I took hundreds of small Japanese black pines and redeveloped them using one or two strategically placed grafts.
I often use the technique of applying a graft in order to place a branch in a more appropriate location. I will even use a graft in order to move the trunk of the tree in the direction that I want. Sometimes, as in the case of the trees you view here, I created a new tree with only one or two grafts. Other times, I will place up to a hundred grafts on a more mature or larger tree in order to quickly change the foliage from one species to another.
In this case, I had a few hundred small four to six year old shohin trees that did not have the branches in the appropriate locations (the outside curves of the trunk). In shohin trees, being too far forward, behind, above, or below the optimal spot for a branch could be as little as a centimeter off. Therefore, each spring as the buds begin to swell, I will place many bud grafts on little trees in order to place buds where I want them in order to develop the tree.
