese gardens, this was my first public garden. This video chronicles everything mentioned above. Please check it out.
